Katolophyromai ( el, κατολοφύρομαι), is the headword in a musical fragment from the first

stasimon Stasimon () in Greek tragedy is a stationary song, composed of strophes and antistrophes and performed by the chorus in the orchestra (, "place where the chorus dances"). Aristotle states in the ''Poetics'' (1452b23) that each choral song (or ''mel ...

of '' Orestes'' by

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

(lines 338-344, Vienna Papyrus G 2315). It means "I cry, lament so much." In 1892, among a number of papyri from

Hermopolis Hermopolis ( grc, Ἑρμούπολις ''Hermoúpolis'' "the City of Hermes", also ''Hermopolis Magna'', ''Hermoû pólis megálẽ'', egy, ḫmnw , Egyptological pronunciation: "Khemenu"; cop, Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ ''Shmun''; ar, الأشموني ...

, Egypt, in the collection of Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria, a fragment was discovered and published by the papyrologist

Karl Wessely Karl Wessely (''Carl Wessely''; 27 June 1860, Vienna – 21 November 1931) was an Austrian palaeographer and papyrology, papyrus scholar. He examined manuscripts housed at the Austrian National Library (e.g. Papyrus 3, Uncial 058, Uncial 058, 059, ...

, containing a mutilated passage with

musical notation Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...

. Although Vienna Papyrus G 2315 dates to the third century B.C., the melody recorded on it may have been written much earlier.

Text

The full text of the musical fragment reads as follows: The arrangement of the fragmentary text differs from the traditional editions, in which the lines begin with (mother’s blood) and appears after (mortals). Unlike other fragments, however, the text and musical notations are quite well preserved.

Poetic features

The

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

of the song is mainly

dochmiac Dochmiac ( grc, δοχμιακός, from δόχμιος 'across, aslant, oblique', or 'pertaining to a δοχμή or hand's-breath') is a Meter (poetry), poetic meter that is characteristically used in Greek tragedy, expressing extreme agitation or ...

. The preserved vocal notes coincide with the ancient Dorian or Phrygian ''harmoniai'' transmitted by

Aristides Quintilianus Aristides Quintilianus (Greek: Ἀριστείδης Κοϊντιλιανός) was the Greek author of an ancient musical treatise, ''Perì musikês'' (Περὶ Μουσικῆς, i.e. ''On Music''; Latin: ''De Musica'') According to Theodore Kar ...

, the Damonian ''harmoniai'', in enharmonic genus, which was usual in tragedy of fifth century BC.

Authorship

Whether this fragment represents the original music Euripides composed in 408 BC is an open question, given the absence of 5th century BC musical inscriptions. The fragment accords with observations by

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary sty ...

and

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

about the complexity of Euripidean style.

References

Petros Tabouris Petros Tabouris ( el, Πέτρος Ταμπούρης; born 1967) is a Greek musician, composer and Musicology, musicologist. He is a professional player of the kanonaki and other instruments. Biography Petros Tampouris was born in Athens in 19 ...

Translation of the fragment by Dr. Norman Prinsky

The whole stasimon, lines 316 – 347
in English and Greek from Perseus Project Ancient Greek music Ancient Greek laments Ancient Greek theatre

Text

Poetic features

Authorship

See also

References

Further reading

External links