Fragments on Music and VirtueἈποσπάσματα περὶ Μουσικῆς καὶ Ἀρετῆς
Damon of Athens Fragments on Music and Virtue PDF
The Fragments on Music and Virtue is a modern scholarly compilation that reconstructs the theories of Damon of Athens, a fifth-century BCE music theorist and sophist closely associated with the statesman Pericles. As no complete treatise by Damon survives, this reconstruction is assembled from quotations and discussions found in later authors, including Plato, Cicero, and Philodemus. The collected fragments argue Damon's central doctrine, known as the ethos theory of music, which posits that specific musical rhythms and harmonies possess an inherent ethical character capable of directly shaping the human soul. He contended that exposure to particular musical modes could instill civic virtues such as courage, moderation, and even justice, thereby making music a potent instrument for moral education and political order within the Athenian city-state.
Interpreted by modern scholars as a significant figure within the Sophistic movement, Damon applied systematic, almost scientific analysis to cultural forms. His theories were designed for legislators and educators seeking to mold ideal citizens, proposing that the state could cultivate virtue through the deliberate regulation of musical practice. Damon's ideas proved profoundly influential, providing the direct philosophical foundation for the extensive musical theories developed by Plato in his Republic and Laws, and later by Aristotle. Through this lineage, Damon established a foundational and enduring link between aesthetics and ethics in Western philosophical thought.
| 1 | CICERO de orat. III 33, 132 num geometriam Euclide aut Archimede, num musicam Damone aut Aristoxeno, num ipsas litteras Aristophane aut Callimacho tractante tam discerptas fuisse (scil. existimas), ut nemo genus universum complecteretur? |
| 2 | PHILOD. de mus. IV 33, 37 (S. 104 Kemke) πολλοὶ δ’ ἔτι νομίζουσι προσήκειν αὐτῆς (näml. τῆς μουσικῆς) μεταλαμβάνειν τοὺς χαρίεντας καὶ μετειληφέναι (col. 34) καὶ Δάμων εἰ τοιαῦτα πρὸς τοὺς ἀληθινοὺς ἀρεοπαγίτας ἔλεγε καὶ μὴ τοὺς πλαττομένους, ἐφενάκιζεν ἀτηρῶς. |
| 3 | PHILOD. de mus. I fr. 11 (S. 7 Kemke) οἱ παίζον〈τες ... τ〉ὴν ἄσωτον 〈κατὰ Δά〉μωνα παι〈γ〉νιά ν. |
| 4 (n) | I 13 (S. 7 K., Gomperz zu Phil. v. d. Musik 10). καὶ τὴν ἕξιν ποιήσειν ἁρμ〉ονικωτάτην καὶ ῥυθμικω〉τάτην, ἐπιζητήσαντοσ〉 δέ τινος, πότερον εἰς πάσας τ〉ὰς ἀρετὰς ἢ τινὰς ἡ μουσικ〉ὴ προάγει, Δάμωνα πάλιν φη〉σὶν τὸν μουσικὸν εἰς πάσα〉ς σχεδὸν οἴεσθαι· λέγειν γὰ〉ρ αὐτόν, προσήκειν ἄιδοντ〉α καὶ κιθαρίζοντα τὸν πα〉ῖδα μὴ μόνον ἀνδρε〈ίαν ἐμφαί〉νεσθαι καὶ σω〈φροσύνη〉ν, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι〈καιοσύνην. |
| 5 | [PLUT.] de music. 16 ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὴν ἐπανειμένην Λυδιστί, εἴπερ ἐναντία τῆι Μιξολυδιστί, παραπλησίαν οὖσαν τῆι Ἰάδι, ὑπὸ Δάμωνος εὑρῆσθαί φασι τοῦ Ἀθηναίου. |
| 6 | ATHEN. 628 C οὐ κακῶς δ’ ἔλεγον οἱ περὶ Δάμωνα τὸν Ἀθηναῖον ὅτι καὶ τὰς ὠιδὰς καὶ τὰς ὀρχήσεις ἀνάγκη γίνεσθαι κινουμένης πως τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ αἱ μὲν ἐλευθέριοι καὶ καλαὶ ποιοῦσι τοιαύτας, αἱ δ’ ἐναντίαι τὰς ἐναντίας. |
| 7 | ARISTIDES QVINTIL. II 14 ὅτι γὰρ δι’ ὁμοιότητος οἱ φθόγγοι συνεχοῦς μελωιδίας πλάττουσί τε οὐκ ὂν ἦθος ἔν τε παισὶ καὶ τοῖς ἤδη προβεβηκόσι καὶ ἐνδομυχοῦν ἐξάγουσιν, ἐδήλουν καὶ οἱ περὶ Δάμωνα· ἐν γοῦν ταῖς ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ παραδεδομέναις ἁρμονίαις τῶν φερομένων φθόγγων ὁτὲ μὲν τοὺς θήλεις ὁτὲ δὲ τοὺς ἄρρενας ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ἤτοι πλεονάζοντας ἢ ἐπ’ ἔλαττον ἢ οὐδ’ ὅλως παρειλημμένους, δῆλον ὡς κατὰ τὸ ἦθος ψυχῆς ἑκάστης καὶ ἁρμονίας χρησιμευούσης. |
| 8 | PLATO Laches 197 D Nikias: καὶ γάρ μοι δοκεῖς οὐδὲ ἠισθῆσθαι, ὅτι ταύτην τὴν σοφίαν παρὰ Δάμωνος τοῦ ἡμετέρου ἑταίρου παρείληφεν, ὁ δὲ Δάμων τῶι Προδίκωι πολλὰ πλησιάζει, ὃς δὴ δοκεῖ τῶν σοφιστῶν κάλλιστα τὰ τοιαῦτα ὀνόματα διαιρεῖν. |
| 9 | —de rep. III 400 A ὅτι μὲν γὰρ τρί’ ἄττα ἐστὶν εἴδη, ἐξ ὧν αἱ βάσεις πλέκονται (scil. τὸ ἴσον, τὸ διπλάσιον, τὸ ἡμιόλιον) ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς φθόγγοις τέτταρα ὅθεν αἱ πᾶσαι ἁρμονίαι, τεθεαμένος ἂν εἴποιμι· ποῖα δ’ ὁποίου βίου μιμήματα, λέγειν οὐκ ἔχω. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μέν, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, καὶ μετὰ Δάμωνος βουλευσόμεθα, τίνες τε ἀνελευθερίας καὶ ὕβρεως ἢ μανίας καὶ ἄλλης κακίας πρέπουσαι βάσεις, καὶ τίνας τοῖς ἐναντίοις λειπτέον ῥυθμούς. οἶμαι δέ με ἀκηκοέναι οὐ σαφῶς ἐνόπλιόν τέ τινα ὀνομάζοντος αὐτοῦ ξύνθετον καὶ δάκτυλον καὶ ἡρῶιόν γε, οὐκ οἶδα ὅπως διακοσμοῦντος καὶ ἴσον ἄνω καὶ κάτω τιθέντος, εἰς βραχύ τε καὶ μακρὸν γιγνόμενον, καί, ὡς ἐγὼ οἶμαι, ἴαμβον, καί τιν’ ἄλλον τροχαῖον ὠνόμαζε, μήκη δὲ καὶ βραχύτητας προσῆπτε. καὶ τούτων τισὶν οἶμαι τὰς ἀγωγὰς τοῦ ποδὸς αὐτὸν οὐχ ἧττον ψέγειν τε καὶ ἐπαινεῖν ἢ τοὺς ῥυθμοὺς αὐτούς, ἤτοι ξυναμφότερόν τι. οὐ γὰρ ἔχω λέγειν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μέν, ὥσπερ εἶπον, εἰς Δάμωνα ἀναβεβλήσθω· διελέσθαι γὰρ οὐ σμικροῦ λόγου. |
| 10 | — —IV 424 C εἶδος γὰρ καινὸν μουσικῆς μεταβάλλειν εὐλαβητέον ὡς ἐν ὅλωι κινδυνεύοντα· οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ κινοῦνται μουσικῆς τρόποι ἄνευ πολιτικῶν νόμων τῶν μεγίστων, ὥς φησί τε Δάμων καὶ ἐγὼ πείθομαι. |