Post on 17-Feb-2018
transcript
7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
1/22
Rh ythm an d M eter in An c ient Greek Mu sic
T h o m a s J . M a t h ie s e n
The resurgence of interest in ancient Greek music in the last
ten years has resulted in the publication of many im portant
monographs and articles on m usical instruments, scales, partic-
ular treatises, and musical fragments, the latter of which con-
t inue to be discovered from time to t ime. ' Yet the subject of
rhythm and meter in ancient Greek music has remained almost
totally unexplored by modern scholars.
2
On the surface , this
A considerably abbreviated version of this paper was presented at the 115th
annual m eeting of the Am erican Phi lological Assoc iation , 27-30 December
1983, in Cincinnati, Ohio. I am indebted to Ms. Nan cy Sultan for presenting
my paper at the meeting w hen I was prevented at the last mom ent from attend-
ing.
1 There h ave been more than 90 major publications in this field since 1974.
These, as well as som e additional earlier publications, are l isted in the latest
supplement to m y
Bib l iography o f Sources for the S tudy o f Ancient Greek M u-
sic, Music Indexes and Bib l iographies , no. 10 (Hackensack, N. J . : Boonin ,
1974) . Copies of the supplement are avai lab le to interested persons free of
charge and m ay be obtained by writing to me .
2
The notable exceptions are Francois Auguste G evaert,
Histoire et theorie
de la m usique de l an t iqu i t e , 2 vols. (Gand: Detaille, 1875-81; reprint ed.,
Hildesheim: Olms, 1965), who devotes considerable and often incisive atten-
tion to the matters of rhythm and meter in ancient Greek music; Rudolf
Westpha l, Die Aristoxen ische Rhythm uslehre,
Viertel jahrsschrift fur Mu-
sikwissenschaft 7 (189474
07; idem,
Ar is toxenos von Taren t , M el ik und
Rhy thmik des c la ssi schen Hel l enentums,
2 vols. (Leipzig: Abel, 1883
3; re-
print ed. , Hildesheim: Olms, 1965); idem,
Die Fragmente und d i e Lehrsi i t z e
der g ri echi schen Rhy thmiker
(Leipzig: Teu bner, 1861); idem, Griechische Rhy-
t h m i k u n d H arm on i k n e bs t de r G e sc h ic h t e de r dr e i m u s i sc h e n Di sz i p l in e n
(Leipzig: Teubner, 1867); idem, System der antiken Rhythmik (Breslau:
Leuckart, 1865); Giovann i Pighi, Ricerche sulla notazione ritmica greca,
will no doubt seem to be a fantastic assertion. The re are, after
all, numerous book-length treatments of Greek meter and
countless articles dealing w ith particular meters or passages in
Greek lyric poetry that appear to be metrically troublesome.
Nevertheless, these studies (1) do not deal with the actual musi-
cal fragmen ts; (2) are based on analyses of published editions
deriving from a manuscript tradition that by the second century
B.C. had already altered the rhythmic cha racter of the original
poetry to conform to certa in not ions of Greek meter and that
by all accounts was altered many times over the succeeding cen-
turies; 3(3) assume that G reek verse was con ceived by its com-
posers or heard by its audience as a series of meters rather than
a flexible and varying rhythmic pattern; (4) make no differenti-
ation between rhythm a nd meter; and (5) almost uniformly ig-
nore the tes t imon y of the ancient and early treatises , which
present a view of rhythm and meter quite at variance with mod-
Aegyptus
21 (1941):189-220, 23 (1943):169-243, and 39 (1959):280-89;
Lewis Rowell, Aristoxenus on Rhythm,
Journal of Music Theory 2 3
(1979):63 79; and Thrasybulos G eorgiades,
M u s ik u n d R h y t h mu s b e i d en
Griechen
(Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1958). The work of Westphal is best known to
classicists, who have largely rejected his conclusions. While many of
Westphal's conclusions are extreme or m isguided, his work con tains many in-
sights and can be read with profit .
3
These alterations can be seen clearly by comparing the man uscript tradi-
tion and the papyrus fragment for lines 783-93 of Euripides'
Iphigenia in
Aulis.
For a full study of this fragment, see my New Fragm ents of Ancient
Greek M usic ,
Acta musicologica
53 (1981):14-32 .
bygue
stonJanuary31,2014
htt
p://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
2/22
1 60 M u s i c T h e o r y S p e c t ru m
ern studies of m etrics.
4
A few exam ples of this last point may be
informative:
Ancient metrical theory offers nothing but superficial description,
mechanical c lass if ication, and unprofitable speculation. Only a few of
the technical terms it used are of value today, and the most useful are
those which m ake no claim to express an essential characteristic of the
thing described. With the possible exception of Damon, who was one
of Pericles' teachers . . . , no Greek writer of any importance seems to
have concerned himself with metric.
5
The ancient metricians, of whom Hephaestion . . . is the chief, do not
help us greatly towards an understanding of G reek m etric, and it is
unlikely that they represent a tradition dating back to the classical
period.
6
Passing references in ancient metrical theory are of no great impor-
tance to the argument either way; neither the affirmative of Aristides
Quintil ianus and Marius Victorinus nor the denial of Hephaestion
and his comm entators need influence us.
7
It seems clear, therefore, that rel iance on modern treatments of
metrics wil l not provide i l lumination o f the function of rhythm
4
Earlier scholars were not so quick to dismiss the testimony of the theorists.
In addition to the works cited in n. 2, one might note Maximilian Consbruch,
De veter um HEPI 1101HMATOI doctrina,
Breslauer philologische
Abhandlunge n, V/3 (Breslau: Koebner, 1890); Georg Am sel,
De vi atque in-
do le rhy thmor um quid v e t eres iud icaverin t ,
Breslauer philologische Untersu-
chungen, 1/3 (Breslau: Koebner, 1887); Charles Thurot, De l'emploi des mots
OEZEI,
positione, Revue de philologie
4 (1880):92 97; and Hermann
Wiegandt, De ethico antiquorum rhythmorum charactere auctore Aristide
Quintilian o (Ph.D. diss., Halle, 1881).
5 Paul Maas, G r eek M e t r e ,
trans. Hugh Lloyd-Jones (Oxford: Clarendon,
1962), p. 5.
6
J. D. Denniston , Metre, Greek , in
The Oxford Classical Dict ionary, 2 d
ed. by N. G. L. Ham mond a nd H. H. Scullard (Oxford: Clarendon, 1970), p.
67 9
7
A. M. Dale,
The Lyri c M et res o f Greek Drama,
2d ed. (Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1968), p. 34, n. 1.
and meter in ancient Greek music orgiven the inextricable re-
lationship of the melos, rhythm, and text
8
in Gre ek lyric po-
etry in general. As an alterna tive, this study will draw together a
number of the oretical passages, articulate some general obser-
vations about the difference between rhythm and meter and the
way in which they w ork together, and i l lustrate the rhythmic
construction of the two earliest surviving fragm ents (both from
plays of Euripides) as well as several later pieces.
Co n c e p t s of R h y th m a n d M e te r
With a few exceptions, the ancient theo rists mark a clear dis-
tinction between rhythm and m eter and are consistent in their
conception of rhythm. One of the exceptions, as might be antic-
ipated, is Aristoxenus, wh o speaks only of rhythm .
9His treat-
men t survives in two fragments: the so-cal led
Rhy thmic Ele-
ments,
which is transmitted in a number of manuscripts; and
another pa rt of this (most probably), which is preserved in Oxy-
rhynchus Papyrus
(P. Oxy.)
9. 10
Aris toxenus'
f lorui t in the
fourth century B.C. makes him a particularly important witness
on the subject of rhythmics (as he is on the subject of harm on-
ics) , and the fact that there are no apparent contradictions be-
tween Aristoxenus and later authors such as Hephaestion and
his comm entators, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Aristides Quin-
tilianus, Plutarch, Aug ustine, and Bacchius supports their relia-
8
Cf. Aristides Quinti l ianus
De m usica
1.12.
9
The possibil ity that a discussion of metrics appeared in a treatise now lost
cannot be rejected. A fragment dealing with metrics and ascribed to Aristox-
enus is preserved in Psellus 1 (see Westphal,
Aris toxenos ,
2:76).
10
For editions, see Westphal,
Aristoxenos,
2:75-85; and Heinrich
Feussner, Ari stoxenus, Gr undzuge der Rhythm ik , e in Bruchst i ick , in beri cht ig-
t er Urschr i f t mi t deu tscher Uberset zung
(Hanau: Edler, 1840).
P.Oxy.
9 ap-
pears
i n T h e O x yr h y n ch u s P ap yr i
1 (1898): 14-21 and plate 3. A valuable
translation of the largest fragment appears in Rowell, Aristoxenus, pp. 70
76.
bygue
stonJanuary31,2014
htt
p://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
3/22
R h y t h m a n d M e t e r in A n c i e n t G r e e k M u s i c 16 1
bility as represen tatives of an ancient tradition, though sepa -
rated from it by four to six centuries.
Aristoxenus defines rhythm in his characteristically precise
m anner. He differentiates between rhythm (an abstract es -
sence) and a thing rhythm ically organized (a concrete man ifes-
tation of the abstract):
3.
One must first understand that there are two certain natures: that
of rhythm and the rhythm icized substance, c lose ly re lated to one an-
other just as the form [ oxfilia] and that which is formed [ oxi[ta
46-
REvov ] are related.
4.
For just as the body takes on man y sorts of shapes whenever its
parts are placed in different ways (either some or all of them), in like
manner each o f the rhythmic ized substances takes on m any forms,
not in accordance with its own na ture but in accordance with the na-
ture of rhythm. For speech, which is likewise arranged into time units
differing one from ano ther, takes on certain divisions which corres-
pond to the divisions produced by the natural order of rhythm. A nd
the sam e principle obtains with respect to
melos
and anything else
that is organized rhythmically by means of this rhythm that is com-
posed of t ime un its.
5. To continue with the previous analogy, we m ust now consider the
subject of sense perception in our a ttempt to discernin the case of
each of the previous topicswhat is the essential nature of rhythm
and of the rhythmicized substance. For to have form imposed on the
body is by no means the sam e thing as any of the forms themselves; on
the contrary, the form is a certain disposition of the parts of the body,
from w hence each individual form som ehow arises and is recognized
as such. Similarly it must be conceded that the rhythm is by no means
the sam e as the rhythm icized substance, nor is this substance identical
to the arrangements of t ime units made in one w ay or another.
1 1
So, rhythm is, as Lewis Rowell observes in his translation of the
Rhy t hm i c E l em ent s , a dynam ic species of form, signifying the
11
Aristoxenus Rhythmica
3-5 (trans. from Rowell, Aristoxenus, p. 71).
internal structure of a moving thingordered movement,
movement in accordance with certain principles of structure.
12
This com prehens ive ontological view is con s iderably s im-
plified by A ristides Quintil ianus (fl . late third or ear ly fourth
century A .D.) in his
On M usic, the most com plete of the ancient
musical treatises. He writes:
Rhythm is a scale of chronoi
13
compoun ded according to some order,
and the conditions of these we ca ll arsis and thesis , noise and quie-
tude. Since, in general, notes, by a similarity of motion, m ake an inex-
pressive succession of melos an d lead the heart astray, the parts of
rhythm palpably compose the power of the m elody, moving the hea rt
now by turns, now regularly. Arsis is the movement u pwards of part
of a body; thesis , the movem ent downwards of the sam e part. Rhyth-
mics is the science of the use of the aforesaid things.
14
Rhythm w ill therefore exist in pure diction, in pure m elos (or,
what m ight be loosely considered a melodic l ine without text) ,
in pure dance, or in a combination of these. The science of
rhythm, or rhythmics (parallel to harmonics in ancient Greek
music theo ry), is separated into f ive parts: chronoi protoi ,
15
the
12
Rowell, Aristoxen us, p. 68. Rowe ll's empha sis on structure accords
with the interpretation of Robert Renehan, The Derivation of t luOluig,
Clas-
sical Philology
58 (1963): 36-38. For a fuller treatment of th e term, see Ernst
Wolf, Zur Etymologie von tou0gOg and seiner Bedeutung in der alteren grie-
chischen Literatur, W iener S tud ien 68 (1955):99 119.
13
The chronos (pl.: chronoi) is the measure of time in rhythm. It may be a
single short rhythmic duration (the chronos protos )that of a short
syllableor it may be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled to produce rhyth mic
groupings.
14
Aristides Quinti l ianus De musica 1.13 (trans. from Thom as J. Mathiesen,
Aris t ides Q uin t il ianus on M usic in Three Books: Tr ans la t ion , wi th In t roduc-
t ion , Commentary, and Annota t ions ,
Music Theory Translation Series [New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1983], p. 94). Unless otherwise n oted, transla-
t ions throughout this study are mine.
15
This is defined by Aristides Quintilianus (1.14) as an uncompo unded
and smallest chronos, which is also called a point. I shall call that chronos small-
bygue
stonJanuary31,2014
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
4/22
162 M u s i c T h e o r y S pe c t ru m
genera of m etric feet , tempo, modulat ion, and rhythmic com -
position. 16
Bacchius (fl. fourth cen tury
A.D.), the author of a very useful
musical catechism preserving fragmen ts from earlier treatises
now lost, responds to the question What is rhythm ? with a
series of definitions ascribed to various early authorities:
(a ) a measuring of chronos when there is a certain sort of movement;
17
(b )
according to Phaedrus, 1 8
rhythm is the measured sett ing of sylla-
bles placed one to another in a certain way; (c) according to Aristox-
enus, [rhythm is] chronos divided with a view to each of the things that
can be rhythmically organized; 1 9
(d) according to Nico mac hus, [it is]
orderly motion of c h r o n o i ;
2
(e) according to Leophantus, [it is] a com -
position of chronoi considered in proportion and symmetry to each
other;
21
and (f) according to Didymus, [it is] a configuration of a cer-
tain soundsoun d configured in a certain way mak es rhythm, and
rhythm arises either in diction or melos or bodily motion. 22
est, as far as we are concern ed, which is the first to be grasped by sensory per-
ception (Mathiesen, Aris t ides , p. 95).
16 Aristides Quinti l ianus
De m usica
1.13.
In the text, I am following the readings of Venetus Marcianus app. cl. VI/
3 instead of the em ended text as it appears in Karl von Jan,
Musici scriptores
graeci
(Leipzig: Teubner, 1895; reprint ed. , Hildesheim: Olms, 1 962), p. 313.
Cf. Char les-Em ile Ruel le ,
Alyp ius e t Gaud ence , . . . Bacchius l Ancien, t ra-
duct ion ent irement nouvel le,
Collection des auteurs grecs relatifs a la m usique,
no. 5 (Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1895), p. 134.
18
Possibly the fabulist (ca. 15 B.C.-A.D.50),
but it is impossible to be certain.
19 Aristoxenus Rhythmica
9 actually states: chrono s is divided by the things
rhythmically organized with respect to the parts of each of them.
2
This does not appear in an y of the surviving works of Nicomachu s (fl . 2d
century
A.D.).
21 Leophantus i s o therwise unknow n.
22
This
Didymus (1st century B.c.) may be the same one kn own to Ptolemy.
Aristoxenus
R h y t h mi ca 9 identifies three things rhythm ically organized: dic-
tion, melos, and bodily motion. Aristides Quintilianus De musica
1.13 states:
In music, motion of body, melody, and diction are rhythmically organized
(Mathiesen,
Arist ides, p. 94). The entire passage from Bacchius appears in Jan,
Musici scriptores,
p. 313.
Meter , on the other hand, is different from rhythm. Aris -
tides Quintil ianus, who treats m eter only after com pleting his
discussion of rh ythm, notes in Book I, section 23 that meter is a
division of rhythm and uses different material. He states:
Meter is a scale of feet com pounded of dissimilar syllables, symmetri-
cal in length. Some say that meter differs from rhythm as the part
from the whole (they say that it is a division of rhythm, for which rea-
son it is termed meter, from meirein, which means to parti-
tion ); others say that it differs with respect to the material: since they
are born of at least two dissimilar progenitors, rhythm has its
essence
in arsis and thesis, and m eter in syllables and their dissimilarity. So in
truth, rhythm is composed through s imilar syl lables and opposing
feet , but meter is never com posed through h aving al l syl lables s imilar
and seldom through opposing feet.
23
Longinus'
(f l . third century A.D.) commentary o n Hephaes-
tion's (fl. second cen tury
A.D.) Handbook
observes: the father
of meter is rhythm an d god, for meter began from rh ythm and
god called forth meter. 2 4
Ch oeroboscus' ( f l. e ighth century
A.D.) comm entary phrases it a bit differently: the father and
source of the meters is rhythm. 25
A nu mber of additional and com parable definit ions could be
adduced, but it is already clear from these tha t meter or m etrics
is on the one hand a tool by which a pattern of rhythmic chronoi
might be determined and on the other hand a means of measur-
ing quantity in syllables. These two functions are related in a
way, as will become apparent. It is likewise clear that rhythm is
a scale of chr onoi involving arsis and the sis (the sense of these
terms w ill be developed below) in differing tempi, me ters, and
forms brought about by modulation. The matters of rhythmic
23
Mathiesen,
Aris t ides , pp. 107-8.
24 Longinus
Prol . Heph. 1.1 (Consbruch 81.10-11).
25 Choeroboscus
Scholia in Heph.
1.1 (Consbruch 177.12). On the differ-
ence between rhythm and meter, cf. Longinus
Prol. Heph. 1.4 (Consbruch
83.1-25) and Choeroboscus
Schol ia in H eph.
1.1 (Consbruch 179.1-180.15).
byguestonJanuary31,2014
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
5/22
Rhythm and Meter in Ancient G reek Music 163
tempi, modulation, and composition in general are discussed
by Aristides Quintil ianus in Book I, section 19 of his treatise.
One of the m ost important surviving treatises on poetic the-
ory is Dionysius of Halicarnassus' (fl. first century B.C.)
On Li t -
erary Composi t ion, which together with Hephaestion's H a n d -
book may have been the source for much of Aristides
Quintilianus' material on rhythm and meter. Dionysius of Hali-
carnassus' definitions are perfectly in line with those noted
above, but his treatment is more detailed and reveals clearly
the primacy of rhythm. In section 11, he comm ents that the nat-
ural m etric quantity of syllables
26 is often altered by music and
rhythm, so that they often pass into their opposites: the chro-
noi are n ot regulated by th e syllables, but the syllables by the
chronoi.
27
Augustine's treatiseO n M us ic , Book II, section 1,
confirms this point, but of greater importance is the fact that
the earliest fragments of ancient G reek m usic, both dating from
the third century B.c. , exhibit this power of rhythm and m usic,
as will be demonstrated later in this study. Dionysius offers fur-
ther clarification on the quantity of syllables in section 15 of his
treatise: The re is not one nature of long and short syllables,
rather some are longer than longs and some shorter than
shorts.
28
This statement is followed by a num ber of examples
in which syllables are shown to be of varying length depending
on the num ber of elements.
29 Dionysius' observations are con-
firmed in the discussion of elem ents in Aristides Quintil ianus'
Book I, section 21. Section 15 of Dionysius' treatise concludes
with the observation that every short syllable and every long
syllable do not have the same function in pure prose or in po-
ems or in m elos, whether constructed in meters or rhythms.
3
26
One
of the functions of me ter, i t wil l be recalled, is to measure the nature
of syllables.
27
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
D e co mp . ve r b .
11 (Roberts 128.19-130.2).
28
Dionysius
of Halicarnassus D e co mp . ve r b . 15 (Roberts 150.22-152 .2) .
29
Elemen ts are similar to what are now called phonem es.
30
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
D e co mp . ve r b .
15 (Roberts 154.1-3).
Section 17 elaborates on these matters through
a series of ex-
cerpts subjected to an alysis.
In the last parts of
On L i t era ry Co m p o s it i o n
(sections 2 5-
26), Dionysius provides extensive treatments of the way in
which prose may be m ade to resemble verse and verse to re-
semble prose. In both cases, it is a m anipulation of the rhythm
that accomplishes the end. Dionysius gives examples from th e
works of Plato, Demosthenes , Hom er, Euripides, and others
to demonstrate h is points.
31
In order to understand the important matter of the metric
quantity of syllables, which is so crucial to an understanding of
rhythmic fun ction, it is now ne cessary to interject an
excursus
on the elements. Book I, sections 20-21 of Aristides Quinti-
lianus' treatise provides a clear and useful summary, and it will
be the basis for the following treatment.
All the letters of the Greek alphabet can be classed as vow-
els, semivowels, and mutes. The vowels are alpha, epsilon, eta,
iota, omicron, upsilon, and ome ga (a,
c,11, L, 0, 13, w). Some of
these are classed as short ( i .e., equal to the sm allest chronos):
epsilon and omicron; some as long (i.e., requiring a longer
chronos
32 ): eta and omega; and some are dichronic (i .e. , am-
biguous in chronos ): alpha, iota, and upsilon. The sem ivowels
are zeta, lambda, mu, nu, xi, rho, sigma, and psi G , X, .t , v,
Q,
a, and 4). Some of these are called double consonants (be-
31
An exce l lent translation of the treati se of Dionysius of Hal icarnassus ,
with copious annotations, is W. Rhys Roberts,
Dionysius of Halicarnassus on
L i t e rary Com pos i t ion (London: Macmillan, 1910; reprint ed., New York:
AMS Press, 1976). Without detailing them, I note that the same sorts of defini-
t ions of rhythm, meter, and their various parts are found in later treatises, such
as those by Serg ius (Keil ,
Gr ammat i c i La t in i
[GL], 4:533), Marius Victorinus
(GL 6:40-43, 50-53), Maximus Victorinus (GL 6:206-7), Atilius Fortuna-
t ianus (GL 6:282 ) , Audax (GL 7:331-32) , Cass iodorus Institutiones
5.5, and
Quintilian
Inst i tut io oratoria
9.4.
32 Note that Ar ist ides Quinti lianus does n ot say that the long vowels are
twice the length of the short vow els, yet this is commonly asserted to be the case
by modern metricians.
byguestonJanuary31,2014
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
6/22
1 64 M u s i c T h e o r y S p e c t ru m
cause they require two sounds): zeta, xi, and psi; some are
called liquids (because they blend with other sounds and are
therefore equal to less than one consonant) : lambda, mu, nu,
and rho; and on e is called a spirant: sigma. Finally, the mutes
are beta, gamma, delta, theta, kappa, pi, tau, phi, and chi
3 ,
y,
x,
7t, T,(P,
x). The mutes are further subdivided into rough
(theta, phi, and chi) , smooth (kappa, pi, and tau), and m edial
(beta, gamm a, and delta); or labial (beta, pi, and phi) , dental
(delta, theta, and tau), and palatal (gamma, kappa, and chi).
The combination of these letters produces syllables, which
are me asured (or, metered) by their vowels or by certain com-
binations of semivowels and mutes. Long syllables are those
with (1) a long vowel, (2) a lengthene d dichronon,
33(3) a short
vowel and a dichron on, (4) two dichrona, or (5) any vowel fol-
lowed by two sem ivowels or one double consonant (with cer-
tain exceptions involving mutes and liquids), whether or not
these are in the sam e syl lable . The f irs t four types are cal led
long by nature because the vowels themselves provide
length; the fifth type is called long by position because the
length is provided by the position of the sem ivowels in relation
to the vowels. Short syllables are those with (1) a short vowel or
(2) a shortened dichronon, provided these stand alone or are
followed by only a simple semivowel.
Arist ides Quinti l ianus observes in conn ection with these
that there are certain relationships between short and long syl-
lables and that the consonants themselves have a certain
length:
It has been dem ons trated that the m agni tudes of the e l ements are
equal in num ber to the intervals of the tone, for the smallest of these is
a fourth part of the largestas the dies is is of the tone, and the inter-
mediate is half of the larger and dou ble the smaller. A short syllable is
half of a long and a simple consonant is h alf of a short; it is evident that
from the juxtaposing of either a double consonant or one vowel, a
short becomes a long. 34
33
Some of these w ill appear in the fragments analyzed later in this paper.
34 Aristides Quintilianus
De m usica
1.21 (Mathiesen, A ristides
p. 104) .
He then points out that there are also comm on syllables, which
are so ca l led because sometimes short , sometimes long , they
fulfill the need. 35Syllables that are long by nature becom e
comm on whe n the syllable terminates in a long vowel and (1) is
followed by another syllable in the same word that begins w ith a
vowe1
36
or (2) is followed by a syllable in the succeeding w ord
that begins with a vowel. 37Syllables that are short by nature be-
come com mon w hen the syllable terminates a word, either be-
cause the interval between words causes the short syllable to
seem a bit longer or, when the n ext word begins with an aspi-
rated vowel, because the aspiration prevents the short syllable
from being absorbed into the following vowel. Syllables that are
long by posit ion become comm on when the two sem ivowels are
a mute an d a l iquid.
38
Dionysius of Halicarnassus provides some examples of the
complexity of metering syllables in section 15 of his treatise. In
the word crre6(1)og, the short first syllable is seen as longer than
the short first syllable in 686g because the vowel is preceded by
two semivowels and a mute. Likewise, the long syllable wally
would be longer than the syllable 0. The first syllable of
668og
is longer than the first syllable of 686g, the first syllable of
tgOitog is longer than the first syllable of
668og,
and the first syll-
able of cirQ6cOog is longer than the first syllable of ToOnog . As he
conclude s, So, there are four different types of short syllables,
which have only irrat ional sense as a measure of their varia-
tion.
39
35 Ibid.
36
The second vowel tends to take som e of the length of th e first as the voice
blends the sounds.
37 In this case, both vowels are more clearly sounded to distinguish the two
words.
38
Because these are weak sounds, they do not add enough length to the syl-
lable to make it ful ly long. If the l iquid is a m u, however, the syllable is a l i ttle
longer because the mu adds length by requiring the lips to fully close in order to
produce the m sound. If the mu is fully sounded, the syllable will be long. On
the matter of the mu, see Aristides Quinti l ianus
De musica 1.21.
39 Dionysius of Halicarnassus
De comp. verb. 1.15 (Roberts 152 .14-15).
byguestonJanuary31,2014
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
7/22
R h y t h m a n d M e t e r in A n c i e n t G r e e k M u s i c 16 5
It should now be clear that a syllable in G reek verse w ill be
not only long or short but also com mon and that al l these sylla-
bles are variable in length. Thu s , to recal l Dionys ius ' words
once again: There is not one nature of long and short syllables,
rather some are longer than longs and some shorter than
shorts.
40
This variety will appear most clearly in the musical
fragments to be discussed later.
Ar sis and T hesis
A basic distinction between rhythm and meter, as noted
above, is stated by Aristides Quinti lianus in Bo ok I, section 2 3:
Rhythm h as its essence in arsis and thesis, and meter in sylla-
bles and their dissimilarity. 41If the essence of rhythm is arsis
and thesis, it is clear that these terms must be properly under-
stood in order to form a conception of ancient Greek rhythm;
nevertheless, the terms are casually dismissed by modern metric
studies. Paul Maas, for instance, states:
The present exposit ion has the l imited aim o f describing the m ost im-
portant phenomena with as few preconceptions as poss ible. It wi l l
therefore be necessary not only to avoid using the terms arsis and
thesis , but to keep our minds clear, so far as possible, of the no-
t ions associated with them . This is so for the fol lowing reasons:
1. In English rhythmic arsis and thesis signify the stressed
and unstressed syllables respectively, a distinction which does not ex-
ist in Greek metric .
2.
The G reek m etrical writers (e.g. , Bacchius 98-101, p. 317
von Jan) mean by arsis what we, who tend to confuse short with
unaccen ted, mea n by thesis and by thesis what we mean by
arsis.
3. Even in their original sense these terms are u seless , because
they make a unit not of the organic groups of e lements but of parts of
these arbitrarily separated from the w holes. These parts are the so-
called feet OtOOEg, x6vaL).
40Ibid. (Roberts 150.22-152.2).
41
Aristides Quinti l ianus
De m usica
1.23 (Mathiesen, Ari st i des , p. 108).
4
Most important of al l , we are in any case obliged to give names
to the e l ements and groups of e l ements that we l earn to recognize
through the principle of responsion . . .; and this makes the concepts
of arsis and thesis superfluous.
42
Maas's arguments are, of course, either irrelevant (1 and 2) or a
priori (3 and 4). Perhaps it wil l be possible to show that the no -
tions associated with arsis and thesis are indeed valuable to an
understanding of ancient Greek rhythmics.
Aristides Quintil ianus, once again, provides useful comm ent
on the natu re of arsis and thesis. In Book I, section 13, he mak es
it clear that arsis and thesis are conditions of the chronoi that
make up rhythm . Later, in section 14, he points out that arsis
and thesis are the two parts of a foot. Then, in sections 15
through 17, he defines many feet in terms of their arses and the-
ses, and it becomes clear that feet of similar qu antity will be dis-
tinguished by which part is the arsis and w hich the thesis. For
example, in comparing the greater anapestic, lesser anapestic,
iamboid choreic, and trochoid choreic, it may be seen that the
first has a long thesis and an arsis of two shorts; the second is the
exact reversean arsis of two shorts and a long thesis; the third,
which in order of chro noi is identical to the greater an apestic, is
defined as having a long arsis and two theses; and the fourth,
which in order of chronoi is identical to the lesser anapestic, is
defined as having two arses and a long thesis. Figure 1 exhibits
these patterns. Even without determ ining precisely what arsis
and thesis mean , i t is clear that the difference between greater
and lesser anapestic is not the arsis and thesis, but rather the
order of the arsis and thesis; that the difference between greater
anapestic and iamboid choreic is not in the chronoi, but in the
order and num ber of the arsis and thesis; that the difference be-
tween lesser anapestic and trochoid choreic is not in the chro-
noi, but in the num ber of arses and theses; and that the differ-
ence between iamboid choreic and trochoid choreic is not in the
order of arsis and thesis, but in the number of arse s and theses.
42 Maas,
G re e k M e t re ,
pp. 6-7.
byguestonJanuary31,2014
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
8/22
166 M u s i c T h e o r y S pe c t r u m
Figure 1. Comparison of greater and lesser anapestic, iamboid
and trochoid choreic (following Aristides Quintilianus
De
mus .
1.15, 17)
greater anapestic
lesser anapestic
iamboid choreic
trochoid choreic
It may be informative to see how these distinctions could be
represented through the analogy of modern rhythmic notation.
Figure 2 shows the notational patterns for the four rhythms, and
the subtle differences should be imm ediate ly apparent. The
Figure 2. Rhythmic patterns in m usical notation for the greater
and lesser anapestic and the iamboid and trocho id choreic
greater anapestic
J
J1.1
J IJ
J
lesser anapestic
JIJJIJ
J
iamboid choreic
jj
j
J
I
J
IJ
trochoid choreic
JIJ
JI
I
J
J 1 a
I = thesis
= two chronoi
in one posit ion
greater and lesser anapestic, which come from the dactylic ge-
nus, 43are equal rhythm s because the arsis and thesis are equal;
the iamboid and trochoid choreic are, however, like the dactylic
genus in rhythm (as is apparent) but l ike the iambic genus in
num ber because there are two theses or arses to one arsis or the-
sis. The way in which rhythms may differ one from another in
respect to their arses and theses is an important distinctive fac-
tor, as is made clear in Aristoxenus' Rhythm ic Elements :
Feet d i f fer from one another in ant i thes is , some having the t ime o f
arsis in opposition to that of the thesis. This same difference will also
exist in those feet equal in duration yet unequal in the placem ent of
the arsis against the thesis,'
and in Aristides Quinti lianus' Book I, section 14:
Foot is a part of every rhythm, through which we comprehend the
whole. There are tw o parts to this: arsis and thesis. There are seven
differences of feet: . . . The seventh differen ce is that by antithesis, as
whenever, with two feet, the one has the larger chronos leading and
the smaller following and the other is the opposite.
45
The significance of arsis and thesis to rhythmic design is evi-
dent, but how were they conveyed to the audience? In this
area, the theorists are unfortunately largely silent. Aristides
Quintil ianus in Book I, section 13 refers to arsis and the sis as
noise and quietude, and it is possible this refers to the clap-
ping sound of the
kroupala
worn by the
koryphaios .
46
This pos-
sibility is supported to some deg ree by A ugustine's On M u s ic ,
43
Aristides Quinti l ianus De musica 1.15.
44
Aristoxenus
Rhythmica
29 (Rowell, Aristoxenus, p. 75).
45Aristides Quinti l ianus
De m usica
1.14 (Mathiesen, Ari st i des , p. 96).
46
See Curt Sachs,
R h y t h m an d T e m p o: A S t u dy i n M u s i c H i s t ory
(New
York: Norton, 1 953),
P.
140. Sachs's entire chap. 7, Greece and Rome, con-
tains a wealth of remarkable insights on rhythm and meter in ancient Greek
music. His sections on the difference between m etricists and rhythmicists and
on stress (pp. 138-43) are particularly noteworthy, even whe n his conclusions
are not entirely convincing.
thesis
arsis
uu
arsis
2 arses
arsis
u
thesis
2 theses
thesis
byguestonJanuary31,2014
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
9/22
R hy t hm a nd M e t e r in A nc ie n t Gr e e k M us ic 16 7
Book II, section 10: In making a beat, since the hand is raised
and lowered, the arsis claims one part of the foot, the thesis the
other ; and Book III, section 1:
And so first I ask you whether those feet w hich can properly be put
together can be combined to create a sort of continuing number w ith-
out def inite end, as when chorus-boys beat castanets and cymbals
[scabella et cymbala] with their f eet according to numbers w hose
combinations are pleasing to the ear, but yet in an unending flow so
that, unless you should hear the flutes [tibias]
you could in no way
mark ho w far the com bination of feet runs forward and from where it
returns to begin again.
47
Aristides Quintilianus observes in Book II, section 4 that the
trainer of the ancient choruses is the science of rhythm ic, and
thistaken together with his definition of arsis and thesis as
noise and quietude might we ll suggest some sort of clapping
sound. Mar ius Victorinus also me ntions the sound of arsis
and thesis:
Arsis and thesis of which the Greeks speakthat is,
subla t io
an d
pos i t iosignify
a m otion of the foot. Arsis is the raising
[sublatio] of
the foot without a sound, and thesis is the placement
[pos i t io ] of the
foot with a sound. Arsis is a lengthening of the chronos
[ tempus] ,
sound, and voice; thesis is the lowering and a certain contrac tion of
syllables.
It is also possible that the arsis and the sis are directly related to
particular bodily movements associated with particular
rhythm s, which are well attested (though no t fully described) by
47 Augustine
De musica
2.10, 3.1 (trans. from Robert Catesby Taliaferro,
On Music, in
The Fathers of the Church
[New York: Fathers of the Church,
1947], 4:226, 2 37). Taliaferro provides a useful introduction to his tran slation
and many informative annotations. For a text with Ital ian translation, useful
annotation s, and a valuable index, see Giovann i Marzi,
Aureli i Augustini de
musica,
Collana di classici della fi losofia cristiana, no. 1 (Florence: Sansoni,
1969).
48 Marius Victorinus
Ars gramm at i ca
(GL 6:40).
many early writers, including Aristides Quinti lianus in Bo ok I,
section 13, and Boo k II, sections 4, 10, and 1 6; and Qu inti lian's
Oratorical Principles,
Book XI, section 3 (which provides an ex-
tensive treatment of the actions used in delivery). Any of these
possibil i ties could con vey the distinction of arsis and thesis and
clarify the meaning and structure of rhythmic patterns.
It is now time to make some summary statements about
rhythm and m eter. Rhythm is a pattern of durations (or, chro-
noi) articulated by arses and theses an d exhibiting in generic
terms certain proportions of short, long, and comm on syllables,
which are in actual practice made shorter or longer by musical
or rhythmic forces (or by both combined). Meter, on the other
hand, provides (1) a means of mea suring certain gram matical
elements ,
49
(2) a m eans of m easuring syllables in words, which
are quite variable, and (3) a mean s of mea suringas A ristides
Quinti l ianus states in Book I, section 12 feet compounded of
dissimilar syllables, symme trical in length. Whereas a rhyth-
m ic pattern may be endless ly varied, as Augu stine shows in
Book III of his treatise , a metr ic pattern must be m ade up of
symm etrical feet (but not n ecessari ly of the same feet) , as is
shown clearly in Dionysius' treatise, section 25, Aristides
Quintilianus' Book I, sections 24-29, and Augustine's Book
III, section 1. So, every meter m ust have rhythm , but not every
rhythm m ust have meter. Final ly, verse or poetry i s a sca le o f
meters, but not necessarily the sam e m eter, as Aristides Quinti-
l ianus observes in Book I, section 2 9 and Au gustine in Book V.
Here again, a m odern parallel may be informative. Figure 3 ex-
hibits the famous and much-noted rhythmic cycle in the four
movements of Beethoven's Symphony no. 5: though the
rhythm is the same in each case, the meter and tempo are differ-
ent and thus the effect of each rhythm ic-metric complex. So too
the rhythmic-metric interplay (not simply the meter or the
rhythm alone) in Greek verse is one of the main centers for ex-
pression, as wil l become clear in the fol lowing analyses.
49
Cf. Longinus
Prol. in Heph.
4 (Consbruch 83.1-25).
byguestonJanuary31,2014
http
://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
10/22
1 68 M u s i c T h e o r y S p e c t ru m
Figure 3. Rhythmic-metric patterns for the four movem ents of
Beethoven's Symphony no. 5
Allegro con brio
J
T D I
Andante con moto
Allegro
III
JJ
Allegro
V
t J ;IL JAI J
Rests
Before proceeding to an examination of the two E uripidean
fragments and other pieces o f ancient Greek mu sic, the func-
tion of rests in rhythm and m eter should be addressed. It is per-
fectly clear that rests formed a part o f the rhythmic and m etric
patterns. Aristides Quintilianus refers to rests twice in his trea-
tise:
Moreover, they render some [patterns] of all shorts, some from longs,
and some as a mixture; or by expanding the longs and the shorts, they
make the arses correspond to the theses either through similar or dis-
s imilar chronoi, and they employ some com plete and some with le im-
mata a nd prostheses , in which are rests . A rest is a chronos without a
note equal to the full value of the rhythm; a leimm ain rhythm is
the sm allest rest and a prosthesis is a long rest , double the smallest .
5
50
Aristides Quintilianus
De musica 1.18 (Mathiesen,
Aristides p. 101).
Later, in connection with the characters of rhythm ic patterns,
he states:
Those having complete feet in periods are more naturally suited;
those having short rests are more artless and petty, and those having
longish rests are more mag nif icent.
51
Augustine adds a gre at deal of additional information in Book
III, sections 7-8, and Book IV, sections 1-3, 7-8, and 10-17.
For instance:
Then you m ust hold there are fixed rest-intervals in meters. And so
when you have found som e defect in a regular foot , you ought to con-
sider whether there will be compensation when th e rest has been mea-
sured and accounted for .
52
And again:
I think you now certainly understand there are a great ma ny kinds of
meter. In fact, we found there were five hundred and sixty-eight,
when n o examples were g iven o f res ts except the f ina l ones , and no
mixture of feet made, and no resolution of long syllables into two
shorts stretching the foot to m ore than fou r syllables. But, if you wish
to get the nu mber of meters with every possible insert ion of rests ap-
plied, and every combination of feet, and every resolution of long syl-
lables, the number is so great i ts nam e is perhaps not at hand.
53
In dist inguishing the di f ferences between rhythm and me ter,
Quintilian observes that rests play a role:
There are also the following differences, that rhythm has un limited
space over which it may range, whereas the spaces of metre are
51 Aristides Quintilianus
De musica 2.15 (Mathiesen,
Aristides
p. 146).
Since rests represent an absence, their measurement raised certain philosophi-
cal difficulties; the difficulty of justifying duration in vaca ncy can sti l l be clearly
seen in the tortuous definitions of rests that abound in thirteenth- and
fourteenth-century mensura l theory.
52 Augustine De musica
3.8 (Taliaferro, 4:255). The ensuing sections pro-
vide a detailed analysis of the rest functioning in a variety of m etric patterns.
53
Augustine
De musica
4.17 (Taliaferro, 4:296).
bygues
tonJanuary31,2014
http
://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
11/22
R hy t hm a nd M e t e r in A nc ie n t Gr e e k M us ic 1 69
confined, and that, whereas metre has certain definite cadences,
rhythm m ay run on as it comm enced until it reaches the point of Rent-
, or transition to another type of rhythm: further m etre is con-
cerned with words alone, while rhythm extends also to the m otion of
the body . Aga in rhythm m ore read i ly admits o f
res ts
although they
are found in metre as wel1. 54
Finally and of greatest importance, rests appear in the musical
fragmen ts. Sometimes the rests are indicated by textual
stigmai
(dots), sometimes the y are the result of an instrumental inter-
jection.
Despite this evidence, rests are virtually never discussed in
modern metric studies. There are a few exceptions. Lionel
Pearson emphasizes the function of rests in his article The Dy-
nam ics of Pindar's Music :
In every strophe there must be one or m ore places where the singer is
given time to take a breath without disturbing the rhythm, where he
has a rest (the equivalent of a l o n g u m
or a breve , somet imes even
longer), during which the instru men ts will not necessarily be silent or
the dancers at a stan dstill; and genera lly it is not difficult to see where
these rests are (they need not be the same in each strophe).
55
Curt Sachs, thirty years ago, also noted the l ine-end rest in his
Rhy t hm and Tem po:
The end of a l ine could be m ade more definitive , masculine , and even
solemn by dropping the last syllable or the last two syllables (or,
rather, by replacing them w ith an equivalent rest) in order to con-
clude on a long syllable. . . . 56
54
Quintilian Institutio oratoria
9.4.50-51 (trans. from H. E. Butler,
The In-
s t i tu t io orator ia of Quint i l ian,
4 vols. , Loeb Classical Library, nos. 105 8
[Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1921], 3:535).
55
Lionel Pearson, The Dynamics of Pindar's Music: Ninth Nemean and
Third Olympian, Il linois C lassical Studies 2 (1977):55. Prof. Pearson remarks
on the general disregard for rests in studies of Greek lyric and observes (p. 55,
n. 2): Although critics, in restoring the text, have considered difficulties of
tonality . . ., they seem prepared to treat the singers as having 'lungs of
bronze.'
56 Sachs, R h y t h m a n d T emp o ,
pp. 133-34.
Rests were needed, of course, for purposes of breathing, but
they also helped articulate rhythmic and m etric patterns, just as
they sti l l do in modern music. It should be noted, by the way,
that rests do not necessarily have to be accom modated within a
metric pattern; they may simply provide articulation points for
a rhythmic pattern, and this is the way the instrum ental inter-
jections function in the
Orestes
fragment, which will be exam-
ined directly. Scholars who w ish to reject or ignore rests in
Greek lyric m ust be prepared to present a case for their point of
view, since the preponderance of evidence supports the pres-
ence and function of rests .
57
The M usica l Fragments : Ear ly
The two earl ies t extant fragments of an cient Greek m usic
come from two works by Euripides:
O r es t e s (P . W i en G2315)
and
Iphigenia in Aulis (P. Leid.
inv. 510). Detailed discussions
of these fragments h ave appeared elsewhere, especially in con-
nection with problems of reconstruction and transcription, and
there is no purpose in recoun ting al l this materia1.
58The focus
57
Pearson, Dynam ics, underscores the point (pp. 54-55): We canno t
give l ife to Pindar's music unless we can supply more th an the patterns wh ich
metricians offer us. We may not want to trust our im agination to supply details
that are missing, but refusal to use our imagination does no t protect us from
error. It is hard for me to sympathize with anyone wh o thinks that, because he
cannot see rou nd the corner, there canno t be anything of interest there. . . . I
propose, instead, to begin by stating quite dogm atically that in every strophe
there must be one or m ore places where the singer is given time to take a breath
without disturbing the rhythm, where he has a rest (the equivalent of a longum
or a
breve ,
sometimes even longer), during which the instrumen ts wil l not nec-
essarily be si lent or the dancers at a standsti l l ; . . .
58
The
Orestes
fragment appears in Egert POhlmann, Denkmaler al tgriechis-
c h e r M u s i k ,
Erlanger Be i trage zur Sprach- and Ku nstwissenschaft , no. 31
(Nuremberg: Carl, 1970), pp. 78-82; and the
Iph igen ia fragment is recon-
structed and transcribed in Mathiesen, New Fragments, pp. 23-31. Tran-
scriptions of the Greek notation into modern notation have been included in
the ensuing figures simply to assist the reader's aural sense of the fragmen ts.
bygues
tonJanuary31,2014
http
://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
12/22
1 70 Music Theory Spectrum
of this discussion will be l imited to rhythmic and m etric prob-
lems, which h ave thus far re ceived l itt le attention.
An analysis of the text in the
Orestes papyrus, using the prin-
ciples explained earlier in this study, will reveal that some of th e
syllables are long, some short, some dichron ic, and some com -
mon. The papyrus preserves only the m iddle part of each line,
and if the beginnings and ending s of each line are supplied from
the m anuscript tradition, further syllabic characteristics, per-
fectly in accord with those on the papyrus, emerge. The r hyth-
mic and metr ic pattern of the text remains am biguous i f i t i s
strictly interpreted by the theoretical principles. But the papy-
rus also exhibits musical notation, including symbols for notes,
rhythmic duration, and instrumental pitches. There are also a
considerable number of stigmai dots placed over the pitch
notes and rhythm ic symbols. The rhythmic symbols that appear
are the diseme (a horizontal l ine), which lengthens the chron os
protos of a single pitch note to two chron oi; the triseme (three
vertical lines or a horizontal line with a vertical line attached to
the right end) , which lengthens the chronos to three chronoi;
and the pentaseme (wh ich looks l ike a supine E), which length-
ens the chronos to five chronoi.
59
T h es e rhythmic s ymbols
make it possible to clarify the purely textual rhythm, and by
combining the two levels of analysistextual and musicalit is
possible to see how the m usic defines the rhythm and m eter of
the com position, just as the theorists have stated it should. Fig-
ure 4 provides a transcr iption of the seven lines of the
Orestes
papyrus, showing the musical notation, the text (the brackets
For a new stu dy that attempts to provide a fuller analysis of both these frag-
ments and their ethos, see my Harmonia and Ethos in Ancient Greek Music,
Journal of Musicology 3(1984):264-79.
59
The rhythm ic symbols appear in the so-called Bellermann Anonym ous I
and III. See Dietmar Najock,
Drei anonyme griechische Traktate fiber d ie Mu-
s ik : E i n e k o mm en t i e r t e N eu a u sg a b e d es B e l l er ma n n s ch en A n o n ym u s ,
Got-
l inger Musikwissenschaftl iche A rbeiten, no. 2 (Kassel: Bdrenreiter, 1972), pp.
66, 138. The symbols are also discussed in POhlmann, D e n k m W e r , p. 141; and
Mathiesen, New Fragments, pp. 27-28.
indicate the beginnings and the endings of each l ine supplied by
the m anuscript tradition), the textual rhythm, and the m usical
rhythm.
It is immediately clear that the presence or absence of the
diseme c larifies the value of dichron ic syllables in the text ( in
every line) or syllables of ambiguous length (in line 3, where the
mu-beta juxtaposition admits of varying interpretations)
60
or
doubled syllables (in line 6, where the singer could not know
without the musical notation whether the two omegas are to be
sung as two longs or are to collectively equal one long) or a syl-
lable fol lowed by a double consona nt ( the alpha-xi in l ine 4 ,
where the singer might conceivably fail to recognize this as a
syllable long by position). The only anom aly is the diseme over
the diphthong in l ine 4, which should surely be recognized as
long by nature. But since the notator has placed a diseme over
the corre sponding syllable in every line, he did so he re simply
for the sake of consistency and as a precaution.
One of the m ost striking features of this papyrus is the ap-
pearance of the instrum ental interjections in l ines 5 and 6.
61
Without these interjections, the rhythmic pattern of line 5
would be seriously incomplete; the function of the interjection
in line 6 is not clear because so little of the text of the first half of
the line is preserved. It is not possible to be sure how the second
half of l ine 5 or most of l ine 6 wou ld actually be sung, but the
first half of l ine 5 would suggest that instrume ntal notes would
complete the rhythm ic pattern in these places.
It has always been assum ed that the squ ared zetas in l ines 1
4 represent an instrum ental note (or an instrum ental f lourish),
and the rhythmic analysis bears this out. These notes provide
an articulation point between th e basic rhythmic pattern of S-S-
S-L-S-L (assuming that mo st if not all of the dichronic and com -
6Cf. Ar istides Quinti l ianus
De m usica
1.21 and n. 38
supra.
61
The instrumen tal interjections are indicated by the presence of a diastole,
which looks somewh at l ike a reverse C. On this symbol, see Bellermann Anon-
ymous I (Najock, p. 72).
bygues
tonJanuary31,2014
http
://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
13/22
R hy t hm a nd M e t e r in A nc ie n t Gr e e k M us ic 17 1
Figure 4. Rhythmic design of E uripides
Orestes
in P. Wien G2315
ffPC
4
n
xetToXocp]ti popect,
1- pat Epos [(Alla
Gas
SS SL
DSSLDD
L
LI SSS
8 a Ocvai3a]xxexiEt,
1-
O p6yets [5Xaos
S
DLLLI SSDLSL
LLLI SSS
Musical notes
1.
Text rhythm
Musical rhythm
Musical notes
2 .
Text rhythm
Musical rhythm
Musical notes
T
C
z
3.
Text rhythm
Musical rhythm
pcivutio] s
o-rots L. ava[bE
Xai ,
(pos
S D S
S?)S L
D D
LSL
L
L
S S
Musical notes
PIT
CP
4 .
d ixolTou
- aoas
uvot [Eas
Text rhythm
DDLSLIDLLLL
Musical rhythm
SLSLISL
bygues
tonJanuary31,2014
http
://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
14/22
172 M usic Theory Spectrum
Figure 4 continued
41111
116
117.11 1111,
1,1MM, INIM .4111
=
Musical notes
5.
Text rhythm
Musical rhythm
Musical notes
6.
Text rhythm
Musical rhythm
irrr P
T r
xovr6xxu6cv 91 D
[ctivibv
DCDS
L
SSSL7SSI
2 i z
itOvw]v 7i
D wcos R O v T [ou
S L
L
ISSISSL
Musical notes
E PZ
7.
text uncertain]
*on the special function of the m u in syllabic quantity, see Aristides Quinti lianus 1.21.
D = dichronic syllable
= poss ible pos it ion of the thes is
S = short syllable
L = long syllable
C = common syllable
bygues
tonJanuary31,2014
http
://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
15/22
R h y t h m a n d M e t e r in A n c i e n t G r e e k M u s i c 17 3
mon syllables in the l ine marked text rhythm would be made
short by the m usic , as the surviving notation w ould suggest)
that appears twice in each line. The pattern is , of course, the
dochmiac:luuu I .
Final ly , the m atter of the st igmai
demands attent ion. The
initial note of each half of the dochm iac receives a st igme,
as can
be reasonably inferred from the presence of the second half of
each dochm iac on the left side of the papyrus and the first half
of each fol lowing dochm iac on the r ight s ide of the papyrus .
The o nly exceptions are the first note in l ine 2 of the papyrus,
which is not preserved, and the two notes over the repeated
vowel in line 6 of the papyrus. Since these two notes collectively
sound the f irst syl lable, perhaps it was thou ght necessary to re-
peat the stigme.
There i s a lso a s t igme over each of the instru-
mental notes in l ines 1-4 that divide the dochmiacs. Since the
dochmiac is defined (by, among others, A ristides Quintilianus
in Book I, section 17) as composed of two parts, an iamb
(v or u u u ) and a paeon diaguios ( u ), it would
appear that the stigme
marks off the beginning of each rhythmic
part, as well as the articulation poin t provided by the instru-
mental interjection.
A num ber of features have emerged with some consistency
in this fragment. These m ust be kept in m ind for comparison
with the other Euripidean fragment, the fragment from Iphige-
nia in Aulis .
Analysis of the text in this papyrus reveals the same sort of
features encountered in the
O res t e s
papyrus . The
Iphigenia
papyrus preserves the left side of each line, and while it might
be possible to complete each line from the manuscript
traditionas was done with the Orestes
papyrusthis wil l not
contribute anything of significance to the topic at hand. In this
papyrus , the textual rhythm is once again a mbiguo us i f i t is
strictly interpreted by the theoretical principles. The musical
notation, however, offers some very remarkable indications.
Figure 5 provides a transcription of the four notated lines of the
papyrus, once again showing the musical notation, the text
(with the brackets indicating where th e papyrus breaks off), the
textual rhythm, and the musical rhythm.
As in the
Orestes papyrus, the presence or absence of the
diseme clarifies dichronic syllables, but it is also used in conne c-
t ion with a tr iseme ( in l ine 2) and a pentasem e ( in l ine 3) to
show h ow the value o f a s ingle note is to be extended over a
number of syllables to make them longer than one wou ld other-
wise assume them to be. In this way, the musical notation func-
tions just as Dionysius of Halicarnassus observed. The rh ythm
of this textwith its shifts from choriambs ( u u ) to
bacchics ( u ) at the ends of lines 1 and 2 to trochees
( u ) at the beginnings of l ines 2 and 4is much m ore com-
plicated than that of the
Orestes
papyrus, and the mu sical nota-
tion helps clarify a rhythm that is otherwise almost irrational.
Th e
st igmai
are also of interest in this fragment. Here, the
s t igmai mark
the end of each initial rhythmic pattern (choriamb
in lines 1 and 3, trochee in lines 2 and 4) and then the long sylla-
ble of the new pattern that follows. Thus, the st igme would
seem to mark each rhythmic pattern in a manner similar
(though not identical) to that of the Orestes papyrus.
To review and summ arize these two fragments, a few gener-
alizations can be offered.
1.
The com poser has added a diseme for the m ost part only
where the syllable (metrically speaking) is short, dichronic, or
doubled (as in votag in line 4 of the Iphigenia fragment). The
exceptions to this occur in every case over alphas (which are
dichronic) followed by a double mute (kappa-chi), a double liq-
uid (lambda-lambda), or a double consonant (xi); and over the
diphthong omicron-upsi lon. The disemes over the alphas are
not too surprising because these syllables are metrically ambig-
uous ( in the f igures , these could be notated as D or C rather
than L). The diseme over the diphthong is anomalous.
2.
The com poser has not placed a diseme over other notes
falling on dichronic or common syllables in order to indicate
that these are short.
3. All the other values are u nam biguously long or short, un-
byguestonJanuary31,2014
http
://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
16/22
o a
U
p
rl
TE Spot pri-te e-potak, T6xvwv .
LSSLI LSSLI DC L
LSSL LSSL[SLLn
C.T CT.
oC-av at: noA.Ixpu-croL AuOat [mat
LDL
ICDLIDL
[LSL
ISLL+SSL
L?]
(SS)
M NN NMES
,..11 .
Z
r
EL/ Fain=
17 4 M u s i c T h e o r y S pe c t r u m
Figure 5. Rhythmic design of Euripides
Iphigenia Au lidensis in
P. Leid. inv. 510
Musical notes
1 .
Text rhythm
Musical rhythm
Musical notes
2 .
Text rhythm
Musical rhythm
Musical notes
3.
Text rhythm
Musical rhythm
icl-SE ES
O t
X X
rD t
t' s
pa
SSLL
S
LSSL
LL+St SS[SS?]
Musical notes
Tr
T
4.
raci'g ye:is
na T
pC-as 6Ao Newts .
Text rhythm
L IDDSSSD
Musical rhythm
s Lsj:ss s s s[Sn
*or short because of the
s t igme?
D = ichronic syllable
= possible position of the th esis
S = short syllable
L = long syllable
C = common syllable
byguestonJanuary31,2014
http
://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/7/23/2019 Mathiesen - Rhytm and Meter in Ancient Greek Music - Music Theory Spectrum -1985
17/22
- U
uU7
R h y t h m a n d M e t e r in A n c i e n t G r e e k M u s i c 17 5
less modif ied by a tr iseme or a pentaseme, which m ake them
rather l ike a dotted note in m odern m usical notation and set
them off on important w ords or at the ends of phrases (e .g . ,
nokkomot and &Mika; in lines 2-3 of the Iphigenia
frag-
ment) .
4. The
stigmai
placed within the m usical line mark off major
rhythmic un its: in Orestes ,
the two parts of the dochmiacs (just
as Aristides Quintilanus describes the rhythm as composed of
an iamb and a paeon diaguios); and in Iphigenia,
the initial cho-
riambs (alternating with trochees) and the shift to bacchic or
reversed bacchic, a pattern noted by Hephaestion in section 9
of the
H a n d b o o k .
5 .
Rests or instrumental interjections either articulate or
complete the rhythmic patterns.
6. The rhythmic pattern is made clear only by the music; it
remains am biguous in the text alone,
62 which is subordinate to
the me lody, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus observes in section
11 of his treatise.
The m anner in which the rhythm ic patterns are established
is clear from Figures 4 and 5, but it is important not to neglect
the question of arsis and thesis, which has been deferred in the
analys is unti l now. Both of these fragmen ts use com plex pat-
terns: the dochmiac (u v
u
I
-
-
v
-),
which is a mixed
rhythm according to Aristides Quintil ianus in Book I, section
17 and Hephaestion in section 10 of the
H a n d b o o k ;
and the
choriambic, which is a composite rhythm according to Aristides
Quinti l ianus in Book I, section 2 6 and Hephaestion in section 9
of the
H a n d b o o k .
The doch miac pattern, therefore, will have
an arsis, a thesis, a thesis, and an arsis. Thus, the Ores tes pa t-
tern might be notated as follows (a vertical stroke denotes the
62
Particularly good examples of the am biguity appear in the
Iphigenia
frag-
ment in connection with l ine 2, note 2, l ine 3, note 6, and l ine 4, note 4, where
comm on syllables and articulating rests appear; and in the Orestes
fragment in
connection with line 5, note 2, and line 6, notes 3 and 4, where a comm on sylla-
ble and a doubled vowel appear. Unti l now, the proper rhythmic transcription
for these notes has not been clear.
thesis and the brackets indicateas beforethe missing part of
the papyrus reconstructed from the manuscript tradition):
u]
L )
u u
o
[ L
u
u
I u
[L
U
vOu
7uL)
I [ ?
7 uulu LI)
The ch oriambic ( if it is construed as a com posite of a trochee
and an iam b, as might be inferred from A ristides Quinti l ianus
in Book I, section 16) w ill have a thesis, an arsis, an arsis, and a
thesis: (The bacchic, which is used with the chori-
amb, should continue w ith an arsis and a double thesis.) Thus,
the
Iphigenia pattern might be n otated as fol lows:
:
VVV I u
u
U
UUL) U_LY
byguestonJanuary31,2014
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/
Downloadedfrom
http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/htt