‘Not for Irrational Pleasure’: Music in Marsilio Ficino’s Timaeus Commentary

Abstract

Although the Timaeus had been of great influence in earlier times, it was only with Marsilio Ficino that the western world got its first complete Latin translation, accompanied by an unfinished commentary. Ficino was firmly convinced that by translating and commenting on Plato’s Timaeus he advanced the “ancient theology”, that is, a divinely inspired philosophy that was revealed throughout history to a small group of chosen scholars. As one of the few Renaissance scholars who were brave enough to venture an interpretation of Plato’s influential, but also complex dialogue, his commentary made Ficino one of the most important interpreters of the doctrine of world harmony it involves. In this chapter, I address two questions central to Ficino’s interpretation of Timaean harmonics: why did he try to revive Plato’s doctrines of world harmony and of the ethical power of music; and which interpretative strategies did he use to reach his goal? By investigating the music theory included in his Timaeus commentary, this paper argues that Ficino used the dialogue above all to demonstrate how musical delight, resulting from the correct perception of music as an imitation of divine harmonic order, could be beneficially used to achieve spiritual enlightenment.