Pythagoras: His Life and Teaching, a Compendium of Classical Sources (76 page)

The quote is from Nicomachus' ‘Manual of Harmonics' (APMONIKON ETXEIPI
ION).

Marcus Meibom, in the Greek text of his
Nicomachi Harmonices
p. 10 in
Antiquae Musicae
, Vol. 1, erroneously places a period after
. The correct Greek text is supplied by Jan,
Musici Scriptoris Graeci
p. 245, given below with a translation by Mike Estell:

“After the interval of four chords, that of five chords, and that by the joining of both, call diapason, and the tone added between the two four-chord intervals, were confirmed to have this numerical quantity, in some such manner seized upon by Pythagoras.”

Whereas Meibom has
, Jan's text from
Musici Scriptoris Graeci
correctly gives
, which is the masculine dative with
the final letter being iota, not alpha. The word is the aorist passive participle of
, “seize, catch” or “constrain.” In the sentence above,
modifies the phrase
, “in some such manner.” It refers to the manner in which Pythagoras came to establish the numerical quantity of intervals with the musical chords, which he “seized upon.” The phrase, “in some such manner,” refers to the following sentence which describes Pythagoras' trip to the Blacksmith shop. As Stanley observes, Meibom mistakes the meaning, or function in the sentence, of
, not understanding it to modify
, but apparently relating back to the phrase “the tone added between the two four-chord intervals,” with a meaning something akin to “comprehended.”
can mean “to seize with the mind, comprehend, understand,” and this may have been the basis of his error. The period following
may not be related to this error at all, and may just be a simple misprint in the Greek text printed by Meibom. He does not insert a period in the middle of the Latin text as he does in the Greek.

(For the Greek translation and scholarly commentary on this difficult passage above, we are indebted to Mike Estell.)

P. 355 note 605.
, Meibomius otherwise.