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Section I: The
Fall of Angels
In an essay I
wrote titled "The Fall of Angels: The Making of Gods, Humanity, and
Music" I researched and discussed the mythical origins of Music and the
importance of the profession of the Musician. While the essay is too lengthy to
re-print here, I will include excerpts from it throughout this brief
introduction.The Fall of Angels begins with the completion of Creation and the story of Adam and Eve. Shortly thereafter a war in Heaven is instigated by Satan who challenges the rule of God over all things. The war involved angels and a mythical dragon, fire and brimstone, and in the end Satan loses along with His minions. His loss results in He and His minions being "hurled down to the earth" where they "assumed the shape of men and hide themselves."
Then a brief ecumenical discussion ensues in early Christian church history about which angels sinned: the highest or the lowest? The argument which overcomes the others says that the motive for sinning existed more in the higher angels than in the lower. And the conclusion finally ends up as "the motive of pride is excellence," therefore, "he who sinned was the very highest of them all."
Section II: The
Making of Men
Now on
the earth the first course of action the Fallen Angels took was the making of a
pact between them to forcibly take human wives. No sooner than the pact was
made did the Angels immediately move to "ravish them" by carrying
them off and subjecting them to all sorts of tasks and services. They further
defiled themselves with the women who became pregnant and produced "great
giants." Association with the Angels transforms the women into Sirens. In
Greek and Roman mythology, Sirens were sea nymphs whose sweet singing lured
sailors to their death on rocky coasts; or today, it’s any woman who attracts
and tempts men.
This tactic of first leading the women astray made it much easier to attack the men and enslave them. To accomplish this purpose more completely the Angels began to teach women the art of female ornamentation. Among the techniques the women learned from the Angels included, but were not limited to "the operations of metallurgy, the natural properties of herbs, the powers of enchantments, even the interpretation of the stars... [also] the radiances of jewels wherewith necklaces are variegated, and the circles of gold wherewith the arms are compressed, and the medicaments of orchil with which wools are colored and that black powder itself wherewith the eyelids and eyelashes are made prominent." All of these practices imposed a greater separation between human men and women and the Angels secured their rule over them.
Aside from the Angels connecting themselves with women, the Angels also defiled mankind by introducing them into worship and sacrificing to demons as gods. Following these atrocities the mass extermination of human men results in the few remaining men to be taken away in slavery. The Angels further accentuate the separation between human men and women by teaching men "to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals (of the earth) and the art of working them. There arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways." This section of The Fall of Angels essentially concludes with the Fallen Angels teaching men all that they had seen in Heaven and on the earth. This learning becomes the basis for all of the arts and sciences.
At this point the discussion splinters off and locks in step with Roman and Greek mythology. In Bulfinch's The Age of Fable we find a comparable narrative to the one which was presented earlier. The story goes something like this: "Jupiter, or Jove (Zeus), though called the father of god and men, had himself a beginning...Jupiter, with his brothers and sisters, now rebelled against their father Saturn, and his brothers the Titans; vanquished them, and imprisoned some of them in Tartarus, inflicting other penalties on others...On the dethronement of Saturn, Jupiter was king of gods and men."
Section III: The
Birth of Music
So far we've
covered the making of gods and humanity, now we just have to discuss the Birth
of Music. Out of the earlier narratives provided in The Fall of Angels, we find
that the origin of music lays in the teachings the Fallen Angels provided human
women with in the field of enchantments. This is why the remainder of the essay
focuses on three characters from the Greek and Roman pantheon: Mercury
(Hermes), Apollo, and the Muses. The special relationship each of these
"gods" or immortals has with one another produces an art tradition we
know today as Music.Apollo, true to his heritage as a Fallen Angel, defiles himself by association with human women and commits fornication with them. Several incidents are described about his sordid behavior with his displays of lust for human women. In one instance, he desires the affection of a human princess. So he disguises himself as the target's mother in order to gain entrance into bed chambers. In another, he produces a son with Hecuba, the Queen of Troy. And in another, he falls in love with Cassandra, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba (Yes, the same Hecuba!). To acquire the affection of Cassandra, Apollo promises her the gift of prophesy for a moment of seduction. She rejects his offer, which enrages him. In spite he "indeed gifted her with the ability to know the future, with a curse that she could only see the future tragedies and that no one would ever believe her." All of this goes to simply prove that Apollo was guilty of the same associations which the other Fallen Angels were guilty of. This sets up the conclusion for The Fall of Angels.
The first illustration of the “Birth of Music” begins with the story of Mercury (Hermes) who invented the lyre. The way he did it was one day he found a tortoise, of which he took the shell, made holes in the opposite edges of it, and drew cords of linen through them. The cords were nine in honor of the nine Muses and the instrument was complete. After fashioning the first lyre, Mercury then began to play music on the lyre he had invented. Apollo fell in love with the instrument and gave the caduceus [a rod entwined with two serpents] to Mercury in exchange. Apollo, the god of archery and prophecy was the son of Jupiter and Latona – he was also god of the sun. Soon thereafter Apollo became a master of the lyre, later became the leader of the Muses, and was recognized as the god of music.
The Muses were nymphs. They presided over song and prompted the memory. Each of the nine Muses was assigned to a particular department of literature, art, or science. Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, Clio of history, Euterpe of lyric poetry, Melpomene of tragedy, Terpsichore of choral dance and song, Erato of love poetry, Polyhymnia of sacred poetry, Urania of astronomy, Thalia of comedy. In Renaissance and Neoclassical art, the dissemination of emblem books helped standardize the depiction of Muses in sculptures or paintings where they could be distinguished and readily identifiable. Calliope (epic poetry) carries a writing tablet; Clio (history) carries a scroll and books; Erato (love poetry) is often seen with a lyre and a crown of roses; Euterpe (music) carries a flute, the aulos; Melpomene (tragedy) is often seen with a tragic mask; Polyhymnia (sacred poetry) often is seen with a pensive expression; Terpsichore (dance) is often seen dancing and carrying a lyre; Thalia (comedy) often is seen with a comic mask; and Urania (astronomy) carries a pair of compasses and the celestial globe.
In fact, the word ‘music’ even originates from the word ‘Muse.’ For example, mousike, which becomes "music" in English, is "the art of the Muses. In fact, both Plato and the Pythagoreans explicitly included philosophy as a sub-species of mousike – the word for metrical speech. The traditional purpose of the Muses is to be invoked at or near the beginning of an ancient epic poem or classical Greek hymn, but today they serve as a source of inspiration. They have also served as aids to an author or composer and sometimes were represented as "the true speaker for whom an author is merely a mouthpiece."
The presentation of the Birth of Music reaches its height when we begin to see the connection between the three "gods" – Hermes, Apollo, and the Muses – and truly understand the nature of their relationship and how this relationship initiates the human cultural heritage that is music. "Specifically, it is the Musician, who accepts this "calling", whose duty it is to express the art of the Muses. Therefore, it is in the musician's connection with his source of inspiration where we discover the Muses acting on orders sent by Apollo to anoint a human candidate who possesses the natural talent or wherewithal sufficient enough to perform an act of creation using only the medium of sound." The conclusion of “The Birth of Music: The Making of Gods, Humanity, and Music” not only shows the connection between the three "gods," but also predicts the resurgence of a renewed mythical understanding about this ancient art form and what it will contribute to psychology of today's active musician.
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Marc
Really enjoyed this! Geeking out over it. Keep them coming.
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