Κατάληψις
grasping, cognition
Translated by Marcelo Boeri3 Jan 2007Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] knowledge. Aristophanes in Clouds [writes]: "[the celestial clouds give us] circumlocution and chicanery and cognition". He said this in a musical sense. For they speak of grasping [kata/lhyis ], when they lay hold of the strings with the plectrum or with the fingers, so as to stretch out the sound.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Κατάληψις· γνῶσις. Ἀριστοφάνης Νεφέλαις· καὶ περίλεξιν καὶ κροῦσιν καὶ κατάληψιν. μουσικῶς δὲ ταῦτα εἶπε. λέγουσι γὰρ κατάληψιν, ἐπειδὰν καταλάβωσι τῷ πλήκτρῳ ἢ τοῖς δακτύλοις τὰς χορδὰς πλήξαντες, ὡς καὶ ἀποτείνεσθαι τὸν φθόγγον.