Abstract

This article aims to reconstruct the Aristoxenian theory of the soul that survived our times through synoptic remarks of Cicero and Lactantius. In these fragments, it is clearly stated that Aristoxenus believed the soul is harmony. This vision echoes an old concept mentioned in the Platonic dialogue 'Phaedo' that the soul is like harmony in the musical instrument and-consequently-mortal. However, it can be shown that the Aristoxenian theory of the soul is distinct from the Platonic exposition. The misinterpretation of Aristoxenus' thought by Cicero and then by Lactantius is based on simplification or/and misunderstanding of the vocabulary used by Aristoxenus, especially of the concept of 'harmony.' Aristoxenus, in his theory of music, is not using the term ἁρμονία in the sense of a perfect joining of the opposites as Plato: he applies it only for denoting a type of musical scale (next to the diatonic and chromatic one). The word that corresponds to the idea of harmony in music was τὸ ἡρμοσμένον (to hermosmenon), i.e., 'what is harmonized.' By showing the significance of this concept, it can be demonstrated that Aristoxenus, against the later statement of Cicero and Lactantius, developed a doctrine of the soul different from Plato.