Journal Article

SUONARE LA PAROLA, PRONUNCIARE LA MELODIA: L'aulós come \doppio\ strumentale della voce nel mondo greco-romano

Raffa, Massimo

2008

Overview

In ancient Greek and Roman writings the sound of the human voice and that of the aulos (a double-reed aerophone) are often juxtaposed in a rich web of similes, more-or-less consciously employed metaphors and analogies. There are numerous examples of this in philosophical and literary texts, as well as in rhetorical, medical and, of course, musical treatises. This is because the instrument provides a model which makes it possible to represent the mechanism of human sound-production, not only at the level of emission, but also in relation to the formation of phonemes. If we focus on the semantic field of spoken or sung vocal performance - by an actor, singer or orator - we can note how in the Greek language there is a wide overlap with that of instrumental performance: the orator-actor is imagined as a performer whose instrument is his own body. Latin rhetorical treatises (Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero, Quintilian) also make wide use of images relating to the tibia (the Roman equivalent of the aulos) in describing the qualities and defects of the orator's voice. This metaphorical link was so strong that it resisted the fierce opposition of the first Christians to pagan symbolism, including that involving musical instruments: in Prudentius's Apotheosis (4th-5th century), God is still depicted as a skilled tibia player in the act of creating souls through insufflation.

• Publisher: Leo S. Olschki