Foundations of the Musical Composition of Ancient Greece. Origins of the Order and Harmony of the Urban Layout of Rhodes

Abstract

The hypodamic plots have been considered by renowned urban planners and historians as the origin and reference of rational urban planning, being the first to impose order and harmony in the urban fabric thanks to the systematization and relationship of its elements. They all agree in underlining mathematics as the main tool used by Hippo of Miletus in projecting his reticular tissues, however none of them delves into the investigation of a theoretical foundation that justifies the choice by Miletus of certain arithmetical proportions for the design of his layout schemes. Considering the cultural revolution which took place at the time, fueled by the Pythagorean doctrine which underlined the close relationship between the origin of mathematics and music, the present research is born that aims to demonstrate that the theoretical foundation that underlies the cities designed by Hipódamo was forged in music. And for this a detailed and parallel study is made of the rules that directed the layout of the ancient city of Rhodes and of the foundations of musical composition discovered in ancient Greece, which will show that the arithmetic proportions that achieved the "urban perfection" of Rhodes were the same that the Greeks used to define the musical scale. This leads us to affirm that the order and harmony of the hypodamic plots was achieved using as ordinances of tracing foundations of musical composition.