[Entry] ἑνδεκάχορδος, ον (adj.)

[Translation] «hendecachord», «of eleven strings»

[Source] Cleonid. Isag. Harm. 12 (p. 202 Jan) = Man. Bryenn. Harm. 1, 8 (p. 116 Jonker)

[Other occurrences] hapax legomenon

[Reference editions] Ion Chius fr. 5 Gent.-Pr. = 32 West2 = 93 Leurini = 4 Valerio

[Brief Discussion]

In its only occurrence in l. 1 of fr. 5 Gent.-Pr. of Ion of Chios, the compound is an attribute of λύρα: in Archaic and Classical poetry the term λύρα – like κίθαρις/κιθάρα and φόρμιγξ – generically denotes the stringed instrument (see WEST 1992, 24). The adjective, which is to be related to the hapax ἑνδεκακρούματος («of eleven sounds», Timoth. fr. 719, 230 PMG), is to be placed within the debate on πολυχορδία, i.e. the increase in the number of strings compared to the traditional heptachord linked to the figure of Terpander of Lesbos (Terp. fr. 4 Gostoli; Strab. 13, 2, 4; Plin. Nat. hist. 7, 204; Suda τ 354 s.v. Τέρπανδρος; Nicom. ap. Boeth. mus. 1, 20, p. 205 Friedlein). The progressive addition of strings to the instrument, effectively expanding its melodic possibilities, is one of the most representative innovations of the musical ‘revolution’ of the 5th-4th centuries BC, probably in imitation of the αὐλός (Plat. Resp. 3, 399d and cf. Leg. 3, 700d); in particular, the sources converge around the name of Timotheus of Miletus, who attributes to himself the inventio of the κίθαρις «of eleven sounds» in fr. 719, 229-231 PMG. Such πολυχορδία is looked upon with suspicion by the proponents of ancient musical taste (Pherecr. fr. 155 K.-A.; Plat. Resp. 3, 399c-d), even to the point of being negatively contrasted by Aristoxenian-minded speculation to the ὀλιγοχορδία (Ps.-Plut. De mus. 1137a-b).

[Bibliography]

E. K. BORTHWICK, ‘Some Problems in Musical Terminology’, CQ 17, 1967, 145-157; E. CSAPO, ‘The Politics of the New Music’, in P. MURRAY – P. WILSON (edd.), Music and the Muses: The Culture of Mousike in the Classical Athenian City, Oxford 2004, 207-248; P. A. LEVEN, The Many-Headed Muse. Tradition and Innovation in Late Classical Greek Lyric Poetry, Cambridge 2014, 80-83; M. MAAS, ‘Polychordia and the Fourth-Century Greek Lyre’, The Journal of Musicology 10, 1992, 74-88; T. POWER, ‘Ion of Chios and the Politics of Polychordia‘, in V. J. JENNINGS – A. K. KATSAROS (edd.), The World of Ion of Chios, Leiden-Boston 2007, 179-205; M. L. WEST, ‘Analecta Musica’, ZPE 192, 1992, 23-28.

[Keywords]

Polychordia, hendecachord, musical innovations

[Serena Napoleone]