Archestratus ( grc-gre, Ἀρχέστρατος ''Archestratos'') was a harmonic theorist in the

Peripatetic Peripatetic may refer to: *Peripatetic school, a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece *Peripatetic axiom * Peripatetic minority, a mobile population moving among settled populations offering a craft or trade. *Peripatetic Jats There are several ...

tradition and probably lived in the early 3rd century BC. Little is known of his life and career.

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

' reference (XIV.634d) to an Archestratus who wrote ''On

auletes An ''aulos'' ( grc, αὐλός, plural , ''auloi'') or ''tibia'' (Latin) was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology. Though ''aulos'' is often translated as "flute" or "double flute", it was usu ...

'' (Περὶ αὐλητῶν) in two books is perhaps to him; it is a "rather remote" possibility that he is identical with Archestratus of Syracuse.

Harmonic theory

The most substantial evidence for Archestratus' ideas is in a passage of Porphyry'
commentary
on Ptolemy's ''Harmonics'', pp. 26–27 Düring (the "<>" are from the original): The ''pyknon'' is a structure located within a

tetrachord In music theory, a tetrachord ( el, τετράχορδoν; lat, tetrachordum) is a series of four notes separated by three intervals. In traditional music theory, a tetrachord always spanned the interval of a perfect fourth, a 4:3 frequency propo ...

. Despite the forbiddingly technical and "arid" appearance of the doctrines ascribed to Archestratus, Andrew Barker has argued that in fact "they engage with issues of real significance to musicians, and to anyone seeking to understand the resources and strategies of melodic composition."

Connections with philosophy

The final section of the passage cited from Porphyry suggests that Archestratus was interested in philosophical topics including

definition A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitio ...

matter and form Hylomorphism (also hylemorphism) is a philosophy, philosophical theory developed by Aristotle, which conceives every physical entity or being (''ousia'') as a compound of matter (potency) and Substantial form, immaterial form (act), with the gener ...

and "the relative importance of the faculties of sense-perception and reason in musical analysis," a topic that had been debated by

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

('' Rep.'' 530c–531c) and

Aristoxenus Aristoxenus of Tarentum ( el, Ἀριστόξενος ὁ Ταραντῖνος; born 375, fl. 335 BC) was a Greek Peripatetic philosopher, and a pupil of Aristotle. Most of his writings, which dealt with philosophy, ethics and music, have been ...

(with whom Archestratus seems to have been in broad sympathy). Archestratus' claim that his work "had substantial connections with philosophy" earned him a vicious attack in

Philodemus Philodemus of Gadara ( grc-gre, Φιλόδημος ὁ Γαδαρεύς, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; c. 110 – prob. c. 40 or 35 BC) was an Arabic Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving ...

' ''De musica'', since

Diogenes of Babylon Diogenes of Babylon (also known as Diogenes of Seleucia; grc-gre, Διογένης Βαβυλώνιος; la, Diogenes Babylonius; c. 230 – c. 150/140 BC) was a Stoic philosopher. He was the head of the Stoic school in Athens, and he was one of ...

, Philodemus' chief antagonist in that work, had used Archestratus' ideas in support of his own. Philodemus' report is as follows (''De musica'', Book 4 col. 137.13–27 in the Budé edition of D. Delattre = pp. 91–9
Kemke
: Archestratus may have hoped to show that specialized sciences such as harmonics were entitled to the serious attention of philosophers in general, but the schools of

Hellenistic philosophy Hellenistic philosophy is a time-frame for Western philosophy and Ancient Greek philosophy corresponding to the Hellenistic period. It is purely external and encompasses disparate intellectual content. There is no single philosophical school or cu ...

were largely immune to this suggestion.

References

Sources

* {{cite journal , last=Barker , first=Andrew , author-link=Andrew Barker (classicist) , date=2009 , title=Musical Theory and Philosophy: The Case of Archestratus , journal=

Phronesis ''Phronesis'' ( grc, φρόνησῐς, phrónēsis), translated into English by terms such as prudence, practical virtue and practical wisdom, or, colloquially, sense (as in "good sense", "horse sense") is an ancient Greek word for a type of w ...

, volume=54 , issue=4/5 , pages=390–422 , jstor=40387997 3rd-century BC Greek people Ancient Greek music theorists Peripatetic philosophers