Note 837 — Chapter VII · THE PYTHAGOREANS
Reading edition
For the various systems, see Boeckh, Kleine Schriften, vol. iii. pp. 169 sqq., and Carl v. Jan, “Die Harmonie der Sphären” (Philol. 1893, pp. 13 sqq.). They vary with the astronomy of their authors, but they bear witness to the fact stated in the text. Many give the highest note to Saturn and the lowest to the Moon, while others reverse this. The system which corresponds best, however, with the Pythagorean planetary system must include the heaven of the fixed stars and the earth. It is that upon which the verses of Alexander of Ephesos quoted by Theon of Smyrna, p. 140, 4, are based:
γαῖα μὲν οὖν ὑπάτη τε βαρεῖά τε μέσσοθι ναίει·
ἀπλανέων δὲ σφαῖρα συνημμένη ἔπλετο νήτη, κ.τ.λ.
The “base of Heaven’s deep Organ” in Milton’s “ninefold harmony” (Hymn on the Nativity, xiii.) implies the reverse of this.