In this book, Flora Levin explores how and why music was so important to the ancient Greeks. She examines the distinctions that they drew between the theory of music as an art ruled by number and the theory wherein number is held to be ruled by the art of music. These perspectives generated more expansive theories, particularly the idea that the cosmos is a mirror-image of music's structural elements and, conversely, that music by virtue of its cosmic elements - time, motion, and the continuum - is itself a mirror-image of the cosmos. These opposing perspectives gave rise to two opposing schools of thought, the Pythagorean and the Aristoxenian. Levin argues that the clash between these two schools could never be reconciled because the inherent conflict arises from two different worlds of mathematics. Her book shows how the Greeks' appreciation of the profundity of music's interconnections with philosophy, mathematics, and logic led to groundbreaking intellectual achievements that no civilization has ever matched.

Music is a metaphor that connects people to a profound sense of life. In this book, music intersects with wellness and aging as humans adapt to life changes, stay engaged, remain creative, and achieve self-actualization. Along with discussion of cutting-edge research, the book presents stories and interviews from everyday people as well as professional and non-professional musicians. It discusses individual and social wellness, age-related and pathological changes in health, music therapies, personal resilience and growth, interpersonal and community relationships, work and retirement, spirituality, and the psychology of aging. The case studies show how music, wellness, and aging connect to define, direct, and celebrate life, as these three concepts allow people to connect with others, break down barriers, and find common ground.

Spanning a millennium of musical history, this monumental volume brings together nearly forty leading authorities to survey the music of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. All of the major aspects of medieval music are considered, making use of the latest research and thinking to discuss everything from the earliest genres of chant, through the music of the liturgy, to the riches of the vernacular song of the trouvères and troubadours. Alongside this account of the core repertory of monophony, The Cambridge History of Medieval Music tells the story of the birth of polyphonic music, and studies the genres of organum, conductus, motet and polyphonic song. Key composers of the period are introduced, such as Leoninus, Perotinus, Adam de la Halle, Philippe de Vitry and Guillaume de Machaut, and other chapters examine topics ranging from musical theory and performance to institutions, culture and collections.

Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Abbreviations -- Chronology -- Introduction -- 1 Who Were the Pythagorean Women? -- 2 Wives, Mothers, Sisters, Daughters -- 3 Who Were the Neopythagorean Women Authors? -- 4 Introduction to the Prose Writings of Neopythagorean Women -- 5 The Letters and Treatises of Neopythagorean Women in the East -- 6 The Letters and Treatises of Neopythagorean Women in the West -- 7 The Neopythagorean Women as Philosophers -- Notes -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W -- X -- Z.

Music, by its indeterminate levels of meaning, poses a necessary challenge to a theology bound up in words. Its distinctive nature as temporal and embodied allows a unique point of access to theological understanding. Yet music does not exist in a cultural vacuum, conveying universal truths, but is a part of the complex nature of human lives. This understanding of music as theology stems from a conviction that music is a theological means of knowing: knowing something indeterminate, yet meaningful. This is an exploration of the means by which music might say something otherwise unsayable, and in doing so, allow for an encounter with the mystery of God.

As an invaluable resource for students and general audiences investigating Ancient Greek culture and history, this encyclopedia provides a thorough examination of the Mediterranean world and its influence on modern society. All Things Ancient Greece examines the history and cultural life of Ancient Greece until the death of Philip II of Macedon in 336 BCE. The encyclopedia shows how the various city-states developed from the Bronze Age to the end of the Classical Age, influencing the Greek world and beyond. The cultural achievements of the Greeks detailed in this two-volume set include literature, politics, medicine, religion, and the arts. This work has entries on the various city-states, regions, battles, culture, and ideas that helped shape the ancient Greek world and its societies. Each entry delves into detailed topics with suggested readings. Many entries include sidebars containing primary documents from ancient sources that explore ancillary ideas, biographies, and specific examples from literature and philosophy. Readers, both students of ancient history and a general audience, are encouraged to interact with the material either chronologically, thematically, or geographically.

Listening is a social process. Even apparently trivial acts of listening are expert performances of acquired cognitive and bodily habits. Contemporary scholars acknowledge this fact with the notion that there are “auditory cultures.” In the fourth century BCE, Greek philosophers recognized a similar phenomenon in music, which they treated as a privileged site for the cultural manufacture of sensory capabilities, and proof that in a traditional culture perception could be ordered, regular, and reliable. This approachable and elegantly written book tells the story of how music became a vital topic for understanding the senses and their role in the creation of knowledge. Focussing in particular on discussions of music and sensation in Plato and Aristoxenus, Sean Gurd explores a crucial early chapter in the history of hearing and gently raises critical questions about how aesthetic traditionalism and sensory certainty can be joined together in a mutually reinforcing symbiosis.