Among the many subjects on which Theophrastus wrote, music is one of the most fascinating, as is testified by the sources discussed in this volume. Although scanty, the material we have—sixteen texts altogether, most of which are indirect testimonies—gives an idea of the originality and modernity of Theophrastus’ thought on music, and makes us regret that we do not know more. Our philosopher conceives of music as something that originates from a movement in the soul caused by passions and comes into existence through the body. Accordingly, he is interested in performance—i.e. the way in which musical expression is brought to the listener—and its effects on the soul and the body—e.g. musical therapy.
Massimo Raffa, Ph.D. (2000, University of Palermo) is a teacher of Classics and former Research Fellow at the University of Perugia. He is the translator of
Ptolemy’s Harmonics and Porphyry’s Commentary into Italian (Bompiani 2016) and critical editor of the latter for the
Teubner series (De Gruyter 2016).
"
As a remarkable piece of scholarship, this book should be read from cover to cover not only by scholars interested in the musical side of the Theophrastean thought, but also by those interested in ancient Greek music in much broader sense." Angelo Meriani,
Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2019.11.10.
Acknowledgements
1
Introduction 1
Sounds Outside: Harmonics and Acoustics in Theophrastus’ Time 2
Sounds Inside: Qualities, Affections, and the Soul 3
Theophrastus’ Thought on Music in Context
2
The Sources 1
Philodemus, c. 110–40 BC 2
Apollonius, II cent. BC 3
Plutarch, c. 45–120 AD 4
Aulus Gellius, c. 130–180 AD 5
Athenaeus of Naucratis, III cent. AD 6
Censorinus, III cent. AD 7
Porphyry, III–IV cent. AD 8
Aelius Festus Aphthonius, III–IV cent. AD 9
Ṣiwān al-ḥikma, IX–X cent. AD
3
Titles of Books
4
The Texts 1
Harmonics 2
Musicians 3
Music and the Soul 4
Music and the Human Body
Bibliography Index of Relevant Words Index of Ancient Names, Places, Authors and Passages Cited Index of Relevant Matters
All interested in ancient philosophy and psychology, musicologists and music historians; moreover, anyone interested in the history of medicine and musical therapy.