The Musical Nomos in Aeschylus' Oresteia Author(S): Thomas J

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The Musical Nomos in Aeschylus' Oresteia Author(s): Thomas J. Fleming Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 72, No. 3 (Feb. - Mar., 1977), pp. 222-233 Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3296898 . Accessed: 27/01/2014 12:33

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This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICAL NOMOS IN AESCHYLUS' ORESTEIA

Althoughthe imageryof the Oresteia has for many years been the subjectof critical scrutiny, musical allusions have failed to attractthe notice which their importancedeserves.1 Such an oversightmay be due to our ignoranceof Greek music, especially the music of the classical period. We are often tempted to view musical language or imagery in a poem in the same light as astrological symbols;however significantthey might be, they aredrawn from an areaof life that remains obscure to us and that is peripheralto our experience of poetry. When we weigh and sift the fragmentsof Pindarfor the poet's opinions on his craft, we forget that for the composers of choral lyric poetry-including dramatic lyric-poetry and music were scarcely separable. From our own traditionwe are accustomedto poets like Drydenand Millay, who make vague commentsabout an artthey do not at all understand.This has led many to make the improbableassumption that musical languagein Greek poets was similarly vague. Aeschylus in the Oresteia has alluded to several musical forms and to many aspects of musical performance.Since the parodosof the Agamemnonis known to have been influenced by the kitharodicnomos, references to the nomos may be of particularsignificance: they serve to underlineone of the broaderthemes of the trilogy, the competing claims of differentnomoi and opposing dikai. In addition, a discussion of the possible influences of the nomos sheds some light on the compostion of the Agamemnon's parodos. The broadrange of meanings given to nomos presentsa serious obstacle to such an inquiry.2In some senses it is not much different from harmonia or melos. It means first of all a set of notes or intervals performedin certain sequences in a particularmanner. Telestes (806, 810 PMG) appearsto use hymnos and nomos interchangeablyto mean harmonia. The Suda's definition of the kitharodicnomos adds the element of rhythm: 6 vo6os,* KLtap)t8LKO6 7po7rol 7g XWV Kai ET.lhXQ8as, 6p/LoviavE TaKT7r•V p&joiv6v Cjp•o'gvov, i.e., a musical idiom with a definite mode and rhythm.The nomos existed in many forms: some were purely instrumental(auletic, kitharistic);others in- cluded poetic texts (aulodic, kitharodic). In addition to these general categories, there existed specific types with traditionalnames, e.g. Pythios, Oxus, Harmateios, which were often associated with particularfestivals,

1J.A. Haldane, "Musical Themes and Imagery in Aeschylus," JHS 75 (1965) 33-41 is a conspicuous exception. For musical ideas in Aeschylus generally, see E. Moustopoulos' lengthy discussion, "Une philosophie de la musique chez Aeschyle," REG 72 (1959) 18-56. 2The best discussions of the kitharodicNomos are still those of Crusius, "Uber die Nomos- frage," 39 Versammlungdeutscher Philologen und Schulmainner,"Zurich 1887, Verhandlungen 258-76 and Wilamowitz, Timotheos: die Perser, Leipzig 1903, 83-105. See also F. Laserre, Plutarchede la musique, Olten & Lausanne 1954; 22-29, E. Martin,Essai sur les rhythmesde la chansongrecque, Paris 1953, 118 ff.; C. del Grande,"Nomos citarodico," Riv. Indo-greco-ital.7 (1923), 1-17 andEspressibne musicale dei poeti greci, Napoli 192, 24 ff; H. Grieser,Nomos: ein Beitragzur griechischen Musikgeschichte, Diss. Heidelberg1937, and for the basic meaningof the word, E. Laroche, Histoire de la racine nem- en grec ancien, Paris 1949, 166-71. 222

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICALNOMOS IN AESCHYLUS'ORESTEIA 223 places, or peoples in the Greek world. The content, to a certain degree, was specified for some of the different nomoi-as in the auletic Pythios-and the performances, at least in the later period, were more mimetic than in other forms."In the Pythios, for example, the aulete reenactedApollo's conflict with the Python, and Timotheus' Persae gives ample scope for a performer's mimetic talents. Despite referencesto earlier composers, Terpanderwas almost universally regarded as the artistic progenitor of the nomos. Most modem scholars, consideringthe antiquityand religious associationsof the form, have regarded the nomos as a literarydevelopment of a cultic "hymn."4 As a monodic song, dedicated to a god (Apollo especially), containing a narrativeof divine or heroicadventures,5 the nomos has been comparedwith the Homerichymn. One of the distinguishingcharacteristics of the nomos was its seven-partstructure: archa, metarcha, katatropa, metakatatropa,omphalos, sphragis, epilogos.6 This structurewas first convincingly explained by Crusius as a doubled intro- duction in the form of invocations, a doubled transitionalpassage, a central narrative,the poet's signature,the farewell XaipE or conclusion.7This structure is apparent-if primitively-in the Homeric Hymn to the Delian Apollo. The precise relationship of the nomos to various "hymns" is perplexing. [Plutarch](de mus. 6) mentions the prooimia of Terpander.This is variously interpretedto mean "hymns" or preludes. Earlierthe same author(4) specifi- cally states that Terpanderalso composed prooimia in hexameters. Although the firstpart of a nomos was composed-even by Timotheus-in hexameters,it is clear that Terpander'skitharodic prooimia were a species of composition closely enough relatedto the nomos that[Plutarch] could use them as a prooffor the nomos' meter. It is not at all unlikely that Terpanderwrote some of his nomoi to serve the same purpose as Homeric Hymns, that is, as introductory pieces." The nomoi were conservative in their tradition. [Plutarch] (de mus. 7) informsus that until the time of Phrynis(mid Fifth Century)the kitharodesdid not alter the modes and rhythms, but they preserved the tasis or "tuning" native to each nomos. In the 200 years from Terpanderto Phrynisthere were undoubtedlysome changes in the artistic nomos. The rise of other lyric forms

3[Aristotle],Prob. 19. 15 (918b13), suggests that nomoi may have been astrophicbecause of their mimetic character. 4Crusius260-61, Del GrandeEspressione 24, Martin 118, Laserre26, who doubts, 27-28, that the nomos was exclusively monodic. SPlutarch,Inst. Lac. 17. For Apollo, cf. Pindar,Nem. 5.24, as inventorof the kithara,Pausanias 5.14.8. 6Pollux 4.66. For the parts of the auletic Pythios, cf. 4.86. 7Crusius261. 8Crusius,"Zur Nomosfrage," Woch.f. Klass. Phil. 45 (1887) 186. Van Groningen, "A propos de terpandre,"Mnem. 8 (1955) 177-91, bases his whole case for a primitive nomic structurein Terpanderon the ambiguous evidence of [Plutarch]'s statement, that nomoi proceeded directly from invocation to Homeric poetry. In the first place, [Plutarch]must have had limited access to the compositions of Terpander, if he is forced to argue from the practice of Timotheus that Terpanderemployed the hexameter(de mus. 4). Secondly, how would the nomos then differ from the HomericHymn? Thirdly, the transitionalpassages need not have been more than a sentence or two, thus easily overlooked in a general description of the Nomos.

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 224 THOMASJ. FLEMING must have diminishedthe importanceof many old-fashionedfestival nomoi, andby the FourthCentury the nomos was viewed as a kitharodicart.9 Although Attic writersof the Fifth Century,especially Aristophanes,do referto aulodic and auletic nomoi, as an artistictradition the nomos was even then primarily kitharodic,as, for example, Herodotus(1.24.5) and Sophocles (Ul. Fur. 463, Tham. 245 Jebb-Pearson)show. The Orthios Nomos is perhapsthe most commonly mentioned type in the Fifth Century.Both a kitharodicand an aulodic Orthiosare attested;Terpander is associatedwith the former, Olympus and Polymnestuswith the latter.10The aulos was the instrumentfor the expressionof grief," and aulodic nomoi were frequentlyused for lamentation.The Orthiosor "shrill" nomos because of its high register was especially suited to this purpose.12The kitharodicOrthios may also have been used for lament. Herodotus (1.24.5) had the kitharode Arion performthe Orthiosbefore jumping into the sea. Althoughthis performance has been seen as a kindof swan-song,'3it may equally well have been an appealto the patronof kitharodes,Apollo, for preservationas appearsto be the case at the wedding party of Hector and Andromache: 7rTavTE ' dav6pqE' rparov "iaXovdpi"ov OVKaXEOVTE9 7Ta'ov' KaJ8oXOV .EVoXvpav.(Sappho 44.32-33 LP) Aristophaneswas sure enough of his audience's familiaritywith this kind of nomos thathe twice (Av489, Ec 741) makes the and in the pun 6p1pios Uvop•Oq, second passage the singer of the aubade is describedas a kitharode.The same poet goes so faras to define stupidityas not knowing white from the Orthios(Eq 1279). Finally the Suda, whose authorities know many different kinds of nomoi, explicitly defines the Orthios as kitharodic. It is unsafe to attempt any detailed characterizationof the nomic style. Crusiusbased his observationson the style of those poems of later poets like Callimachuswhich seemed to imitatethe structureof the nomos. He concluded that the nomic style was characterizedby disconnecteddiction-even lack of syntactical connection, repetition of key words-especially at significant points of the invocations.'"Crusius' observationsare to a certain extent sup- ported by the style of Timotheus' Persae, a work discovered only after his essay. Timotheus, however, was proverbialfor confusing the nomos with the dithyramb. The most importantinformation comes from Proclus (Chrest., Photius 320b12), who contrasts the stately manner of the nomos with the agitated, enthusiasticdithyramb:

9Laroche 167, cf. Plato, Leg. 700A. 1'ForTerpander, cf. [Plutarch],de mus. 28; for Olympus and Polymnestus, cf. Aristophanes, Eq. 8-10 and scholia, de mus. 9-10 and 6, where the kitharodeStesichorus is said to have imitated the Harmateiosof Olympus. "[Aristotle], Prob. 19.1 (917b20). Discussion of the Orthios may be found in Crusius, "Zur Nomosgrage," Jan, "Auletischerund AulodischerNomos," JKP 119 (1879) 585, who thinksthe Oxus used the OrthiosPous, whence it was also called the Orthios;E. Graf, "Nomos Orthios," Rh M, n.f. 43 (1888) 512-23. 12[Aristotle], Prob. 19.37 (920b), Graf 518-19. '3Del Grande,Espressione 25. '4Crusius, "Uber die Nomosfrage" 263.

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICALNOMOS IN AESCHYLUS'ORESTEIA 225 608 4 ... Ka 4EzO/ VE•vCL tErrayuz•'vW9 /uEyaXovTpEvT(p4; Kai avE!LTatLKal ralt XiEoL T0LSpVtt1/LOL 8tLTrkaOiaL KEXpqT7at. The nomos is, therefore, relaxed, orderly, solemnly magnificent, particularly in its rhythms,and employs repeatedwords as an effect.'" The dactylicrhythm, everywheredescribed as the stateliestof measures,is probablysignified. As for repeated words, if that is what Proclus meant, they may be the significant repetition postulated by Crusius. Two lines of the often disputed fr. 2 of Terpandercontain both Ze1v; and dpxdi twice.16Proclus' vague remarksabout megaloprepeia supportCrusius' notion of syntacticaldifficulty, since asynde- ton and anadiplosis were characteristicsof the grand style. It is generally assumed that the Terpandreannomoi were composed exclusively in hexameters.This appearsto be the opinionof [Plutarch],who (de mus. 3)---on the not unimpeachableauthority of HeraclidesPonticus-declares that Terpanderset his own and Homer's hexameters to music.17 Although we cannot doubt that the hexameterwas the standardmeter, the names of at least two Terpandreannomoi, the Trochaiosand the Orthios, suggest othermeters. The ancient opinion, that the nomos was named afterthe orthianmeter,18 is less likely thanthe reverse, thatthe shrill nomos lent its name to its characteris- tic meter.19Laserre has suggested that various ancient descriptions of the orthianmeter (dactyl, dactyl+trochee, dactyl+spondee, irrationaliamb etc.) can best be explainedby the assumptionthat the Orthiosemployed a mixtureof these meters.20The orthianmeter would have takenshape in (roughly)the same period thatsaw the informallymixed hexametersand trimetersof theMargites and the asynartetesof Archilochus.Even more appositeis Alcman's practiceof mixing dactylic, iambic, and trochaiccola, sometimes perhaps(as in 41&89) joining them into one colon. Such combinations will have led to the more complicated and more organically linked, 'synartetic'cola of Simonides and Pindar. Laserre'shypothesis is supportedby one of the few undoubtedfragments of Terpander, preserved in an entry of the Suda: dIpL?avaKrt v daL8ELVro7 ? TEpaiv8pov v6o.ov, r6v KaXhOlEVOVoV6pdhov, 6rt airo 7rpootLtoV ravnjv dpxrv ElXEV a 'Atptpi o a rvrdV dvaXO' YKaOT fOhXovOELt.)0 pp)v. The mss. also contain the variantsdoc&7rw and (very unlikely) &8C7w.Since the time of Hermannconsiderable ingenuity has been exercised in emendingthe

'5The passage is not entirely clear. The dithyrambis said to employ Xhe L &rwaovio-repat, which might mean simple as opposed to compound (&T6ha•trLo),but the dithyrambdoes not appearto have eschewed compounds. For repetitionas a device, see D.L. Page, "The Elegiacs in Euripides'Andromache " in Greekpoetry and life (Oxford 1936), 218 n.20, where it is attributedto Sakadas. 1"Mostrecently defended by Van Groningen 184-85. '7Cf. de mus. 6, wherewe are told that in the Nomos the invocationwas followed by the poetryof Homer and other epic poets. l8De mus. 28 (a corruptpassage), Suda s.v. 6ptsog. '1[Aristotle],Prob. 19.37 more than implies that the name of the Orthiosdescribed its register. The pous orthios then would have acquiredits name in the same way as the rjpqoqrand the elegiac couplet. 20Laserre25 with ancient references, cf. n. 11 supra.

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 226 THOMASJ. FLEMING line into a hexameter, but Wilamowitz, persuadedby the Timothean parallels,21 preferredto retain the text with uncontractedform by analyzing as It is also thatthe iambic dactylic tetrameter/iambic.... possible penthemimer was an independentcolon or formed part of the first dactylo-iambiccolon. Several of Terpander'sfragments are suspect because of the preponderance of spondees. Even if all these spondiaclines are spurious, it is still possible that frequencyof spondeeswas typicalof the early nomos, perhapseven the orthios, since the Orthian meter was described by Diomedes (I 481 Keil) as dactyl + spondee. The best literarycritic of antiquity, Aristophanes,is our authorityfor the influenceof the nomos on Aeschylus. In theFrogs (1281-82) Euripidesadvises Dionysus not to leave: /1 rrpv7LY' X0d-7 apav o-rt•v /IEXOlV CKOQ7, EK 7(0V VO/IAWV KL••oap&••KW-V In his two lyric stanzas patched together out ofEt-pyaO7jE.EV)V. shreds of Aeschylus' songs, Euripidesquotes among otherplays the parodosof theAgamemnon (104, 109, 111). Since Euripides claims that his medleys are in the nomic style, by carefully examining them we may obtain a clearerimpression of the natureof Aeschylus' borrowings. The repeatedTopXharrotpar ropXharrotpar appearsto imitate an accom- panying lyre.22We need not imagine an actual lyre, since a note after 1263 informsus thatthe aulos accompaniedthe first stanza, and Aeschylus, it is true, is forced to call for a lyre (1304) when he desires one. Kranzobserved that this passage and several referencesto lyreless choruses in the plays of Aeschylus suggest thatthe aulos' tyrannyover tragedywas infiltratedby the lyre on more occasions than the performanceof Sophocles' Thamyras.23 In a century of musical experimentation,the introductionof a lyre for special dramatic or musical effects can not be ruled out, and a lyric in the nomic style would have provided a suitable occasion for such innovation. Several lines of the two stanzas of parody could have been taken from parodoi of other plays as well as that of the Agamemnon.24It may be that parodoi, which gave the best opportunityfor heroic narrative,were best suited to imitatingthe nomic manner. The repeated•r) KTrroVoi) rEhaTEX3LtEr' dTpcoydiv(from theMyrmidons) is used by Euripidesas an example of a typical Aeschylean colon, u-uu-uu-uu-, a kind of paroemiac-in this case dactylic. He may also imply that such repeatedoutbursts were typical. A scholion to 1282 specifies the Orthios nomos, giving Timachidas of Rhodes, a scholarof some repute, as the authority.The metricalshapes of the quotedlines do not violate Laserre'shypothesis aboutthe Orthianmeter: long

21Wilamowitz92, cf. Martin 127-28; Both aptly cite Aristophanes'parody (Nu 595-606). Van Groningen, 188-89, is the most recent correctorof the line. 22Wilamowitz101. 23Stasimon,Berlin 1933, 138 ff. Pickard-Cambridge,The Dramatic Festivals ofAthens, Oxford, 1967, 166, only attemptsto refuteone of Kranz's argumentsbut does not deal with the passage in the Frogs. 24See E. Fraenkel'sAgamemnon II 58 n.4.

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICALNOMOS IN AESCHYLUS'ORESTEIA 227 dactyliccola, manyprefixed with an iambic metron, and a curiousiambic colon (1294) u-u- u- -u, not foundin all ancientcopies, accordingto Timachidas. 1294does look suspiciouslylike a colon inventedto illustratethe antispastic dimeter,it may in fact be only partof a colon, as 111-12 is mutilatedby Euripides. Thatthe parodosof theAgamemnon is in severalways uniqueamong the extentplays of Greektragedy is generallyperceived. Some of its peculiarities can be attributedto the influenceof the kitharodicnomos. No otherdramatic ode is so reminiscentof the contentand technique of archaiclyric narrative. Althoughit is truethat the chorusnarrates events that they claim to haveseen take place, this assertionis in one sense only a device to justify theirlong narrativeon a familiarepic theme.Tragic lyric, unlike most other choral lyric, gave little scope for directspeech; therefore, the speechesof Calchasand Agamemnonreinforce the generalimpression of archaiclyric. Westphalmade an ill-advisedattempt to dividethe parodosinto the seven partsof the nomos.25Even if the greatMetriker had properly understood the significanceof archa and sphragis, his attemptscould scarcelyhave been rewardedwith success. Tragic parodoi are choral and triadic, not monodic and continuous.Certain features of thisparodos do, however,recall the structure of thekitharodic nomos. The invocations of Zeus(160-83) and Apollo (145) may owe littleto thenomos, but the difficult opening lines are an appeal to a godfor the authenticityof theirtale: E.t. Lyap E60EVKaTaIrTvtEi L rTEOi) /LohXrTavaXKW oia-v/pVTroq lov -' a, ApOX7TaVMPC Such an appealis partof the hymnicand kitharodictradition, but tragedy furnishesfew occasions.The vexedi7poXatpirco nearthe end (252), despite Fraenkel'svaliant attempt to interpretas "be greetedin advance",is generally reinterpreted-withAhrens and Meineke-as which trans- 7rpoXatpizro, Page latesas "dismissfrom your thoughts", i.e., say farewell.This farewell might remindus of theXaipE at the conclusionof manyHomeric hymns and which Crusius,on thebasis of parallels,assumed to havebeen a featureof theepilogos to the kitharodicnomos.26 The structureof the parodosmight be broadly describedas a narrativecenter prefaced and concluded by passagesin whichthe Chorusspeaks "in seinersubjectiven Stellung",27 as in the Homerichymns, the nomos,and Pindar's epinicia. Thesubject of styleis approachedwith the greatest diffidence. Although the parodosis certainlyin the grandstyle, the rhetoriciansclassified Aeschylus amongthe grand writers. It is true,however, that even readers well-acquainted withthe difficulties of Aeschyleanstyle find the accumulation of substantives withoutconnectives a formidableobstacle to theircomprehension. Since repeatedwords are not uncommon in Aeschylus,too muchstress ought not to be laidon suchrepetitions as occurin 114and 206-7. Therefrain, however, with

25Prolegomenazu Aeschylus Tragiidien, Leipzig 1869, 99 ff. 26""Oberdie Nomosfrage" 269. 27Westphal100.

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 228 THOMASJ. FLEMING its woeful a'ihLvovmay be comparedwith the ir) KOITOVKTX., which Euripides used as a kind of refrain in the Frogs. It was with special referenceto meter, i.e., music, that Euripidessavaged Aeshylus for his imitationsof the nomos. The long dactylic cola of the parodos, some of them with iambic beginnings, do recall thepastiche of theFrogs, and the heavily spondaiclines, eg. 106, 125, may owe somethingto Terpander.In fact, the dactyloiambic constructionof the first part of the lyric parodos is almost unique in Greek tragedy. Although some of these discovered resemblancesto the kitharodicnomos may have been pushedto improbablelengths, an overall impressionof similar- ity remains. In the parodosof the AgamemnonAeschylus reaches back to the themes and techniquesof archaic lyric. If we lacked the explicit testimony of Aristophanes,we might have assumed that these archaicfeatures were due to the influenceof Stesichorus,especially his Oresteia. This may still be partlythe case. We know too little, both of Stesichorusand of the nomos, to distinguish accuratelybetween the kitharodichymns of Terpandercalled nomoi and the kitharodichymns of Stesichorus. The principal difference may have lain in structure,since the poems of Stesichorus were triadic.28 It may be felt that Aeschylus' dependenceon archaiclyric, particularlythe nomos, marks him as old-fashioned and conservative. Such musical conser- vatism accordsill with the ancienttradition which rankedAeschylus amongthe great innovatorsin tragedy. Aristophanesmay again provide a clue. At the conclusion of Euripides'performance, Dionysus asks (1296-97): r6 Mapa&C0voq ri TphXaToiopaT roiOV' 7j" 7Tr63EV0TVVE'XEea'; L/OVLOMTpOTPOV •.oviV; .K E X to which Aeschylus replies: oiv Av E; dXXhh' 7"6KahXOv 7"oVKaXhoY 7I'VE'YKOVa~l', .yW 'va /.kq )pvv'iX 7"oprvTa'6OV hXEL••LvaMovo-w-v iLEpov 6O'EqiVrl 6P7TrWV We know little about the lyrics of Phrynichus, but they seem to have been influenced by cult music and were delicate ratherthan magnificent.29 It was, therefore,an innovationon Aeschylus' partto have introducedthe traditionsof kitharodiclyric into tragedy.It is possible thatwe oughtto takethis interchange even more literally as an allusion not only to Aeschylus' style, but also to his music. Dionysus' questionthen might be paraphrased:"Where did you get that lyric accompanimentand the songs that go with it?". If it is truethat the music, style, and content of the first and most impressive lyric of the Oresteia bear the imprintof the kitharodicnomos, it seems worth noting thatalthough in his four other extantplays the nomos is mentionedonly three times, in the Ortesteia Aeschylus names the form explicitly four times; three times employs the derived adjectives d&voLo4and EKvo/LoL; and several

2'Glaucus'assertion ([Plutarch] de mus. 7), thatStesichorus was influencedby the Harmateiosof Olympus, not only justifies our neglectingdifferences between aulodic andkitharodic orthioi, butit also locates Stesichoruseven more firmly in the traditionof the Nomos. 29E. Fraenkel, "Lyrische Daktylen," Rh M 72 (1917-18) 321 n.2.

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICALNOMOS IN AESCHYLUS'ORESTEIA 229 times uses terms which elsewhere have some connection with the nomos. Before turningto these specific cases, we might note that in generalmusic was used symbolically to represent both psychic and cosmic attunement. The various forms of lyre and their chief patron Apollo were linked with the principles of civilized order. Opposition to this music is the sign of the savage-human or divine. Pindar's first Pythian is a familiar example, but Aeschylus in a similar vein called Ares (Su 681) dXopov &dKiaptv. The kitharodicnomos may quite appropriatelyserve as a symbol of order, both because of the accompanyinglyre and Apollo's patronage.The more general meaningof nomos, "traditionalnorm", underliesmuch of the musical term's suggestiveness, and both Timotheus and Plato appear to play on the two possible meanings of Evot.ia, good order/good music.30 In the Oresteia the Furies' opposition to Apollo the kitharodeis symbolized by theirmusical attributes.Their song is twice describedas lyreless (Ag 990, Eu 333); theirmusic is the threnos, a dirge accompaniedby the aulos (Ag 990-91). Cassandracalls them a Xopo~ i Otpoyyo0 ovK E-vIpwvo&.(Ag 1186-87). The most concreteform of this musical antithesisis providedby theirBinding song, which is a kind of distortion of the art of music. Their muse is T7vyEpda (Eu 308), and the compounds with 7rapa- (7rapaKora&, 7rapa- popa) indicate the perversityof their art. In theAgamemnonthe chorus throw this opposition into relief when they tell Cassandrathat she is wrong to invoke Apollo in a threnos (1075). J.A. Haldane has pointed out a basic pattern of musical imagery in the Oresteia: "It is used to throw into relief the irony of false victory and of prayer thwarted by the curse. .. ."31 Paeans and ololugai-songs of joy and triumph-turn into threnoi, as each successive act of violence fails to free the house from its troubles. Allusions to the nomos deepen this patternand lend it even greater significance. The most striking allusions to the nomos are by means of two adjectives formedfrom it. In the parodosof theAgamemnon(150-51) the Chorusdescribe the sacrifice of Iphigenia as Ovrtviav &ipav divogov LPv'diSavrov, or "another sacrifice, without song, without feast". Lloyd-Jones, who was the first to see the musical sense of divogo; in this passage, interpretedthis phrase as a reference to the music of the aulos, which ordinarily accompanied a sacrifice. The absence of banqueting and auletic performances indicates a sacrifice to chthonic deities.32This conclusion may well be proper;however, divogo; may refer to another kind of music associated with sacrifices, the

3OPlato,Rep. 425A, TimotheusPersae 253, cited by S.E. Bassett, "The Place and Date of the First Performanceof the Persiansof Timotheus," CP 26 (1931) 163, who also mentionsthe retort to Polyidius, who boasted of Philotas' victory over Timotheus (Athen. 8 (325B): Philotas makes psephismata, Timotheusnomoi. 31Haldane37. 32H. Lloyd-Jones, "AeschylusAgamemnon 416 ff.", CQ n.s.3 (1953) 96, cf. Denniston-Page ad loc.

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 230 THOMASJ. FLEMING Paean.33This normally-but not exclusively-kitharodic hymn accompanied the libationsand was elsewhereassociated with feasting and libations. Like the Nomos, the Paean had Apollo for its patron.34Similarities between the forms make the Paean more likely to be implied by dvotko; than the pipings of the aulos. The context of this passage strengthenssuch an interpretation:Calchas calls upon Ieios Paian to prevent the sacrifice (146 ff.). The mention of Iphigenia'sperformance of the Paeanat her father'sbanquets (243-47) gains in significance, for now there is neither singing nor banqueting. Much later in the play (1142) the Chorus call Cassandra'ssong a v6Pog dvopog or "tune out of tune".35This descriptionmay be appliednot only to the music, but also to the content, which is the murder of Agamemnon and Cassandraas well as the banquetof Thyestes. By twice using an adjectivethat he nowhere else employs, Aeschylus puts the deaths of Iphigenia, Agamem- non, Cassandra, and the children of Thyestes into one category with the suggestion that they are all violations of nomos, the normal order.36 The Choruscondemns the murderof Agamemnona second time and more explicitly as a violation of musical nomos (1472-74): 8tEo&aTo;oS 8&Kavv 1LOL 7dri r KopaKo' ?poVY ;X o"Tra&ik1KvdO/LW V/1.vovj.LVELV 7TrEVXETat. 1472 del. Dindorf 1473 /otL o-'aELcTo-'Stanley TrPcet schol. vet. Tr: FGTrac EKVO6/WS; Evv6••ws This time it is the Daimon of the house that sings a hymn "out of tune", an irrationalpower, which like the Furies violates the laws of music.37 Thus far a clear patternhas emerged:the musical "order" is violated by a series of violent acts. By a simple process of reasoningwe might be led to the conclusion thatlaw andorder are the gifts of the enlightenedApollo andthat the Furies'demands are simply savagery. But Aeschylus resists every attemptto fit him into the same mold with moderncritics of capitalpunishment. The pattern of imagery is more complicated than it at first appears. Cassandra'ssong is called a v6`o; dvotkoo, but it is also called an Orthios Nomos (1152-53): & 6,' 7Tr~pof8a68vrpaiTO Khkayya3 )' v /1Eho'rV76O•E6J/of dpiotp v;6poLx.

"For a famous example of a sacrificialpaean, see Il. I 473. Stengl, Die griechischenKulltusal- terthiimer(Handbuch d. klass. Alt.-wiss. IX) 80, notes thatomissions of the paeanwere mentioned as exceptional. For the Paean, cf. L. Deubner, "Paian," JKP 93 (1919) 385-406, and the fuller treatmentof A. Fairbanks,A Studyofthe GreekPaean. CornSCPh 12 (1900), especially 40 ff. The aulos was the normal instrumentfor sympotic Paeans, but there is no certaintyabout sacrificial Paeans. 34See Proclus, loc. cit., and supra n.5. 35SeeD. Fehling, "NvKTo6qtraLSE daraLEBeA. Eum. 1034 und das sogenannteOxymoron in der Tragodie,"Hermes 96 (1968) 155. Del Grande,Espressione 26 takesthe Nomos Anomos to be a special musical form! 36Forthe use of "sacrificial imagery" and libations, see F.I. Zeotlin. "The Motif of the CorruptedSacrifice in Aeschylus," TAPA96 (1965) 463-508, especially 472-73, who does not, however, take account of Lloyd-Jones' observations. 37Mosteditors, perhapsout of a modernzeal to add to the levels of ambiguity, accept Stanley's reinterpretation,which makes the readingof FGTracpossible: "She boaststhat lawfully ... ," but

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICALNOMOS IN AESCHYLUS'ORESTEIA 231 Fromthe little we know of the Orthios, it seems monstrousto call Cassandra's ravings in dochmii an Orthios.38Fraenkel, however, went too far in denying thatthe Chorusreally meantthe OrthiosNomos.39 Too much has been made of the phrase "ill-sounding din" (Denniston-Page). KXayy?7, although rarely applied to human speech, may not be inappropriatefor a song that has been compared with the nightengale's,40 and 86om?paro;-'-"hardto interpret"41is justified by the priestess'oracular language. Like the Orthios,Cassandra's song is inspired by Apollo and is an appeal-albeit futile-for preservation.Her strainsat times turnto lamentationand thus may be connectedwith the aulodic Orthios, which was'usedas a dirge. If thereis any actualmusical resemblance, then the music as well as the themes of the parodos would be echoed in her songs. The OrthiosNomos, then, begins to have as much in common with the Furies as with Apollo. In fact, the Chorusask Cassandra:"What Furydo you invite to raise a shrill cry in the house?". The verb used is 'T7rop!ih6eLv, which in the Ortesteia we probablyought to connect with the Orthios.In thePersae (1050) it has been used-quite properly-of lament, but in the Oresteia it is applied to expressionsof joy or triumph,as by the watchman(Ag 28-29) or by the Chorus in their description of Apollo's proclamationto Orestes (Ch 954). Neither Agamemnon's returnnor Orestes' vengeance turnout to be occasions of joy, and it is only the Furies who can regard lamentationas a kind of triumph. This developmentof the Nomos, from being regardedas a symbol of order, which the various murdersviolate, to being a song proper to the spirits of revenge, reaches completion in the Kommos of the Choephoroe (423-24), which the Chorus describe in the following terms: ' EKOqia KOJ.LLO'V Aptov iV re KwtLoTa

These Nomoi of lamentationare little more than threnoi.42 By their songs the Chorusalong with the childrennot only mournthe dead Agamemon, they also implore his assistance in the murderof his murderers. The Nomos is mentionedfor the last time atChoephoroe 824, in a passage so obviously corrupt that interpretationis difficult. Explication requires some understandingof the context of the Second Stasimon: the Chorus entreat a

it seems more likely that in Evv6bLo we can find nothing more than a very common confusion in miniscule, corrected by Tr from his exemplar. 38Del Grande, Espressione 25 uses Cassandra'ssongs to establishthe characterof the Orthios. 39Agamemnonad loc. 40It is appliedto birdsfrequently, cf. LSJ s.v. Nomos is often appliedto bird-songs:Alcman 40, AristophanesPa 1159-60, Av 210, 741, Ra 684-85. This common image may indicatesomething of the Greek perceptionof Nomoi as distinctive, identifiablepatterns of melody, within which a certain degree of variation was possible. 41Despitethe scholia and the only parallel, commentatorshave perpetuatedStephanus' mistake. See Fraenkel,Agaamemnon ad loc. 42M. Ostwald, Nomos and the Beginnings of the Athenian Democracy, Oxford 1969, 34, interpretsthe phrase-with the most translators--as "in the mannerof' and cites it as the first occurrence in this sense. He also, 86, rightly insists on the plays on nomos at Ag 416 et alibi.

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 232 THOMASJ. FLEMING series of gods-finally Hermes-to help Orestes. At last they tell of what they will do-presumably if Orestes is successful:43 KaL r•E 8j" rpThoV)ro &O/.L6TwvXVT77pLOY iXjkvv' ovpLot7Ta'Ta 06oi) KPEKTO7•YO'-

7rhTXELra6' EV 819 r67' ~i'8 Blomfield 822 forro'v Enger The problemsof sense and responsionmay never be solved; however, there is no reason to suspect that the sense of the whole passage has been destroyed: "And then we shall uttera plucked(kitharodi)c Nomos of enchanters,a female song, giving a steady fair wind, the redemptionof the house." In 814 the Chorus had already employed a similar image of the favoring wind in their addressto the god of magic, Hermes. Denys Page, who printsEnger's conjec- ture in his Oxford text, remarks: nedum quite correctly "aegre y,6o, ybrjo iubilantibuscongruit". But is the Chorus describinga scene of rejoicing? No ordinarysong of joy could be called a "redemption". Only a magic enchanters' song could have that effect. Clytaemnestrahad alreadycalled the sacrifice of Iphigenia riT80dv OprlKrioVd'q)ptTcw (Ag 1418). In this way the "magical" sacrifice of Iphigenia,the ivoria davouo; is linked with the killing of Clytaem- nestra, which is celebratedas a Nomos of enchanters.44 If the assumptionis correct that these allusions to the musical nomos play upon the usual, legal sense of the word, what is the nomos which is violated or asserted?Obviously, it is anomos to murdera daughteror a husbandor a mother (a mother's lover is quite a differentmatter) or even to feed one's nephews to their father. Each of these acts may be viewed as contraryto the normalorder. In another sense, however, they fulfill at least one nomos which is asserted many times throughoutthe trilogy. The clearest statement is made in the Kommos of the Choephoroe (400-01): V cdihhXtc"v6to/ tz; oVio otw ay6ovat XvgCv E; 7TEr60YdXiho 7rpoooaLTrCE ma,p~a .... . One could multiply instances,45but it is clear that these are the nomoi that the youngergods are accused of overturning.This conflict of standards,in which Ares conflicts with Ares, Dike with Dike, leads to a condition that might well be summed in the up phrase v6.woa drvoow•s.

43See Blass's perceptive not ad loc. Wilamowitz, Aischylos Orestie II, Das Opfer am Grave (Berlin 1896), 231 observed that this may be the sole occurrence of without pejorative y•,-y connotations,but Headlam-Thompson,ad loc., are certainlyastray in attributing"sly humour"to the Chorus' diction. 44Otherspells are mentionedin the Oresteia, eg. Ag 1019-20, where no chantor charmcan bring a man back to life, once blood has been shed; thus theirgereral function-albeit impossible--may be to annullthe basic nomos that shed blood cannot be recalled. The only female enchanters'song to be sung is actually the Furies' binding song. 45Eg. Cho 93 ff., 990.

This content downloaded from 136.152.208.62 on Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:33:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICALNOMOS IN AESCHYLUS'ORESTEIA 233 This dilemma, like the others in the Oresteia, is settled at the end of the Eumenidesand in a musical scene. The procession, with its torches, sacrifices, and libations, successfully ties togetherthe majorthematic images of the play. The musical pattern is also brought to its conclusion. This final song is called-now with justification-an ololuge (Eu 1043= 1047), a song of joy. Moreover, the music itself-that is, the only surviving part of the music, its rhythm-recapitulates earlier lyrics. The whole lyric is dactylic. Apartfrom this final song, only the parodosof theAgamemonand the Binding song containdactylic passagesof any length. In their incantation(Eu 348-80) the furies define their divine prerogativesand disclaim any part in the sacrifices to the Olympians. In the Agamemnonthe Chorus had distinguishedIphigenia's sacrifice as non-Olympianby calling it "feastless and without nomos". The Furies make a similar point, when they call their (Eu 345). Thus the role song dcp6P/•1uKro• ambiguous symbolic played by the Nomos is, perhaps, underscoredby the music itself. At the end the conflicting nomoi are reconciled by a final, musical allusion to the kitharodicNomos. THOMAS J. FLEMING McClellanville, S. C.

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