- Damon (ancient Greek musicologist)
Damon, son of Damonides, was a greek musicologist of the fifth century BC. He belonged to the
Athenian deme of Oē (sometimes spelled "Oa"). He is credited as an advisor ofPericles .Music
Damon's expertise was supposed to be
musicology , though some believed this was a cover for a broader influence over Pericles' political policy. For instance, Damon is said to have been responsible for advising Pericles to institute the policy of paying jurors for their service; this policy was widely criticized, and Damon is said to have beenostracized for it (see theAristotelian "Athenaion Poleteia"), probably sometime in last third of the 5th centuryBCE .Plato invokes Damon many times in the "Republic" as the musical expert to be deferred to concerning the details of musical education. In Plato's "Laches", Damon is said to have been a student ofProdicus and of Agathocles. The former was an unabashedsophist , while the latter is said (in Plato's "Protagoras") to have used musical expertise as a front for being a sophist.Damonides
The extant texts of the
Aristotelian "Athenaion Poleteia" mention Damonides as an advisor toPericles . The mention there of "Damonides" is now almost universally considered an editorial slip of pen, where the original text read "Damon, son of Damonides" instead (P. Rhodes, 1981, "Commentary on the Aristotelian "Athenaion Politeia", p. 341). This seems to be confirmed byostraka that have been recovered and that bear the name "Damon son of Damonides".References
A. J. Podlecki, 1997, "Perikles and His Circle", Routledge.
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