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Δίεσιν · diesis, interval (δ 954) · Suda

Letters

Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω

Near δ954

δ950having been broken
δ951flowed about, flowed through, spread about
δ952[with lips] wide open
δ953laughed bitterly
δ954diesis, interval
δ955diesis, interval
δ956we trivialized
δ957dispersed, disseminated, scattered (?)
δ958prepared

Suda/Δ delta/δ954

← Previous entry,δ953 Next entry,δ955 →

Δίεσιν

diesis, interval

Translated by Antonella Ippolito2 May 2005Vetting: high5 revisions

definition
dialects, grammar, and etymology
medicine
meter and music
poetry
tragedy

5 notes · 47 words

Translation

[Meaning] separation.¹ Also the movement before a musical ode.²
"*di/esis is the name for the smallest measure of the enharmonic³ intervals, which -- having ceased to be perceived by our senses -- led the enharmonic genre to perish,⁴ since the sense of hearing remained untrained to it."⁵

Greek original · Adler’s text

Δίεσιν· διαχωρισμόν. καὶ ἡ πρὸ μουσικῆς ᾠδῆς κίνησις. δίεσις λέγεται τὸ ἐλάχιστον μέτρον τῶν ἐναρμονίων διαστημάτων, ὅπερ ἀπολωλὸς ἐκ τῆς ἡμετέρας αἰσθήσεως καὶ τὸ ἐναρμόνιον προσαπώλεσεν, ἀγυμνάστου πρὸς αὐτὸ τῆς ἀκοῆς ἀπολελειμμένης.

Betacode

*di/esin: diaxwrismo/n. kai\ h( pro\ mousikh=s w)|dh=s ki/nhsis. di/esis le/getai to\ e)la/xiston me/tron tw=n e)narmoni/wn diasthma/twn, o(/per a)polwlo\s e)k th=s h(mete/ras ai)sqh/sews kai\ to\ e)narmo/nion prosapw/lesen, a)gumna/stou pro\s au)to\ th=s a)koh=s a)poleleimme/nhs.

Notes (5)

The headword is accusative singular of di/esis (delta 955).
1= Hesychius delta1656, Synagoge delta264. ↩
2= Photius delta547 (including the initial gloss), with the exception that in place of the Suda's h( pro\ mousikh=s w)|dh=s ki/nhsis ('the movement before a musical ode'), Photius' text reads h( prw/th kata\ mousikh=s w)|dh=s ki/nhsis ('the first movement into a musical ode') ↩
3= Damascius fr. 199 Zintzen (127 Asmus); cf. Photius, Bibliotheca 344b.19-22. ↩
4cf. Boethius, De institutione musica 1.21 diesis est semitonii dimidium [...] Enarmonium vero quod est [...] cantatur in omnibus tetrachordis per diesin et diesin et ditonum. See also, very generally Hesychius delta1657 di/esis para\ toi=s mousikoi=s kalei=tai me/ros ti to/nou. According to Pap. 13 Hibeh (ed. Grenfell-Hunt I, p. 14, lines 15-17), among the three main genres of ancient music (diatonic, chromatic, enharmonic) the enharmonic one was peculiar to tragic Athenian drama. ↩
5Many ancient sources emphasize the difficulty of singing in the enharmonic genre: e.g. Aristoxenus held the diatonic one to be earliest, because it was the most proper to human voices. The enharmonic is defined as the most elegant one, but also the hardest; the audience got used to hearing this kind of harmony only with some trouble. (A similar assessment occurs in Aristides Quintilianus 1.9.19 M. = 16,10-18 W.)

References

L. Richter, Pathos und Harmonía. Melodisch-tonale Aspekte der Attischen Tragödie (Prismata, 10), Peter Lang, Frankfurt a.M. 2000

Linked from3 entries

α4174ἈσκληπιόδοτοςAsklepiodotos, AsclepiodotusThis man from earliest childhood was agreed to be the keenest and most learned of his age-mates, to the extent that he did not stop busying himself with each of the things which he happened upon, both the marvels which…
δ955Δίεσιςdiesis, interval[Meaning] the separated space. Or a loosening.
ε1130Ἐναρμόνιονharmonious[Meaning something] tuneful.

Neighbouring entries

δ952Διερρυηκόσιν[with lips] wide open δ953Διεσαρδάνισεlaughed bitterly δ954Δίεσινdiesis, interval δ955Δίεσιςdiesis, interval δ956Διεσκαριφησάμεθαwe trivialized

Revision history5 revisions · last 3 Aug 2016

3 Aug 2016cosmeticules — Catharine Roth
7 Nov 2015note numbering; cosmetics — David Whitehead
24 Aug 2013modified and augmented notes — William Hutton
9 Jul 2012another keyword; tweaking — David Whitehead
3 May 2005some additions to notes; cosmetics — David Whitehead
2 May 2005Translated — Antonella Ippolito

Cite this entry

Suda On Line, s.v. Δίεσιν (Adler number delta 954), trans. Antonella Ippolito, 2 May 2005. https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/delta/954

Translation by Antonella Ippolito for Suda On Line, revised by Catharine Roth, David Whitehead, William Hutton, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Shown unchanged, under the same licence, non-commercially. Original on SOL ↗