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Notes to Cicero's “The Nature of the Gods” Joannes Richter Abstract Reading Cic

Notes to Cicero's “The Nature of the Gods” Joannes Richter Abstract Reading Cicero's The Nature of the Gods in a paperback (1997) I discovered Cicero's knowledge of the Places of articulation for the human voice. I also used a digitized version “On the Nature of the Gods1”, translated (1877) by C. D. Yonge to easily search the relevant quotations. In the Sefer Yetzirah the standard description of the phonetic sources are lingual, labial, guttural, palatal and dental. Cicero applies other words such as “tongue”, “teeth”, “palate”, “jaws”2, “the nostrils3, lungs and sides4”. In modern translations the “jaws” (1877) are replaced by “throat” (1997). Cicero argues the gods cannot be happy without a virtue. According to Velleius virtue cannot exist without reason and reason exists only in a human form5. Often the virtues are bundled. Wisdom is a bundled version of all virtues, which is found in Cicero's Tusculan Disputations. According to Cicero the most excellent of all virtues is justice. Both wisdom and justice seemed to be the most important virtues. Wisdom is the bundled all-in virtue and justice is the most excellent of all virtues. In the archaic stages of mythology the Hellenic sky-god DzEUS had been married with two deities: METIS (“Wisdom”, in Latin: MINERVA) and “Justice” (ΘEMIS)6. In later mythologies the sky-god *DJOUS-PITER had swallowed “Wisdom” and also joined “Justice” in his name “JU(s)”-piter. Therefore the Roman (and Greek?) philosophers may have been aware of the 5 phonetic categories, which had been used in the name-giving of the gods. At least the Hellenic words for the most important virtues had been selected to compose the 5 representative letters: D,J,E,U,S (Zeus), respectively M,E,T,I,S (“Wisdom”) and Θ,E,M,I,S (“Justice”). In the end the Etruscan god MEN(i)RVA and Roman deity MINERVA not only represented both main virtues (wisdom and justice), but included also the strategic warfare, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. This combination concentrates most virtues in one singular powerful deity, which Cicero had interpreted as frugality. 1 On the Nature of the Gods; Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero, (1877), Translated, chiefly By C. D. Yonge 2 Shall the Deity, then, have a tongue, and not speak—teeth, palate, and jaws, though he will have no use for them? 3 We Stoics, therefore, compare the tongue to the bow of an instrument, the teeth to the strings, and the nostrils to the sounding-board. 4 And they must needs have these appearances speak, which is not possible without a tongue, and a palate, and jaws, and without the help of lungs and sides, and without some shape or figure; for they could see nothing by their mind alone—they referred all to their eyes. 5 Book I §89 – The Nature of the Gods (Oxford World's Classics): Cicero, translated by Walsh, PG (1997) 6 Fundamentals in the Name-Giving for the Days of the Week Introduction The sources Reading Cicero's The Nature of the Gods in a paperback (1997) I discovered Cicero's knowledge of the Places of articulation for the human voice. I also used a digitized version “On the Nature of the Gods7”, translated (1877) by C. D. Yonge to to easily search the relevant quotations. The phonetic sources In the Sefer Yetzirah the standard description of the phonetic sources are lingual, labial, guttural, palatal and dental. These 5 categories may be defined as a standard which leads to various 5-letter- names such as *DJOUS-PITER, LIBER-PITER, TIÆWS, DIAUS, ... Cicero applies other words such as “tongue”, “teeth”, “palate”, “jaws”8, “the nostrils9, lungs and sides10”. In modern translations the “jaws” are replaced by “throat”. In one sentence of a modern translation (1997, 1998) Cicero lists 4 (of the 5) individual phonetic categories, in which only the specification of the labial is missing: “So will God have a tongue yet no speak, and teeth and palate and throat, yet to no purpose.11” In another translation (published: 1877) the sentence the word throat is translated as jaws, which is a rather imprecise: “Shall the Deity, then, have a tongue, and not speak—teeth, palate, and jaws, though he will have no use for them?12” The labials may be activated by the lips, which probably are controlled by the jaw and sides. Therefore Cicero may have known a similar distribution of the Places of articulation, which largely matches to the 5 sources of the Sefer Yetzirah. 7 On the Nature of the Gods; Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero, (1877), Translated, chiefly By C. D. Yonge 8 Shall the Deity, then, have a tongue, and not speak—teeth, palate, and jaws, though he will have no use for them? 9 We Stoics, therefore, compare the tongue to the bow of an instrument, the teeth to the strings, and the nostrils to the sounding-board. 10 And they must needs have these appearances speak, which is not possible without a tongue, and a palate, and jaws, and without the help of lungs and sides, and without some shape or figure; for they could see nothing by their mind alone—they referred all to their eyes. 11 Book I §92 – The Nature of the Gods (Oxford World's Classics): Cicero, translated by Walsh, PG (1997) - ISBN-13: 978-0199540068 12 Book I §VIII On the Nature of the Gods; Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero, (1877), Translated, chiefly By C. D. Yonge Virtues Cicero argues the gods cannot be happy without a virtue. According to Velleius virtue cannot exist without reason and reason exists only in a human form13. Often the virtues are bundled: The word frugality takes in these three virtues of fortitude, justice, and prudence, though it is indeed common to all virtues, for they are all connected and knit together. Wisdom is a bundled version of all virtues, which is found in Cicero's Tusculan Disputations (XVI): “A frugal man does everything rightly. But when the Stoics apply this saying to their wise man, they seem to exalt him too much, and to speak of him with too much admiration.” According to Cicero the most excellent of all virtues is justice14: “I do not even know, if we cast off piety towards the Gods, but that faith, and all the associations of human life, and that most excellent of all virtues, justice, may perish with it.” Both wisdom and justice seemed to be the most important virtues. Wisdom is the bundled virtue and justice is the most excellent of all virtues. In the archaic stages of mythology the Hellenic sky-god DzEUS had been married with two deities: METIS (“Wisdom”, in Latin: MINERVA) and “Justice” (ΘEMIS)15. In later mythologies the sky- god *DJOUS-PITER had swallowed “Wisdom” and also joined “Justice” in his name “JU(s)”-piter. 13 Book I §89 – The Nature of the Gods (Oxford World's Classics): Cicero, translated by Walsh, PG (1997) 14 Book I, §2 in On the Nature of the Gods; Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero, (1877), Translated, chiefly By C. D. Yonge 15 Fundamentals in the Name-Giving for the Days of the Week The places of articulation Some Places of articulation are: • Passive places of articulation the upper lip (labial) , teeth (dental) and the palate on the roof of the mouth (palatal) • Active places of articulation lower lip (labial), tongue (coronal) and the windpipe (glottal) 16 Resonances in the vocal tract modify these waves according to the position and shape of the lips, throat or jaw, tongue, soft palate, and other speech organs, ... I also identified the jaw and cheeks as combined sources, which represented more than one parts of the mouth and/or places of articulation: When many singers think about technique, their focus often isn’t on how to properly manipulate the parts of the mouth. Although breathing technique, laryngeal control, and body stance are crucial to successful singing, the position of the tongue, jaw, cheeks, and lips also play a significant role. Understanding mouth anatomy can help singers produce clearer sound, limit straying on their throat and vocal chords, and improve their overall sound quality17. The jaws and the sides (cheeks) In Cicero's On the Nature of the Gods;18 I found the following quotations of the places of articulation, in which the “sides” may be interpreted as the “cheeks”: • (XVI.) And they must needs have these appearances speak, which is not possible without a tongue, and a palate, and jaws, and without the help of lungs and sides, and without some shape or figure; for they could see nothing by their mind alone—they referred all to their eyes. • (XXIV.) What! they who would speak louder than ordinary are they satisfied with working their jaws, sides, or tongue or stretching the common organs of speech and utterance? • (XXXIII.) Shall the Deity, then, have a tongue, and not speak—teeth, palate, and jaws, though he will have no use for them? The nostrils as resonator The nostrils may have been interpreted as a resonator (sounding-board), but not an independent phonetic “source”: And it will appear incredible, unless you carefully observe the facts, how complete the work of nature is in giving us the use of uploads/S4/ notes-to-cicero-x27-s-quot-the-nature-of-the-gods-quot.pdf