ceases, as if by a stroke of magic. A dead stillness prevails, and all
listen devoutly to the magic tones of the simple reed; tones which
frequently draw tears from the eyes of the apathetic Indians."

If the untutored primitive man can be thus overpowered by the charm of
such simple music, we can hardly wonder at the extravagant power
ascribed to this art by the ancient civilized nations. The fairy tale
of Orpheus, who tamed wild animals and moved rocks and trees with his
singing and playing, and the story of the dolphin that was attracted
by Arion's song and carried him safely across the sea, are quite as
significant as if they were true stories, for they show that the
Greeks were so deeply moved by music that they could readily imagine
it to have a similar effect on animals, and even on inanimate objects.
Almost three thousand years ago, Homer represented Achilles as
"comforting his heart with the sound of the lyre," after losing his
sweet Briseis; "stimulating his courage and singing the deeds of the
heroes." And, as Emil Naumann fancies, there is a moral underlying the
myth of the siren; "for, as Homer elsewhere suggests, noble and manly
music invigorates the spirit, strengthens wavering man, and incites
him to great and worthy deeds, whereas false and sensuous music
excites and confuses, robs man of his self-control, till his passions
overcome him as the waves overwhelmed the bewitched sailor who
listened to the voice of the charmer."

At a later period in Greek history, the philosophers, including Plato
and Aristotle, continued to attribute to music power so great, that we
can only understand them if we bear in mind that with the Greeks the
word music was a comprehensive term for all the arts presided over by
the Muses, and that, even when music in our sense is alluded to by
them, the reference is at the same time to the poetry which was almost