The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

than 9, for8 is acube(cubus) orasolid, that is, it is a
body of which one can find no more, but 9 is a plane
(superficies), that is, it is a thing that is not filled out;
rather, it lacks perfection. 4. Here two cubes, that is,
two solidities, are found in this manner. The number
six is the first perfect number (see v.11 above); for it
is divisible into equal numbers, so: divide by one, six
parts; into three parts by two – three twos are six; in
half, that is three two times, is six. You will find another
xiv. Music and its name (De musica et eius nomine) 17
1.Music (musica)isthe practical knowledge of modulation
(modulatio)and consists of sound and song. Music
is so called through derivation from the word ‘Muse,’ for
the Muses (Musae)werenamedfrom,thatis, from
‘seeking’, 18 because it was through them, as the ancients
would have it, that the power of song and the modulation
of the voice were sought. 2. Their sound, because
it is something perceived by the senses, vanishes as the
moment passes and is imprinted in the memory. Whence
came the invention of the poets that the Muses are the
daughters of Jupiter and Memory, for unless sounds are
held by the memory of man, they perish, because they
cannot be written down.
xv. The inventors of music (De inventoribus eius) 1.
Moses says that Tubal, who was of the stock of Cain
before the Flood, was the discoverer of the musical art.
But the Greeks say that Pythagoras discovered the elements
of this art from the sound of hammers and from
the striking of taut strings. Others hand down the story
that Linus the Theban and Zetus and Amphion were
the first to become famous in the musical art. 2. After
them, little by little, this discipline especially was regu-
16 This sentence and the remainder of this chapter are obscure
and probably scribally corrupt.
17 Several early manuscripts present elaborate figures, of obscure
meaning, illustrating various mathematical principles of music.
Examples may be found in Lindsay’s edition, and in Fontaine (1959:
following p. 450). Presumably because his work is incomplete, Isidore
does not discuss these in his text.
18 The reading is uncertain. Compare , “searching,”
proposed by Cornutus (first century ce) asthe etymon of ‘Muse.’
The Etymologies III.xiv.4–xvii.3 95
Music (De musica)
perfect number that you may divide by equal numbers
in this way, which accords with the preceding instance.
5. Within the first numeric order, that is, within 10, on
account of its being the first perfect number, multiplying
with the first turn sixes nine times gives 54; nines six
times, 54. 16 The material makes so many parts and it is
known to have had so many parts not without reason,
by twos, and from this it has one in an order such as
this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 8 and other numbers, including 27.]
lated and augmented in many ways, and it became as
shameful to be ignorant of music as it was shameful
not to be able to read and write. Moreover, music was
introduced not only in sacred rites, but also in all celebrations,
and in all joyful or sorrowful occasions. 3.
Just as hymns were sung in veneration of the gods, there
were also hymns to Hymen for weddings, dirges and
laments at funerals, all accompanied by the flute. At banquets,
a lyre or cithara was passed around, and a convivial
type of song was performed by each reclining diner in
turn.
xvi. The power of music (Quid possit musica) 1. Soit
is that without music, no other discipline can be perfected,
for nothing is without music. Indeed, it is said
that the universe itself is composed from a certain harmony
of sounds, and that the very heavens turn to the
modulations of harmony. Music rouses emotions, and
it calls the senses to a different state. 2. Inbattle, too,
the sounding of the trumpet inflames the fighters, and
the more ardent its blast, the braver grows the spirit
for the contest. Since song urges even rowers on, music
also soothes the spirit so that it can endure toil, and the
modulation of the voice eases exhaustion from individual
labors. 3.Music also calms excited spirits, just as one
reads about David, who rescued Saul from the unclean
spirit by the art of modulation. Music calls forth the very
beasts to listen to its modulation, even serpents, birds,
and dolphins. But further, however we speak, or however
we are moved by the internal pulsing of our veins –
these things are demonstrably linked, through their
musical rhythms, to the power of harmony.