Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras, or Pythagoric Life: Accompanied by Fragments of the Ethical Writings of certain Pythagoreans in the Doric dialect; and a collection of Pythagoric Sentences from Stobaeus and others, which are omitted by Gale in his Opuscula Mythologica, and have not been noticed by any editorIamblichus
Philosophy
Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras, or Pythagoric Life: Accompanied by Fragments of the Ethical Writings of certain Pythagoreans in the Doric dialect; and a collection of Pythagoric Sentences from Stobaeus and others, which are omitted by Gale in his Opuscula Mythologica, and have not been noticed by any editor
Iamblichus
Ethics, Ancient; Philosophers -- Greece -- Biography; Philosophy, Ancient; Pythagoras; Pythagoras and Pythagorean school
Hence he discovered that this
symphony is in a sesquialter ratio, in which ratio also the weights were
to each other. And he found that the chord which was stretched by the
greatest weight, produced, when compared with that which was next to it
in weight, and was nine pounds, the symphony diatessaron, analogously to
the weights. This ratio, therefore, he discovered to be sesquitertian;
but that of the chord from which a weight of nine pounds was suspended,
to the chord which had the smallest weight [or six pounds,] to be
sesquialter. For 9 is to 6 in a sesquialter ratio. In like manner, the
chord next to that from which the smallest weight depended, was to that
which had the smallest weight, in a sesquitertian ratio, [for it was the
ratio of 8 to 6,] but to the chord which had the greatest weight, in a
sesquialter ratio [for such is the ratio of 12 to 8.] Hence, that which
is between the diapente and the diatessaron, and by which the diapente
exceeds the diatessaron, is proved to be in an epogdoan ratio, or that
of 9 to 8. But either way it may be proved that the diapason is a system
consisting of the diapente in conjunction with the diatessaron, just as
the duple ratio consists of the sesquialter and sesquitertian, as for
instance, 12, 8, and 6; or conversely, of the diatessaron and the
diapente, as in the duple ratio of the sesquitertian and sesquialter
ratios, as for instance 12, 9, and 6. After this manner, therefore, and
in this order, having conformed both his hand and his hearing to the
suspended weights, and having established according to them the ratio of
the habitudes, he transferred by an easy artifice the common suspension
of the chords from the diagonal stake to the limen of the instrument,
which he called _chordotonon_. But he produced by the aid of pegs a
tension of the chords analogous to that effected by the weights.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account