Note 836 — Chapter VII · THE PYTHAGOREANS

Alexander, in Met. p. 39, 24 (from Aristotle’s work on the Pythagoreans), τῶν γὰρ σωμάτων τῶν περὶ τὸ μέσον φερομένων ἐν ἀναλογίᾳ τὰς ἀποστάσεις ἐχόντων ... ποιούντων δὲ καὶ ψόφον ἐν τῷ κινεῖσθαι τῶν μὲν βραδυτέρων βαρύν, τῶν δὲ ταχυτέρων ὀξύν. We must not attribute the identification of the seven planets with the seven strings of the heptachord to the Pythagoreans of this date. Mercury and Venus have in the long run the same velocity as the sun, and we must take in the earth and the fixed stars. We can even find room for the antichthon as προσλαμβανόμενος.