Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §87.1

Healing Sciatica with Music and the Phrygian Mode

Passage 94 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus records the healing power of music in his work *On Inspiration*, asserting that sciatica can be cured by playing the flute over the affected area in the Phrygian mode.

§87.1Fr. 87 Ὅτι δὲ καὶ νόσους ἰᾶται μουσικὴ Θ. ἱστόρησεν ἐν τῷ περὶ ἐνθουσιασμοῦ, ἰσχιακοὺς φάσκων ἀνόσους διατελεῖν εἰ καταυλήσοι τις τοῦ τόπου τῇ φρυγιστὶ ἁρμονίͅ.
Theophrastus recorded in his work *On Inspiration* that music also cures diseases, asserting that sufferers of sciatica remain free of the disease if someone plays the flute over the affected part in the Phrygian mode.

Notes

  1. §87.1Ὅτι — Conjunction introducing an object clause. It forms the noun clause "that music also cures diseases," which serves as the direct object of the main verb `ἱστόρησεν` but is fronted for emphasis.
  2. §87.1καταυλήσοι — Third-person singular future optative active of `καταυλέω` (to play the flute over). In the subordinate conditional clause of indirect discourse (governed by the participle `φάσκων`), the original future indicative (`καταυλήσει`) has been changed to the optative due to the past-tense main verb `ἱστόρησεν` (optative of indirect discourse).
  3. §87.1τοῦ τόπου — Genitive case governed by the verb `καταυλήσοι`. It refers to the affected part of the body, expressing the location over which the flute is played.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §87.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:87.1

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