"rhoptron" [Greek] as a Musical Instrument Bushala, Eugene W Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Summer 1969; 10, 2; ProQuest pg. 169 p6ntpov as a Musical Instrument Eugene W. Bushala O NE of the meanings of p07TTpOV given by LSJ (s.v. p07TTpOV II), 'a musical instrument of the Corybantes, tambourine or kettledrum', is at fault. First, a minor point, there is no reason why this 'musical instrument' is to be attributed solely or chiefly to the Corybantes; rather, according to the very passages cited in LSJ, it was used in orgiastic ritual dancing among both Greek and non­ Greek peoples, as well as in martial excitation by the Parthians. Second, also minor, this definition seems to ignore the important distinction between a tambourine and a kettledrum. The former, TV/L7TaVoV, is a small cylindrical, one- or two-headed, hand-beaten drum, and appears frequently in literature and in vase paintings. The kettledrum, on the other hand, is a semi-spherical, one-headed, stick­ beaten drum, and though possible antecedents of our contemporary kettledrum have been attested among the Sumerians and Egyptians, there is no definite evidence that the Greeks used it or even knew about it.l But much more important, none of the passages cited by LS] under p07TTPOV II explicitly supports the interpretation of 'tambourine or kettledrum' or any other type of drum. In one of these passages, Pluto Crass. 23, P07TTPOV has usually been translated 'drum', often as 'kettledrum', and this apparently has been the significant locus for determining the meaning of the word in the other passages. I believe the passage has been misunderstood, as I shall explain below. What, then, is the definition of p07TTPOV II? The six passages which LSJ cites,2 along with AP 6.165, do indeed, belong together and IOn the Sumerian and Egyptian kettledrum, see New Oxford History of Music I (1954) 233 and 240. The only attempt to show that the "Greeks were at least acquainted with the kettledrum" has been made by C. Titcomb, The Kettledrums in Western Europe (Diss. Harvard 1952) 4, whose only evidence is Plut. Crass. 23; but cf A. Schaeffner in Encyclopedie de La musique III (Paris 1961) S.V. TIMBALE; C. Sachs, Real-Lexicon der Musikinstrumente (Berlin 1913, repro New York 1964) S. V. PAUKE. The confusion of these two drums is repeated by E. Dodds (ed. Bacchae [Oxford 1944]) at Bacch. 126-29: " ... they mingled it [the kettledrum] with the sweetly calling breath of Phrygian flutes ... " 2 Cornutus, Theol.Graec. 30; Lucian, Trag. 36; Orph. fro 105, 152; AP 6.74; Pluto Crass. 23; see also AP 6.165. 169 170 'POllTPON AS A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT illustrate a particular meaning of the word distinct from its other meanings, viZ' those of r. 'part of a trap which falls', III. 'a knocker on a door', IV. alOOLOV (LSj, Supplement [Oxford 1968] s.v. p67TTpOV), as well as another definition ignored by LSj but authenticated by the lexicographers and probably Eur. Hipp. 1172, that of' club' or 'ham­ mer'.3 These four other meanings suggest the possible form and function of p67TTPOV II: it would have the shape of a small club or rod, perhaps curved or bent or hooked, metallic or wooden, and primarily used for striking. The etymology of the word corroborates this general definition, for it suggests something which falls or moves downward.4 Considering the other meanings of the word, its etymology and its use in the seven passages (listed in note 2), I suggest that p67TTPOV II was a 'noise-maker' or 'clapper' ,5 somewhat similar in form and function to Kp6TaAOV I, used primarily in orgiastic dancing to beat time, and struck against either another p67TTPOV or some kind of gong (e.g. an -riX€LOV, as in Pluto Crass. 23, or a similar instrument). Such a definition fits the context of all the passages in which the word occurs. The only passage which affords any sort of description of this instrument in action is Pluto Crass. 23, where the word has usually been translated 'drum'. The passage describes the military prepara­ tions ofthe Parthians at the battle of Carrhae: II&p()ot ytxp ot3 KlpacItv ''''' '\ t., I .,' I '\\,., f3 ~ OVO€ aal\7TLy~w €7TOTpVVovaw €aVTOVS" €LS" p..ax'YJv, al\l\a p07TTpa vpao7Tay'YJ 'A\ I , I \ A" \ \ '() , '" ~ Kat KOtl\a 7T€pLT€WaVT€S" 'YJX€LOt<; XaI\KOLS" ap..a 7TOl\I\axO €V €7TWOV7TOVUL. Those who translate p67TTpa as 'drums' and construe the word with 7T€ptT€LVaVT€<; -riX€LOL<; Xa'\KOLS" and render it, e.g. 'attaching bronze reson­ ators or bells to the drums', as do most translators of the passage,6 S The tradition that p01rTPOV at Eur. Hipp. 1172 meant 'club' is followed by edd. Witzschel (1843), Wecklein (1885), Wei! (1913) and Meridier (1927). But cf edd. Valckenaer (1768), Paley (1857), Freeland (1876), Hadley (1889) and Barrett (1964) for an opposing view. 'H. Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuclt, Lief. 17 (Heidelberg 1966) s.v. p/7TW. Ii For an historic account of such an instrument, see Sachs, The History of Musical Instru­ ments (New York 1940) 88-89 and 149; also H. Besseler and M. Schneider, Musikgeschicltte in Bildern IIA (Leipzig 1961) p.50 and plates 25, 62, 63. 8 Of the fourteen translations I have examined, thirteen of them (North, Amyot, Am­ hurst, Langhorne, Reiske, Doehner, Stewart and Long, Perrin, Riba, Romanillos, Latzarus, Ziegler, and Petukhova) so construe the passage syntactically. Three of these (Langhorne, Stewart and Long, and Petukhova) do indeed translate p07TTpa 'instruments' and two (Reiske and Romanillos) 'clubs'. The only exception is that of P. A. Pierron, Vies des hommes illustres II (Paris 1870) 645 (" ... mais ils font un grand bruit de tous cotes, en frappant sur les vases d'airain avec des marteaux creux couverts de cuir"), with whose translation I EUGENE W. BUSHALA 171 must explain the use of the dative ~X€{OLS with the active voice of 7r€pL'Tdvw, a construction contrary to other occurrences of this verb (Hdt. 1.194, 4.65, 4.73; Arist. Mete. 355b 28).7 They must also explain why both plJ7r'TpoV and ~X€tOV are rendered by meanings quite different from their usual ones, that is, why peJ7r'TPOV must here be not the striking rod but a drum, the object which is struck, and why ~X€tOV must mean not a gong or metal plate which is struck, but a resonating jingle or bell. That an 1X€tOV was a gong (see LSj, S.v. ~X€tOV I) is attested by Apollod. ap. schol. Theoe. 2.36, the schol. ad Ar. Nub. 292, and Procop.Gaz. Ecphr. p.153b. Though the word was used for 'sounding board' at Vitro 5.5.2., this is hardly similar to res­ onating bells attached to a drum. Taking pcm'Tpov and ~X€tOV in their usual meanings, the first as 'club, rod, or striker', and the latter as 'gong', and construing E7rLoov7rofim with its nearest noun, ~X€{OLS (as does LSj, see s.v. E7rLOOV7rEW), it would be much more reasonable to render the passage thus: "Fashioning hollow (or pliant, curved8) rods strapped with (or made of) leather, they beat in unison throughout the camp on bronze gongs and raise a terrible din." There is no need, then, to assume a radical change of meaning of p67r'TpoV from 'striker' to 'drum', solely on a rather forced inter­ pretation of an admittedly obscure passage in Plutarch. The inter­ pretation presented here fits the context of all the passages in which p67r'TpoV occurs and is consonant with the other meanings of the word. The LSj entry at pcm'Tpov II, then, should be revised to read fully agree. F. A. Lampe, De cymba/is veterum libri tres (Utrecht 1703) 91-92, citing Nonnus, Dion. 33.228, 45.18,47.275, 47.731, believed that P07TTPOV denoted a crepitaculum similar to a cymbal. But in treating the Pluto passage in his addenda, he agrees with the 'drum' interpretation and concludes: "addo tan tum rhoptra potuisse haec did vascula, quibus corium obtendebatur, quod semirotunda fuerint, tympanorum instar, qui bus equites nostri utuntur, sed minora, atque ad eo quadam ratione cymbalis similia" 7 The examples of the use of the active voice of the verb show that one stretches some­ thing (ace.) around something (dat., or ace., or 7TEpt with the ace.). I doubt that one could say 7T(£P'T€[VW p07TTpa ~XE[OL> to mean 'I attach or stretch bells around drums'. It would be much better to take p07TTpa f3vpao7Tayij 7TEpmdvw as '1 wrap p07TTpa in leather', or 'fashion p07TTpa out ofleather', or simply 'fashion leather pc>7TTpa'. 8 KOt.\oS' may here mean 'hollow'; however, like a blackjack, the leather pU7TTpa may have been pliant, bending, or simply hooked, such as (see LS] S.V. Koi'Aos m) KAfj8pa, Soph. OT 1262; ara8p.Cx 8vpawv, Theoe. 24.15. This curved or bent shape is substantiated by the word's other meanings (m and IV in LS]) as well as by the verb 7TEPLTdvw, which includes in its passive form the meaning 'to become aduncate', Hippoe. Loc.Hom. 14. Perhaps relevant is Hesychius' entry, S.V. P07TTPOV' Kap.mJAov gVAov. 172 'POllTPON AS A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT noise maker, striker, or clapper, often used in orgiastic, ritual dancing'. BOSTON COLLEGE March, 1969