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Abstract
This contribution is meant to shed light on how ancient Greek music theorists structure argumentations and address their readership in order to be understandable, effective and persuasive. On the one hand, some of the most important treatises, e.g. Ptolemy’s Harmonics (with Porphyry’s Commentary) and what remains of Archytas’ and Theophrastus’ works, are taken as case studies; on the other hand, the paper deals with some argumentative patterns recurring in harmonics demonstrations, especially with reference to the usage of everyday life experience as evidence supporting acoustic and harmonic theories.
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Barker, A. (1989). Greek Musical Writings, Vol. 2. Harmonic and Acoustic Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Barker, A. (1994). Ptolemy’s Pythagoreans, Archytas, and Plato’s Conception of Mathematics. Phronesis 39.2, pp. 113–135.
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Barker, A. (2015). Porphyry’s Commentary on Ptolemy’s Harmonics. A Greek text and Annotated Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Burkert, W. (1972). Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (or. ed. Nürnberg: Hans Carl, 1962).
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Creese. D. (2010). The Monochord in Ancient Greek Harmonic Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Hagel, S. (2010). Ancient Greek Music. A New Technical History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Huffman, C.A. (2005). Archytas of Tarentum. Pythagorean, Philosopher and Mathematician King. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Huffman, C.A., ed. (2014). A History of Pythagoreanism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Kuhn, Th. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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Rowett, C. (2014). The Pythagorean Society and Politics. In: C.A. Huffmann, ed., A History of Pythagoreanism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 112–130.
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Zhmud, L. (2014). Sixth-, Fifth- and Fourth-Century Pythagoreans. In: C.A. Huffmann, ed., A History of Pythagoreanism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 88–111.
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Search for other papers by Massimo Raffa in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This contribution is meant to shed light on how ancient Greek music theorists structure argumentations and address their readership in order to be understandable, effective and persuasive. On the one hand, some of the most important treatises, e.g. Ptolemy’s Harmonics (with Porphyry’s Commentary) and what remains of Archytas’ and Theophrastus’ works, are taken as case studies; on the other hand, the paper deals with some argumentative patterns recurring in harmonics demonstrations, especially with reference to the usage of everyday life experience as evidence supporting acoustic and harmonic theories.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 170 | 56 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 78 | 4 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 147 | 14 | 0 |