I. CONCEPT OF MUSICIAN IN
ANCIENT GREECE
The concept of the musician has changed throughout
the history of Western civilization. Greek poets
endowed individual musicians with the magical power
of affecting men and gods—Arion, Timotheus, and
above all Orpheus are archetypes of the magic musi-
cian. In all ancient civilizations music and magic are
closely connected. But the Greek writers on music
ignored the magical and slighted the practical aspects
of music. Their customary definition of the musician
is confined to his speculative, theoretical function.
Aristoxenos (ca. 354-300 B.C.) defines a musician as
one who commands the “knowledge” of the science
of music (Macran, pp. 95, 165). Aristides Quintilianus
(probably fourth century B.C.), in Book I, Chapter 4
of his treatise on music, precedes the various definitions
of music with the following statement: “Music is the
science of melody (μέλοσ) and all elements having to
do with melody” (Winnington-Ingram, p. 4)—a defini-
tion easily understandable in the light of the purely
melodic and rhythmic nature of Greek music, and
echoed by Bacchius Senex (probably fourth century
A.D.) almost word for word (Meibomius, p. 1).
