lesbiassparrow: (Sacred chickens)
lesbiassparrow ([personal profile] lesbiassparrow) wrote2011-07-08 01:56 pm
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I love it when Romans get their grump on about modern music

I am reading Quintilian's guide to raising the ideal orator and came across this gem (after he has been complaining about effeminate modern music and its indecent rhythms):

"Also no one should use the psaltry or the spadix [both types of harps or lyres], which decent virgins should even shrink from touching" (Institutes of Oratory 1.10.31)

KEEP YOUR VIRGINS FROM THE SPADIX, PARENTS! Sadly I do not have a picture of these instruments of wickedness, so that you can be on the lookout for them. But you can see from my icon that the sacred chickens DO NOT APPROVE OF THESE CORRUPT DEVICES.
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[identity profile] jenlev.livejournal.com 2011-07-08 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Heee! That's awesome. Humans and their new fangled toys. ;)

[identity profile] lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com 2011-07-09 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
I wish I could find a picture of this dangerous instrument. I am totally fascinated by the idea that merely touching it brings disaster.

[identity profile] jenlev.livejournal.com 2011-07-09 12:26 pm (UTC)(link)
It's got to be online somewhere!

Ironically enough, it appears to be the name of that oh so phallic flower....makes me wonder, which came first...heh.
Edited 2011-07-09 12:34 (UTC)

[identity profile] lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com 2011-07-12 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
I looked! I thought it had to be some sort of phallic instrument too, but my Latin dictionary tells me that it was a stringed instrument. Of exceeding corruptness, according to Quintilian.

[identity profile] jenlev.livejournal.com 2011-07-12 12:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, you know those stringed instruments. Always up to something or another.

[identity profile] nutmeg3.livejournal.com 2011-07-09 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
I bet Dwight is not above using a spadix to seduce the girls. *g*

[identity profile] lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com 2011-07-09 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
He probably has a spadix and a double aulos for special occasions.
Edited 2011-07-09 04:03 (UTC)

[identity profile] wistfulmemory.livejournal.com 2011-07-09 01:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I love it when I see the sacred chickens icon. I know I'm about to read something amazing. I am sadden that you cannot find a picture of a spadix (what is this world coming to?!?!), but I'm loving the quote. Now I'm wondering what happens if a virgin does touch one. Does she magically turn into a defiled woman, or does something even worse happen? Curious minds want to know!

[identity profile] wistfulmemory.livejournal.com 2011-07-10 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
And because I'm weird and had the sacred chickens lingers in the back of my mind, the first thing I noticed in this picture was the chicken...

http://hannibal-thecannibal.tumblr.com/post/7422363402

[identity profile] lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com 2011-07-12 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
THAT PICTURE IS A THING OF BEAUTY. BUT THAT CHICKEN WILL PROBABLY SMITE HIM IN SOME WAY. As it should be.

[identity profile] lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com 2011-07-12 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
I suspect the spadix is only the first step to ruin. First you pick up the spadix and then before you know it, there's the double aulos and hanging out with gladiators and Greeks and see-through gowns and perfuming your feet.

[identity profile] oxymoron67.livejournal.com 2011-07-10 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
Spadix: despoiler of maidens.

See, that sounds like a Prog Rock band from the 70's to me.

[identity profile] lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com 2011-07-12 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
The Spadix. The untold danger for Roman virgins. It probably also caused the fall of the Roman Empire as well.
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