Plato is one of the most important sources for understanding one of the ways the Ancient Greeks viewed music. As with any era in history, people from different backgrounds have diverse opinions on important parts of a society, such as music. Plato’s ideas about music, however, have proven to be particularly lasting and influential and are necessary to study before considering the theories of Aristotle and other later philosophers. References to music can be found throughout many of Plato’s works, including the Republic, the Timaeus, and the Laws. We will first examine selections from Book III of Plato’s Republic, a work written about the nature of an ideal state. It is written as a dialogue between Socrates and Plato’s brother Glaucon.
The first part of the Republic’s section about music attempts to determine what the purest, most true forms of music are. Because the Republic is a work about the manner in which the best and most beautiful state can be obtained in a society, the dialogue on music is concerned greatly with finding music that is beautiful and useful to such a state. In the dialogue, Socrates declares that “melos (melodic music) is composed of three things, the text, the harmonia, and the rhythm.” In addition to confirming the concept of Greek music as more than just sound (text implies poetry, harmonia the melody, and rhythm the meter and dance), it provides a means by which music can be evaluated for its purity. Plato then limits the available harmonia (or modes) of acceptable music by dismissing the Mixolydian, Lydian, and Ionian modes, calling them “soft and convivial” and “useless even to women who are to make the best of themselves, let alone to men.” The remaining modes are the Dorian and the Phrygian, which as we already mentioned were the most important styles of Greek music. These are important to Plato because they represent 1) a brave man who fails in warfare but “confronts fortune with steadfast endurance” and 2) a man who is voluntarily engaged in “works of peace.” Because Plato has thus restricted the harmonia, he also restricts instruments that can produce several harmoniai through modulations. Plato then banishes the aulos from the ideal city, claiming it to be the most polychordic and panharmonic of instruments. This is a crucial point that Plato makes. By disallowing “panharmonic” music and instruments such as the aulos, he clearly shows his lack of interest in the revolutionary, popular, virtuosic music that began to become prevalent in Greece at this point. Plato believes in the importance and purity of the traditional Greek music styles, and dismisses the excited, undisciplined, showy music of his time. The final purification of music is for rhythm, which Plato claims should not be overly complicated nor in too great a variety, but rather should follow “the rhythms of a life that is orderly and brave.”
Another central point in this part of the Republic is that the ideal state should be protected from evil by prohibiting the works of ugly and illiberal culture. Plato notes the danger of raising the so-called guardians of his theoretical city “among symbols of evil, as it were in a pasturage of poisonous herbs.” He believes that living in an environment of ugliness in culture will simply encourage evil in the souls of the members of the society. Living in a society that appreciates and cultivates beauty will, however, encourage a peaceful, consonant, and harmonious outlook on life. Plato then reiterates the great importance of music in a society, because “more than anything else rhythm and harmonia find their way to the inmost soul and take strongest hold upon it.” Like many great Ancient Greek thinkers, Plato often sees music as a metaphor for the harmony of the universe as well as an excellent example for demonstrating how societies work. Here he uses music education to show how one who has proper schooling in music is naturally drawn to that which is good and will instill goodness in his soul, and would be most open and welcoming to the powers of reason. Plato even calls the “sober and musical love of the orderly and the beautiful” the highest and greatest love, above other pleasures such as those “associated with Aphrodite (the Greek Goddess of amorous love).”
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all recommend a well-rounded, full education comprised both of music and “gymnastics,” or sports. Professional musicians (or athletes, for that matter) are looked down upon because of their narrow focus. A balance of the culturally and intellectually stimulating music with the exercise and physical regulation of gymnastics ensures a healthy lifestyle for both the mind and the body. However, Plato warns that too much music contributes to “softness and gentleness” and too much gymnastics causes “savagery and hardness.” Concentrating only on music (as professional musicians would) tears away at the spirit and causes instability of emotions and feebleness. On the other hand, one who only works with gymnastics (as professional athletes do) experiences the decrease of the soul’s power and will to understand the world. Those who can combine music and gymnastics in the right amounts are truly “the most musical and harmonious” according to Plato. It is clear from these dialogues that Plato recognizes the great power that music has in the culture of society and the ability of music to affect one’s character. He therefore believes that great care should be taken in choosing what kinds of music are suitable for a just and good society and that music must be channeled and controlled to create the best balance of character possible.
Aristides Quintilianus. “On Music,” Source Readings in Music History, ed. Oliver Strunk, rev. ed. by Leo Treitler, also ed. Thomas J. Mathiesen. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998.
Aristotle. “Politics,” Source Readings in Music History, Strunk.
Cleonides. “Harmonic Introduction,” Source Readings in Music History, Strunk.
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. New York: Warner Books, 1969.
Henderson, Isobel. “Ancient Greek Music,” The New Oxford History of Music, ed. Egon Wellesz. London: Oxford University Press, 1966.
Plato. “Republic,” Source Readings in Music History, Strunk.
Sachs, Curt. The Rise of Music in the Ancient World. New York: W. W. Norton, 1943.