While the needs of the body are straightforward, the needs of the mind are not; and so Aristotle returns again to music. It was shown in VIII iii that learning music was not an essential in the same way as learning to read and write, but that it was traditionally a subject of a liberal education. But to learn the rudiments of music in childhood is one thing: it is quite another in manhood to cultivate, understand and perform. A gentleman should enjoy and appreciate music, but not become a mere mechanic by devoting time and effort to reaching a high standard of performance (cf. VIII vi, and introduction to VIII ii, on gentlemen-amaleurs).
Music, Aristotle argues, is something more than amusement; yet one of its great merits is that it gives pleasure, so that it is a powerful instrument of moral formation: by learning to associate the admirable and virtuous characters depicted in music with the pleasure given by its performance, the audience is encouraged to imitate what it sees and hears, and so become virtuous itself Aristotle’s view of the matter is thus substantially that of Plato in Book III of the Republic and Book II of the Laws; and common to them both is the belief that since mankind is essentially imitative, particularly in childhood, the arts are not merely ‘entertainment’ but exercise a crucial influence in education, and need therefore to be controlled by what we should call ‘censorship’. In brief, a man’s taste in music (or dress or anything else) is worth training; for it is part of his character.
I have allowed ‘music’ as a translation of (hē) mousikē (technē), ‘the skill presided over by the muses’, though it is not entirely satisfactory, as the meaning of the Greek term varies somewhat. Aristotle uses it chiefly in a fairly restricted sense, to describe performances which make their primary appeal to the ear, and which are given on musical instruments, with or without sung words. ‘Mousikē’ covered also performances which included dancing, and it could be used in the even wider sense of ‘the arts’ in general; indeed, it is noticeable how towards the end of this chapter Aristotle broadens his discussion of mousikē so as to include painting and sculpture, arts whose appeal is visual. For a summary of the meanings of mousikē, see S. Michaelides, The Music of Ancient Greece, An Encyclopaedia (London, 1978), pp. 213–16; Aristotle’s views on music in general are discussed in W. D. Anderson, Ethos and Education in Greek Music (Cambridge. Mass., 1966), ch. IV.
In this chapter the concept of diagōgē becomes prominent. Translation is very difficult: what English word conveys ‘that special way of life appropriate to a leisured and cultivated citizen-gentleman-statesman’? I have opted for ‘civilized pursuits’.
1339a11 We have already discussed1 some of the questions that arose about music, but we should do well to resume the subject and carry it further, so as to provide a sort of keynote to any future discussions about it. To begin with, it is not easy to define either what the effect of music is or what our object should be in engaging in it. Is it for our amusement and refreshment, like having a sleep or taking a drink? These things are not in themselves of serious importance, though they are pleasant and help us to forget our worries, as Euripides says.2 (This is in fact what causes some people to put all three on the same level, sleep, drink, and music, and to use them all in the same way; and dancing is also added.) Must we not rather regard music as a stimulus to virtue, capable of making a certain kind of character (in just the same way as gymnastic training produces a body of a certain type), by accustoming men to be able to enjoy themselves in the right way? Third on this list of possibilities must be that it has a contribution to make to civilized pursuits and practical wisdom.
1339a26 It is clear then that we are not to educate the young with a view to their amusement. Learning brings pain, and while children are learning they are not playing. Nor yet are children of such age-groups fit to be assigned civilized pursuits, because what is complete3 does not belong to the incomplete. Still, one might perhaps suppose that serious activity in childhood may have for its aim the amusement of the complete and adult man. But if this is so, what need is there for them themselves to learn music? Why not do as kings of Persians and Medes do, have others to make music for them, so that they may learn and enjoy it in that way? For surely those who have perfected their skill in the job of making music will give better performances than those who have devoted to music only such time as will enable them to learn it. But if we must ourselves work hard at such things, does it follow that we must also busy ourselves with preparing high-class meals? Certainly not.
1339a41 The same question arises when we ask whether music has the power to improve the character. Why learn these things oneself and not rather do as the Lacedaemonians do – learn to judge and to be able to enjoy oneself in the right way through listening to others? Without actually learning music, they are capable, they say, of distinguishing correctly wholesome tunes from unwholesome. The same argument applies again, when we ask whether music ought to be performed as a contribution to the cheerful and civilized pursuits worthy of free men. Why must they learn to perform themselves, instead of simply enjoying the performances of others? We may in this connection refer to our conception of the gods; the poets do not depict Zeus as playing the lyre and singing in person. In fact we call the performers ‘mechanics’ and think that a man should not perform except for his own amusement or when he has had a good deal to drink.
1339b10 Perhaps this question should be postponed till later;4 our chief inquiry now is whether or not music is to be included in education, and what it can achieve. To take the three things we have canvassed, does music promote education, or amusement, or civilized pursuits? It is reasonable to reply that it is grouped with, and apparently forms part of, all three. Amusement is for the purpose of relaxation, and relaxation must necessarily be pleasant, since it is a kind of cure for the ills we suffer in working hard. As to civilized pursuits, there must, as is universally agreed, be present pleasure as well as nobility,5 for happiness consists of both these. Now we all agree that music is among the most pleasant things, whether instrumental or accompanied by singing (at any rate the poet Musaeus6 says ‘singing is man’s greatest joy’, so because it can make men cheerful, it is properly included in social intercourse and civilized pursuits) – so that one might from that fact too infer that the young should be taught it. For things that are pleasant and harmless as well rightly belong not only to the end in view but also to relaxation by the way. But since it rarely happens that men attain their goal, and they frequently rest and indulge in amusements with no other thought than the pleasure of them, there is surely a useful purpose in periodic refreshment in the pleasures derived from music.
1339b31 On the other hand, men have come to make amusements an end in themselves. No doubt there is something pleasant about the end too, but it is a very special kind of pleasure, and men in seeking pleasure mistake the one kind for the other. For there is indeed a resemblance to the end of their actions: for the end is not to be chosen for the sake of anything that may accrue thereafter, and similarly these pleasures of recreation are not for purposes in the future but arise from what is past, e.g. labour and pain. This would seem to be a reasonable explanation of why men try to get happiness through these pleasures. But men take up music not for this reason alone, but also, it seems, because it is useful in providing relaxation.
1339b42 Nevertheless we must ask whether, though this has been the incidental result, the true nature of music is not something of greater value than filling the need we have described. Music certainly gives a certain natural pleasure: all ages and all types of character like to engage in it. But we must do more than merely share in the general pleasure which all men feel in it; we must consider whether music has also some effect on the character and the soul. We could answer this question if we could say that we become of such and such a character through music. And surely it is obvious from many examples that we do, not least from the tunes composed by Olympus.7 These are well known to put souls into a frenzy of excitement – an excitement which is an affection of the character of the soul. Again, when listening to imitative performances all men are affected in a manner in keeping with the performance, even apart from the tunes and rhythms employed. And since it so happens that music belongs to the class of things pleasant, and since virtue has to do with enjoying oneself in the right way, with liking and hating the right things, clearly there is no more important lesson to be learned or habit to be formed than that of right judgement and of delighting in good characters and noble5 actions.
1340a18 Now in rhythm and in tunes there is the closest resemblance to the real natures of anger and gentleness, also of courage and self-control, and of the opposites of these, indeed of all the other kinds of character; and the fact that hearing such sounds does indeed cause changes in our souls is an indication of this. To have the habit of feeling delight (or distress) in things that are like reality is near to having the same disposition towards reality itself. I mean if a man enjoys looking at a likeness of someone for no other reason than the actual shape of it, then inevitably he will enjoy looking at its original too, whose likeness he is at the moment contemplating. Now it so happens that other objects perceived by the senses, e.g. those touched or tasted, do not present any similarity to characters – except that perhaps objects seen present a faint similarity, since postures suggest character, but only to a small extent; and not all people are sensitive enough to notice. Moreover the postures and colours that are produced are not strictly representations of character but indications rather, and these indications are particularly conspicuous when emotion is felt.8 It does, however, even here, make some difference what it is we look at; and the young ought not to contemplate the works of Pauson but rather those of Polygnotus9 and of other painters and sculptors who have a concern for character. In music, however, character is present, imitated in the very tunes we hear. This is obvious, for to begin with there is the natural distinction between the modes, which cause different reactions in the hearers, who are not all moved in the same way with respect to each. For example, men are inclined to be mournful and solemn when they listen to that which is called Mixo-Lydian; but they are in a more relaxed frame of mind when they listen to others, for example the looser modes. A particularly equable feeling, midway between these, is produced, I think, only by the Dorian mode, while the Phrygian puts men into a frenzy of excitement. These are the excellent results of work which has been done10 on this aspect of education; the investigators have drawn evidence from the sheer facts, and have based their conclusions on them. The same is true also of the different types of rhythm: some have a steadying character, others an unsettling, and of these latter some give rise to vulgar movements, some to those more worthy of free men.
1340b10 It follows from all this that music has indeed the power to induce a certain character of soul, and if it can do that, then clearly it must be applied to education, and the young must be educated in it. And the teaching of music is particularly apt for the nature of the young; for because of their youth they do not willingly tolerate anything that is not made pleasant for them, and music is one of those things that by nature give spice to life. Moreover there seems to be a certain affinity between us and music’s harmonies and rhythms; so that many experts11 say that the soul is a harmony, others that it has harmony.12