Music and Gymnastic harmonization under the viewpoint of the platonic meaning of life

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Published: Jul 19, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/eml.27216
Konstantina I. Gongaki
National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Stavros Kapranos
Abstract
The essence of life according to Plato is summed up in the tendency of every living being to protect itself and its species from death, by searching immortality. This pursuit is achieved either by reproduction or by intellectual creation. In order for the soul to conquer the existence which will be worthy of man, it must separate from the mortal body. The highest goal of philosophical education is the soul to be led to the view of the idea of the good (agatho), which is the foundation of all knowledge. Thereunto, specific courses are proposed, Music, Gymnastics, Mathematics and Dialectics. Music is preceded temporal and absolute by gymnastics. The school of Pythagoras was the first to put the music-soul relationship, in the service of upbringing and mental physique.               Plato attempts to establish man's tendency for rhythm and movement in nature and in the gods. At the same time, he emphasizes the balance between mental and physical education, in order to form the right ethos. For the best fulfillment of these terms, the two superior parts of the soul must be properly trained, the logical with music and the thymoides with gymnastics. The symmetrical movement of the body is ensured by exercise, while for the soul, music and philosophy are used. This targeted intervention will lead them to a harmonious connection. Moreover, it should be ensured that the movements are symmetrical with each other. This is the real goodness (kalokagathia). The unilateral cultivation of gymnastics at the expense of music is considered the main cause of the decline of the excellent republic and the decadence in oligarchy, in the regimein which the morality is imposed by violent, uneducated people who will have neglected the real Muse, the one who is accompanied by the logic and philosophy.

 

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Author Biography
Konstantina I. Gongaki, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens

Konstantina Gongaki

 Position: Associate Professor

Teaching: Introduction to Philosophy and to the Philosophy of Sport

Department: School of Physical Education and Sport Science

University: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

 

PhD thesis:

‘The philosophical determination of the Delphic myths, rituals and games’, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (1997).

 

Degrees:

- BA in Philosophy, Philosophical School, University of Athens.

- BA in Dramatic School of the National Theatre, Greece.

- BA in Physical Education, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Athens.

 

Scholarships:

- 1stScholarship for Postgraduate Studies. Københavns Universitet, Institute for Nygraesk og Balkanistik, Subject: «Den europæiske litteraturs seimiotik i det 19. århundrede og undersøgelse af karakteristika for nygræske studier i Danmark», (1990-1991).

- 2ndScholarship for Postgraduate Studies, PhD. Københavns Universitet, Danmarks Højskole for Legemsøvelser, Subject: «The Mythological Sources of the Delphic Games. A Juxtaposition with the relevant European Research of the 20th century», (1992-1993).

 

Postgraduate Studies

- MSc in ‘European Literature’, Institute for Nygraesk og Balkanistik, Københavns Universitet, Denmark, (1990-1991).

- MSc in ‘Mythology’, Institut for Nordisk Filologi, Københavns Universitet, Denmark. Subject: «The Semiology of Nordisk Mythology», (1992-1993).

 

- Postgraduate Studies in ‘Philosophy’, Institut for Graesk og Latin, Københavns Universitet: «Søren Aabye Kierkegaard. Τhe progenitor of 20th-century existential philosophy» (1992-1993).

- Postgraduate Studies in ‘Classical Philosophy’, Philosophical School, University of Athens (1982-1989).

- Postgraduate Studies in ‘Dramatic Poetry’, Philosophical School, University of Athens (1988-1990).

- Postgraduate Studies in ‘Philosophy of Education’, Danmarks Højskole for Legemsøvelser, Københavns Universitet, Denmark (1990-1991).

- Postgraduate Studies in ‘Semiotics of the Body’, Danmarks Højskole for Legemsøvelser, Københavns Universitet, Denmark. (1991-1992).

- Studies in ‘Aesthetics’, Det Kongelige Teater, Denmark (1990-1991).

- Studies in ‘Art’, Liss Burmesters Institut, Denmark (1990-1991).

 

Author of the books:

-       The conceptions of ancient Greek philosophers concerning athletics, (in greek), Athens: Typothito-Dardanos, 2003.

-       The Olympic ideal. Global crisis and perspectives, Athens: Gutenberg, 2013.

 

Indicative Publications:

-       Gongaki, Κ. (2018). “Body culture” as a spiritual echo of Olympia and the fragmented nature of physical education in the modern-day school in Greece, IGI Global, International Publisher of Information Science and Technology Research.

-       Gongaki, K. (2017). The Platonic myth of Gyges and the concept of justice and injustice in modern-day sport and the contemporary world, ELECTRYONE, vol. 5, iss. 2, pp. 1-10.

http://www.electryone.gr/wp-content/uploads/1.-K.-Gongaki-2017-5.2.-pp.-1-10.pdf

-       Goggaki, K. (2002). The Wreath of Athletic Victory and its Moral Symbolism, International Journal of Physical Education, 4, 32-38.

-       Goggaki, K. (2004). The Athletic Victory as a Value in the pindaric Odes, Nikephoros, 17, 123-134.

-       Goggaki, Κ. (2005). Sports and Technology Genetics: The cloned Athlete. Athletics, Society & Identity: Conference Proceedings, Imeros, 5.1: 87-98.

-       Goggaki, Κ. (2009). The fragmented nature of European school physical education and sport, as a cause for the interest decline of youth sport. ΧΙΙΙ Olympic Congress International Olympic Committee, Copenhagen 2009, Contributions, pp. 634-635.

 

Member of the:

-          Association Internationale des Professeurs de Philosophie.

-          Olympic Center For Philosophy and Culture.

-          International Scientific Association for Ancient Greek Philosophy.

-          Society of the Higher Council of the Palestinian Folklorists (Jerusalem).

 

Research interests:

-          Philosophical theories of Soul and Body (ancient and modern)

-          Ethics, and Aesthetics

-          Olympic Values and Ideal

-          The Olympic Truce

-          Semiotics of Human Body

-          Philosophy of sport

-          Interpretations of Myths

References
Evgenij N. Trubeckoj, 1999. The social utopia of Plato, transl. Dimitrios V. Triantaphyllidis - Dina Samothraki, Athens, publ. Mouses - Armos, p. 15.
Οp. cit. 17.
Eduard Zeller, Die Philosophie der Griechen in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung B. II, I Abth, 697.
Plato, Phaedo 105c-e. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 17.
Plato, Symposium 207d, 208c-b, Laws 721c. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 18.
Plato, Symposium 207d, 208c-b. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 19.
Plato, Symposium 206c. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 20. For the platonic eros see more G.R.F. (John) Ferrari, 1992, «Platonic love», in: Richard Kraut (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Plato, publ. Cambridge University Press, pp. 248-276.
Plato, Symposium 206b. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 21.
Plato, Symposium 201a.
Ibid, 208c-e.
Ibid, 208b. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 22.
Plato, Symposium 201a. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 24.
Plato, Phaedo 64a ff. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 27.
Plato, Phaedo 65a. Cf. Trubeckoj, οp. cit. For the theory of Ideas in Plato see more William K. C. Guthrie, 1987 2nd, The Greek Philosophers. From Thales to Aristotle, transl. Ant. I. Sakellariou, publ. Dim. N. Papadima, Athens, pp. 83-100. Title of the Prototype: The Greek Philosophers: From Thales to Aristotle, Routledge Classics, Methnen and Co. Ltd, London, 1950, 1984 4th. See also Ioannis N. Theodorakopoulos, 1947, "The theory of the idea", in: I. N. Theodorakopoulos, Introduction to Plato, in Athens, pp. 159-213.
For the recognition of good see Robin Barrow, 1976, Plato and Education, London and Boston: Routledge and Kegal Paul, pp. 69-70, 53.
Plato, Phaedo 65a, 65c, 66a, 66e, 67a, 67b. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 28.
Richard Kraut, 1992, «The defense of justice in Plato's Republic», in: R. Kraut, op. cit. pp. 311-337.
Plato, Republic F 508e, Z 517c, F 505a. Cf. Andreas Manos, 2007. "The Good as the top of Ideas and the Unwritten Doctrines", in: A. Manos, Platonic Philosophy. A sacred tetractis of questions, publ. Kastaniotis, Athens, pp. 41-63. Cf. also Tasos Arvanitakis, Plato. As far as the movement, publ. Zitros-Skepsis, p. 203.
Plato, Republic Z 534e.
Cf. Arvanitakis, p. 228.
Plato, Philebus 17c-d.
Plato, Laws B 653e.
Ibid B 654a. Cf. Arvanitakis, p. 225, 229.
Plato, Laws B 653d. Cf. Arvanitakis, p. 227.
Plato, Laws B 654a. Cf. Arvanitakis, op. cit.
Plato, Republic C 398d-399e.
Ibid, C 398d.
Plato, Laws B 659e, 665e-666c.
Plato, Republic C 404e. Cf. Arvanitakis, p. 271.
Plato, Republic C 401d. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 145. For the scene of the Republic see Walter Pater, 1969, Plato and Platonism; a series of lectures, New York, Greenwood Press, (1893 1st), pp. 236-237.
See more Konstantina Gongaki, 2003. "The instruction (teaching/meaning) of Gymnastics αccording to Plato", in: K. Gongaki, The perceptions of ancient Greeks about Athletics, Typothito - G. Dardanos, Athens, pp. 125-141.
Plato, Republic, Books B and C. See more: Julius Moravcsik, 2000, Plato and Platonism: Plato’s Conception of Appearance and Reality in Ontology, Epistemology, and Ethics, and Its Modern Echoes, Oxford, Cambridge (USA), Blackwell.
Cf. Arvanitakis, p. 234.
Plato, Laws B 653c-d, 654a. Cf. Arvanitakis, p. 229.
Plato, Theaetetus 152c.
Ibid, 153b.
Ibid, 153c. Cf. Arvanitakis, p.268.
Plato, Theaetetus 153d.
Ibid, 156a.
Cf. Arvanitakis, p.269.
Plato, Laws F 775c-d.
Plato, Timaeus 87c-88c. Cf. Arvanitakis, pp. 272-273.
Plato, Republic C 403d. Cf. Richard F. Stalley, 1983, An Introduction to Plato’s Laws, Oxford, publ. Basil Blackwell, p. 130.
Annemarie Jeanette Neubecker, 1986, Music in Ancient Greece, transl. Mirella Simota - Fidetzi, publ. Odysseas, Athens, p. 136.
Plato, Republic C 401a, 410c, 412a.
Ibid, H 547d. Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 165.
Cf. Trubeckoj, p. 183.
Plato, Republic C 410a-412e.
Ibid, 401a ff, 410e, 412a.
The affect (thymiko) part of the soul according to Plato resides in the heart, while the appetitive (epithymetiko) part resides between the abdomen and the diaphragm, see more Evaggelos Moutsopoulos, 1974, The path of the spirit, The beings, publ. Ermis, Athens, p. 203.
Plato, Republic D 439d. Cf. Abel Jeannière, 2008, Plato, transl. Stavros Vlontakis, publ. Dim. Ν. Papadima, 2nd ed., Athens, p. 234. Title of Prototype: Platon, Editions du Seuil, avril, 1994.
Plato, Republic D 441e-442a.
Cf. Arvanitakis, p. 76.
See more in Glenn Morrow, 1960, Plato’s Cretan City. A Historical Interpretation of the Laws, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, p. 332.
Plato, Republic C 403e, 404a, 416d, 422b.
Ibid, C410c. Cf. Daniel A. Dombrowski, 1979, Plato and Athletics, Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 6: 29-38.
Plato, Republic C 412a. Cf. Arvanitakis, p. 281, George Maximilian Anthony Grube, 1980, Plato's Thought, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2nd ed., p. 234.
Plato, Republic C 411e-412a.
Ibid, H 548b-c. See Arvanitakis, p. 282.
See more Arvanitakis, pp. 282-283.
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