Etymologies & Works 3 part 2/3

'the voice of the trumpet roared', (Virgil, Aeneid 3,556): 'and the voices broken upon the shore'. For it is proper that the crags of the shore should resound, and (Aeneid 9,503): 'But the trumpet with its ringing bronze sang forth a terrible sound from afar'. Harmony is the modulation of the voice, and the concord of many sounds, or their fitting-together. Symphony is the tempering of modulation from low and high sounds that are in concord, whether in voice, or in breath, or in striking. For through it the higher and the lower voices are brought into concord, so that whoever should be dissonant from it offends the sense of hearing. Its contrary is diaphony, that is, discrepant or dissonant voices. Euphony is the sweetness of the voice. This is also called 'melos' from sweetness and from honey.

The interval (diastema) is a space of the voice fitted together from two or more sounds. The diesis is certain small spaces and gradations of modulation, inclining from one sound into another. The tone (tonus) is the high utterance of the voice. For it is the difference and quantity of harmony, which consists in the accent or tenor of the voice: of this the musicians have divided the kinds into fifteen parts, of which the hyperlydian is the last and highest, the hypodorian the lowest of all. Melody (cantus) is the inflection of the voice, for sound is direct; but sound precedes melody. Arsis is the raising of the voice, that is, the beginning. Thesis is the setting-down of the voice, that is, the end. Sweet voices are fine and thick, clear and high.

Clear (perspicuae) voices are those which are drawn out to a greater length, so that they continuously fill every place, like the blare of trumpets. Fine (subtiles) voices are those in which there is not much breath, such as belongs to infants, or women, or the sick, as in strings. For those strings which are the finest send forth fine and slender sounds. Full (pingues) voices are when much breath goes forth at once, such as belongs to men. The high (acuta) voice is thin and lofty, as we see in strings. The hard (dura) voice is that which sends forth its sounds violently, like thunder, like the sound of the anvil, whenever the hammer strikes upon hard iron. The rough (aspera) voice is hoarse, and one which is scattered through minute and dissimilar pulsings.

The dull (caeca) voice is that which, as soon as it has been sent forth, falls silent, and being choked off is by no means drawn out further, as is the case in earthenware vessels. The 'vinnola' is a soft and flexible voice. And it is called 'vinnola' from 'vinnus', that is, a curl softly bent. But the perfect voice is high, sweet and clear: high, so that it may suffice for the heights; clear, so that it may fill the ears; sweet, so that it may soothe the minds of the hearers. If any of these should be lacking, the voice is not perfect. XXI. ON THE SECOND DIVISION, WHICH IS CALLED ORGANIC. The second is the organic division, in those things which, being filled by the breath blowing back, are animated into the sound of a voice, such as trumpets, reeds, pipes, organs, pandoria, and instruments like these. 'Organum' is a general term for all vessels of music.

But that one to which bellows are applied, the Greeks call by another name. But that it should be called 'organum' is rather the common usage of the Greeks. The trumpet was first invented by the Tyrrhenians, of whom Virgil (Aeneid 8,526): 'And the Tyrrhenian blare of the trumpet bellowed through the sky'. Now it was employed not only in battles, but on all festal days, on account of the clearness of praise or of joy. Whence also it is said in the Psalter (81,4): 'Sound the trumpet at the beginning of the month, on the day of your notable solemnity'. For it had been commanded to the Jews that at the beginning of the new moon they should blare the trumpet, which they do even to this day. They report that the pipes (tibiae) were devised in Phrygia: these were indeed for a long time applied only to funerals, but soon also to the sacred rites of the heathen.

They think the pipes are called 'tibiae' because they were first made from the shin-bones of stags and the leg-bones of fawns; then by a misapplication those also came to be so called which were not made from leg-bones and bones. Hence also the 'tibicen' (piper), as it were the song of the pipes. 'Calamus' (reed) is the proper name of a tree, called from 'calere', that is, from pouring forth voices. Some think that the 'fistula' (panpipe) was invented by Mercury, others by Faunus, whom the Greeks call Pan. Some say it was by Idi, a shepherd of Agrigentum in Sicily. And the fistula is so called because it sends forth a voice. For FOS in Greek is voice, and STOLIA is called 'sent forth'. The sambuca is a species of the symphonies in music. For it is a kind of brittle wood, from which pipes too are constructed. The pandorius is named from its inventor. Concerning whom Virgil (Eclogues 2,32):

'Pan was the first to teach the joining of several reeds with wax; Pan cares for the sheep and the masters of the sheep'. For among the heathen he was the pastoral god, who first fitted unequal reeds for song and composed them with diligent art. XXII. ON THE THIRD DIVISION, WHICH IS NAMED RHYTHMIC. The third is the rhythmic division, pertaining to strings and striking, to which are assigned the species of the various citharas, also the drum (tympanum), the cymbal, the sistrum, cups of bronze and of silver, or other things which, being struck by their metallic stiffness, give back a ringing sound with sweetness, and other things of this kind. The discoverer of the cithara and the psaltery is held to be Tubal, as was said before. But according to the opinion of the Greeks, the use of the cithara is believed to have been discovered by Apollo.

It is handed down that the form of the cithara was at first like the human breast, so that just as the voice comes forth from the breast, so from it the song might be produced, and that it was named for the same reason. For 'breast' in the Doric tongue is called KITHARA. But gradually more species of it came into being, such as psalteries, lyres, barbita, phoenices and pectides, and those which are called Indian and are struck by two at once. Likewise others and yet others, of square or of triangular shape. [4] The number of strings too was multiplied, and the kind was changed. But the ancients named the cithara 'fidicula' or 'fides', because its strings sound together as well as those between whom there is fidelity (fides) agree well. Now the ancient cithara was seven-stringed. Whence also Virgil (Aeneid 6,646):

'the seven distinctions of tones'. They are called 'distinctions' for this reason, that no string gives back a sound like that of the neighboring string. But there are seven strings for this reason, either because they fill up the whole compass of the voice, or because heaven sounds with seven motions. The strings (chordae) are named from the heart (cor), because just as the pulse of the heart is in the breast, so is the pulse of the string in the cithara. Mercury first devised these; and he too was the first to draw sound from strings. The psaltery, which is commonly called the 'canticum', is named from 'psallere' (to play), because to its sound the chorus responds by singing in concord. Now it is a likeness of the barbaric cithara in the manner of the letter DELTA;

but between the psaltery and the cithara there is this difference, that the psaltery has that hollow wood, from which the sound is given back, in the upper part, and the strings are struck below, and they sound from above. But the cithara has the hollow of the wood in the lower part. Now the Hebrews used a ten-stringed psaltery on account of the number of the Decalogue of the Law. The lyre is called APO TOU LUREIN, that is, from the variety of tones, because it produces diverse sounds. They say that the lyre was first invented by Mercury, in this manner. When the Nile, returning into its channels, had left behind various animals in the fields, a tortoise too was left behind. And when it had rotted, and its sinews had remained stretched within the shell, being struck by Mercury it gave a sound;

and after its likeness Mercury made the lyre and handed it over to Orpheus, who was most zealous in this pursuit. Whence it is thought that by the same art he drew to himself by the modulation of song not only wild beasts, but also rocks and woods. And on account of their love of the pursuit and their praise of song, the musicians in the fictions of their fables imagined that it was placed even among the stars. The drum (tympanum) is a skin or hide stretched over wood on one side. For it is the middle part of the symphonia, in the likeness of a sieve. And the drum is so called because it is 'middle' (medium), whence also a half-pearl is called a 'tympanum'; and it too, like the symphonia, is struck with a little rod. The cymbals are certain cups which, when struck, touch one another and make a sound.

They are called cymbals because they are struck together with dancing (ballematia); for when the Greeks say SUN (together), and BALA is dancing. The sistrum is named from its inventress. For Isis, the queen of the Egyptians, is proved to have invented this kind. Juvenal (13,93): 'Let Isis strike my eyes with her angry sistrum'. Hence women too strike this, because the inventress of this kind was a woman. Whence also among the Amazons the army of women was called to war by the sistrum. The little bell (tintinnabulum) has its name from the sound of its voice, just like the clapping of hands, the creaking of doors. The symphonia is commonly the name for a hollow piece of wood stretched with skin on both sides, which the musicians strike with little rods on this side and that, and there arises in it, from the concord of low and high, a most sweet song. XXIII. ON MUSICAL NUMBERS.

Now you inquire into numbers according to music thus. The extremes being set down, for example 6 and 12, you see by how many units 6 is exceeded by 12, and it is by 6 units: you carry it through the square, six times six make 36. You join those two first extremes, 6 to 12, and together they make 18. You divide 36 by 18, and it makes 2. These you join with the lesser sum, that is with 6, and they will be 8, and 8 will be the mean between 6 and 12. Wherefore 8 exceeds 6 by two units, that is, by a third of 6, and 8 is exceeded by 12 by four units, by a third portion. By whatever part therefore it exceeds, by the same it is exceeded.

But just as this ratio exists in the world from the revolving of the circles, so also in the microcosm it prevails so greatly beyond the voice, that without its perfection man himself, lacking the symphonies, does not stand consistent. By the perfection of this same music, meters too consist in arsis and thesis, that is, in raising and setting-down. XXIV. ON THE NAME OF ASTRONOMY. Astronomy is the law of the stars, which traverses by searching reason the courses of the constellations and the figures and dispositions of the stars in relation to one another and to the earth. XXV. ON ITS DISCOVERERS. The Egyptians were the first to discover astronomy. But the Chaldeans were the first to teach astrology and the observation of nativities. Josephus, moreover, asserts as author that Abraham instituted astrology among the Egyptians.

But the Greeks say that this art was first devised by Atlas, and for that reason he was said to have upheld the heaven. But whoever he may have been, stirred by the motion of the heaven and by the reasoning of his mind, he considered, through the changes of the seasons, through the fixed and defined courses of the stars, through the measured spaces of the intervals, certain dimensions and numbers, which by defining and distinguishing he wove into order, and so discovered astrology. XXVI. ON ITS ESTABLISHERS. Now in each language there are indeed volumes written on astronomy by various authors, among whom, however, Ptolemy, king of Alexandria, is held foremost among the Greeks: he also instituted the canons by which the courses of the stars may be found. XXVII. ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ASTRONOMY AND ASTROLOGY.

Now between astronomy and astrology there is some difference. For astronomy comprises the revolution of the heaven, the risings, settings and motions of the constellations, or from what cause they are so named. But astrology is partly natural, partly superstitious. It is natural, when it follows the courses of the sun and moon, or the fixed stations of the stars at set seasons. But that is superstitious which the astrologers (mathematici) follow, who take auguries from the stars, and who also assign the twelve signs of heaven to the several members of the soul or the body, and by the course of the constellations attempt to predict the nativities and characters of men. XXVIII. ON THE METHOD OF ASTRONOMY. The method of astronomy consists in very many ways.

For it defines what the world is, what the heaven is, what the position and course of the sphere is, what the axis of heaven and the poles are, what the climes of heaven are, what the courses of the sun and moon and of the stars are, and the rest. XXIX. ON THE WORLD AND ITS NAME. The world is that which is composed of heaven and earth and sea and all the constellations. Which is therefore called 'mundus' (world), because it is always in motion (motu); for no rest has been granted to its elements. XXX. ON THE FORM OF THE WORLD. The form of the world is shown thus. For just as the world is raised up toward the northern region, so it is inclined toward the southern. But its head and, as it were, its face is the eastern region, and the last part is the northern. XXXI. ON HEAVEN AND ITS NAME.

The philosophers said that heaven is round, revolving and burning; and it was called by this name (caelum) because, like a chased vessel (vas caelatum), it has the signs of the stars impressed upon it. For God distinguished it with bright lights, and filled it, namely, with the sun and the gleaming orb of the moon, and adorned it with the shining signs of the glittering stars. And this in Greek is called OURANOS, APO TOU ORASTHAI, that is, from seeing, because the air is transparent and purer for beholding. XXXII. ON THE POSITION OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE. The sphere of heaven is a certain shape formed in the round, whose center is the earth, equally enclosed on all sides.

They say that this sphere has neither beginning nor end, for the reason that, being round like a circle, where it begins or where it leaves off is not easily comprehended. But the philosophers of the world introduced seven heavens, that is, the planets, of the harmonious motion of their globes, and they relate that all things are connected with their orbs; and these, joined to themselves and as it were inserted, they judge to be turned back, and to be borne in a course contrary to the rest. XXXIII. ON THE MOTION OF THIS SAME SPHERE. The motion of the sphere is revolved on two axes, of which one is the northern, which never sets, and is called Boreas; the other the southern, which is never seen, and is called Austronotius.

They say that the sphere of heaven is moved by these two poles, and that with its motion the constellations fixed in it go around from east to west, while those near the pole in the north complete shorter circuits near the pivot. XXXIV. ON THE COURSE OF THIS SAME SPHERE. The sphere of heaven is turned from east and west once in a day and night, in the space of twenty-four hours, in which the sun, by its revolving, completes its course above the lands and below the lands. XXXV. ON THE SWIFTNESS OF HEAVEN. The sphere of heaven is said to run with such swiftness that, unless the stars, which delay it, ran against its headlong course, it would cause the ruin of the world. XXXVI. ON THE AXIS OF HEAVEN. The axis is the straight line of the north, which extends through the middle ball of the sphere;

and it is called axis because on it the sphere is turned like a wheel, or because there is the Wain (plaustrum) there. XXXVII. ON THE CELESTIAL POLES. The poles are circles which run around the axis. Of these one is the northern, which never sets, and is called Boreas; the other the southern, which is never seen, and is called Austronotius; and they are called 'poli' because they are the cycles of the axes, from the use of the wains, being named, namely, from 'polishing' (poliendo); but the northern pole is always seen, the Austronotius never, because the right-hand parts of heaven are higher, the parts of the South being pressed down. XXXVIII. ON THE CARDINAL POINTS OF HEAVEN. The cardinal points of heaven are the extreme parts of the axis. And they are called 'cardines' because heaven is turned through them, or because they are revolved like the heart (cor). XXXIX. ON THE VAULTS OF HEAVEN.

The vaults (convexa) of heaven are its extremities, so called from their curvature, as in this line: 'as often as damp night closes in the vaulted heaven'. For the vaulted (convexum) is curved, as it were turned about or inclined, and bent in the manner of a circle. XL. ON THE GATES OF HEAVEN. The gates of heaven are two, the east and the west. For by one gate the sun comes forth, by the other it withdraws itself. XLI. ON THE TWIN FACE OF HEAVEN. The face or head of heaven is the eastern region, the last part is the northern. Concerning which Lucan (4,106): 'Thus the lowest part of the world lies, which the snowy Zone and perpetual winters press down'. XLII. ON THE FOUR PARTS OF HEAVEN. The climes of heaven, that is, its regions or parts, are four, of which the first part is the eastern, whence some stars rise.

The second is the western, where some stars set for us. The third is the northern, where the sun arrives on the longer days. The fourth is the southern, where the sun arrives on the longer nights. Now the East (Oriens) is named from the rising (exortus) of the sun. The West (Occidens), because it makes the day fall (occidere) and perish. For it hides the light from the world and brings on darkness. The North (Septentrio) is named from the seven stars (septem stellae) of the axis, which, revolving in it, are wheeled about. This is properly also called the summit (vertex), because it is turned (vertitur). But the South (Meridies) is so named either because there the sun makes the midday (medius dies), as it were 'medidies', or because then the aether shines more purely. For 'merum' means pure.

There are also seven other climes of heaven, as it were seven lines from east to west, under which the characters of men are unlike and animals specifically diverse are born, which are named from certain famous places; of which the first is Meroe, the second Syene, the third Catachoras, that is, Africa, the fourth Rhodes, the fifth the Hellespont, the sixth Mesopontus, the seventh the Borysthenes. XLIII. ON THE HEMISPHERES. The hemisphere is the half part of the sphere. The hemisphere above the earth is that part of heaven which is wholly seen by us; the hemisphere below the earth is that which cannot be seen, as long as it shall be below the earth. XLIV. ON THE FIVE CIRCLES OF HEAVEN.

The zones of heaven are five, by whose distinctions some parts are inhabited by reason of their temperateness, while some exist uninhabitable through the vastness of cold or of heat. And they are therefore called zones or circles, because they exist in the circumduction of the sphere. Of these the first circle is called ARKTIKOS for this reason, that within it the signs of the Bears (Arctoi) are seen enclosed. The second circle, THERINOS, which is called TROPIKOS, because in that circle the sun, making summer in the regions of the North, does not pass beyond that circle, but immediately turns back; and from that it is called TROPIKOS. The third circle is EMERINOS, which by the Latins is therefore called the equinoctial, because the sun, when it has come to that orbit, makes the equinox.

For EMERINOS in Latin means day and night, by which circle the half part of the sphere is seen to be established. The fourth circle is called ANTARKTIKOS because it is contrary to the circle which we name ARKTIKON. The fifth circle is CHEIMERINOS TROPIKOS, which by the Latins is called the winter or brumal circle, for this reason, that the sun, when it has come to that circle, makes winter for those who are toward the North, and summer for those who dwell in the parts of the South. XLV. ON THE ZODIAC CIRCLE. Now the Zodiac is a circle, which consists of the angles of five lines, and of one line. XLVI. ON THE WHITE CIRCLE. The Milky (lacteus) circle is a way which is seen in the sphere, so called from its whiteness (candor), because it is white.

Some say that it is the way by which the sun travels around, and that it shines thus from the passing of its own splendor. XLVII. ON THE MAGNITUDE OF THE SUN. The magnitude of the sun is greater than the earth's, whence also at the same moment, when it rises, it appears equally both to the east and to the west at once. But as for the fact that it seems to us as if a cubit in size, one ought to consider how great a distance the sun is from the lands, a length which makes it seem small to us. XLVIII. ON THE MAGNITUDE OF THE MOON. The magnitude of the moon too is reported to be less than the sun's. For while the sun is higher than the moon, and yet appears to us greater than the moon, then if it had approached near to us, it would be beheld much greater than the moon. But just as the sun is greater than the earth, so the earth is greater than the moon by some quantity.

49. ON THE NATURE OF THE SUN. Since the sun is fiery, it grows still hotter from the excessive motion of its revolution. The philosophers say that its fire is nourished by water, and that from the contrary element it receives the power of light and heat. Hence we often see it moist and dewy. 50. ON THE COURSE OF THE SUN. The sun moves by its own power and is not turned about together with the firmament. For if it remained fixed in the sky, all days and nights would be equal; but since we see that it will set tomorrow in one place, and set yesterday in another, it is clear that it moves by its own power and is not turned about with the world. For it completes its yearly circuits over unequal spaces on account of the changes of the seasons. Rising, it makes the day; setting, it brings on the night.

For going farther toward the south it makes winter, so that the earth grows rich with wintry moisture and frosts. Drawing nearer to the north it restores summer, so that crops are hardened to ripeness, and things which in moist places are unripe, being warmed, grow mellow. 51. ON THE EFFECT OF THE SUN. The rising sun makes the day, the setting sun brings on the night; for day is the sun above the lands, night is the sun beneath the lands. For from it come the hours; from it the day, when it has risen; from it also the night, when it has set; from it the months and years are numbered; from it the changes of the seasons come about. And when it runs through the south, it is nearer the earth; but when it is toward the north, it is raised on high.

For this reason God appointed for it different places and times of its course, lest, while it always lingered in the same places, it should consume them with its daily heat; but, as Clement says: 'It receives various courses, by which the temperature of the air is dispensed according to the seasons, and the order of successions and changes is preserved. For while it ascends to the higher regions, it tempers the spring; when it has come to the highest, it kindles the heats of summer; withdrawing again, it restores the mildness of autumn. But when it returns to the lower circle, from the icy fabric of heaven it leaves us the harshness of winter's cold.' (There follows a circular figure, which has in its middle the center of the world, and around it the stations of the sun inscribed thus: here the sunrise at the Lord's Nativity;

the sixth hour of the day; the setting at the Lord's Nativity; the setting at the equinox; the setting of the sun at John's Nativity; ever midnight; the rising of the sun at John's Nativity; here the rising of the sun at the equinox.) 52. ON THE JOURNEY OF THE SUN. The rising sun makes its journey through the south. After it has come to its setting and has dipped itself in the Ocean, it goes by unknown ways beneath the earth and runs back again to the east. 53. ON THE LIGHT OF THE MOON. Some philosophers say that the moon has its own light, and that one part of its globe is luminous but the other dark, [thus: (a figure follows)] and that by gradually turning itself it produces various shapes. Others, on the contrary, say that the moon does not have its own light, but is illuminated by the rays of the sun.

Hence it also suffers eclipse, if the shadow of the earth comes between it and the sun. [For the sun is higher than that place. Thus it happens that, when it is beneath the sun, it shines on its upper part, but on its lower part, which it has toward the earth, it is dark.] 54. ON THE PHASES OF THE MOON. The first shape of the moon is two-horned, thus (a figure follows). The second is 'cut' [crescent], thus (a figure follows). The third is half, thus (a figure follows). The fourth is full, thus (a figure follows). The fifth is again half [from the greater], thus (a figure follows). The sixth is again 'cut,' thus (a figure follows). The seventh is two-horned, thus (a figure follows). The seven-and-a-half and the twenty-two-and-a-half are the midpoints in its orbit (a figure follows). The rest are in proportion. 55.

ON THE MOON'S CONJUNCTION [the interlunar period]. The moon's interlunium is that time between the waning and the newborn moon. It is the thirtieth day, on which the moon does not shine. It cannot then be seen, because being joined to the sun it is darkened; but at the same moment, being reborn and gradually withdrawing from it, it is seen. 56. ON THE COURSE OF THE MOON. The moon regulates the monthly periods by the alternations of light lost and regained. It therefore advances in an oblique course and not a straight one like the sun, namely lest it fall upon the center of the earth and frequently suffer eclipse. For its circle is near the earth. Waxing, it looks toward the east with its horns; waning, toward the west: rightly, because it is about to set and lose its light. 57. ON THE NEARNESS OF THE MOON TO THE EARTH. The moon is nearer to the lands than the sun.

Therefore it completes its course more swiftly in a shorter orbit. For the journey which the sun completes in three hundred and sixty-five days, the moon runs through in thirty days. Hence the ancients reckoned the months by the moon, but the years by the course of the sun. 58. ON THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. An eclipse of the sun occurs whenever the thirtieth-day moon comes to the same line on which the sun is borne, and, casting itself before it, darkens the sun. For the sun seems to us to fail while the orb of the moon is set against it. 59. ON THE ECLIPSE OF THE MOON. An eclipse of the moon occurs whenever the moon runs into the shadow of the earth. For it is thought not to have its own light, but to be illuminated by the sun, whence it suffers eclipse if the shadow of the earth comes between it and the sun.

The moon suffers this on the fifteenth day, up until the time when it comes out of the center and shadow of the obstructing earth, and sees the sun, or is seen by the sun. 60. ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STELLAE, SIDERA, AND ASTRA. Stars (stellae), constellations (sidera), and great stars (astra) differ among themselves. For a stella is any single star. But sidera are formed of many stars, like the Hyades and the Pleiades. Astra, moreover, are great stars, like Orion and Bootes. But writers confound these names, and put astra for stellae and stellae for sidera. 61. ON THE LIGHT OF THE STARS. The stars are said not to have their own light, but to be illuminated by the sun, like the moon also. 62. ON THE POSITION OF THE STARS.

The stars are immovable and, fixed with the heaven, are carried by perpetual motion; nor do they fall during the day, but are darkened by the splendor of the sun. 63. ON THE COURSE OF THE STARS. The heavenly bodies are either borne along or moved. Those are 'borne along' which are fixed to the heaven and revolve with the heaven. But certain ones are 'moved,' like the planets, that is the wandering stars, which accomplish their roving courses yet by a fixed rule. 64. ON THE VARIED COURSE OF THE STARS. Because the stars are borne through the different orbits of the heavenly planets, some, having risen more swiftly, set later; some, having risen more slowly, come more quickly to their setting; others rise together yet do not set at the same time; but all return in their own time to their proper course. 65. ON THE INTERVALS OF THE STARS.