These modes were all invested with individual characters by the Greeks, just as in the present day we say our major mode is happy, the minor sad. The Dorian mode was considered the greatest, and, according to Plato, the only one worthy of men. It was supposed to have a dignified, martial character. The Lydian, on the other hand, was all softness, and love songs were written in it. The Phrygian was of a violent, ecstatic nature, and was considered as being especially appropriate for dithyrambs, the metre for the wild bacchanalian dances. For instance, Aristotle tells how Philoxenus attempted to set dithyrambic verse to the Dorian mode, and, failing, had to return to the Phrygian. The Mixolydian, which was Sappho's mode, was the mode for sentiment and passion. The Dorian, Phrygian, and Lydian were the oldest modes. Each mode or scale was composed of two sets of four notes, called tetrachords, probably derived from the ancient form of the lyre, which in Homer's time is known to have had four strings. Leaving the matter of actual pitch out of the question (for these modes might be pitched high or low, just as our major or minor scale may be pitched in different keys), these three modes were constructed as follows: Greek Dorian (E F) G A (B C) D E, that is, semitone, tone, tone. / | Phrygian D (E F) G A (B C) D, | or F[#] (G[#] A) B C[#] (D[#] E) F[#], Asiatic | that is, tone, semitone, tone. | | Lydian C D (E F) G A (B C), \ that is, tone, tone, semitone. Thus we see that a tetrachord commencing with a half-tone and followed by two whole tones was called a Dorian tetrachord; one commencing with a tone, followed by a half-tone, and again a tone, constituted a Phrygian tetrachord. The other modes were as follows: In the Aeolian or Locrian the semitones occur between the second and third notes, and the fifth and sixth: [F: b, (c+ d) e (f+ g) a b] Theraclides Ponticus identifies the Hypodorian with the Aeolian, but says that the name "hypo-" merely denoted a likeness to Doric, not to pitch. Aristoxenus denies the identity, and says that the Hypodorian was a semitone below the Dorian or Hypolydian. In the Hypophrygian, the semitones occur between the third and fourth, and sixth and seventh degrees: [F: c+ d+ (e+ f+) g+ (a+ b) c+'] In the Hypolydian, the semitones occur between the fourth and fifth, and seventh and eighth: [F: e- f g (a b-) c' (d' e-')] The Dorian (E), Phrygian (commencing on F[sharp] with the fourth sharped), and the Lydian (A[flat] major scale) modes we have already explained. In the Mixolydian, the semitones occur between the first and second, and fourth and fifth degrees: [G: (a b-) c' (d' e-') f' g' a']