Philo, On Dreams 205
“I certainly feel wonder at the lover of wisdom since, when he practices his art, he brings together and integrates many different things from different sources. For he takes from the children’s grammar the first two subjects—writing and reading—and then from the more mature education knowledge of poets and the learning of ancient history, from arithmetic and geometry precision in topics needing proportion and calculation, from music rhythm and meter, harmonic melodies, as well as chromatic, diatonic, concordant and discordant; from rhetoric, topic, diction, composition, efficiency, memory, and performance; and from philosophy however much has been left out from these other subjects and the rest of things which make a person’s life whole. The lover of wisdom fits all these into the most decorous work, combining great knowledge with the ability to learn even more.”
θαυμάζω μέντοι καὶ | τὸν σοφίας ἐραστήν, ὅτι τὴν αὐτὴν τέχνην ἐπιτετήδευκε, πολλὰ καὶ διαφέροντα ἐκ διαφερόντων εἰς ταὐτὸ συνάγειν καὶ συνυφαίνειν ἀξιῶν. λαβὼν γὰρ ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς παιδικῆς γραμματικῆς δύο τὰ πρῶτα, τό τε γράφειν καὶ τὸ ἀναγινώσκειν, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς τελειοτέρας τήν τε παρὰ ποιηταῖς ἐμπειρίαν καὶ τὴν ἀρχαίας ἱστορίας ἀνάληψιν, παρὰ δὲ ἀριθμητικῆς καὶ γεωμετρίας τὸ ἀνεξαπάτητον ἐν οἷς ἀναλογίας καὶ λογισμῶν ἐστι χρεία, παρὰ δὲ μουσικῆς ῥυθμοὺς καὶ μέτρα, τά τε ἐναρμόνια καὶ χρωματικὰ καὶ διατονικὰ συνημμένα τε αὖ καὶ διεζευγμένα μέλη, παρὰ δὲ ῥητορικῆς εὕρεσιν, φράσιν, τάξιν, οἰκονομίαν, μνήμην, ὑπόκρισιν, παρὰ δὲ φιλοσοφίας ὅσα τε ἐν ταύταις παραλέλειπται καὶ ἄλλα ἐξ ὧν ἅπας ὁ ἀνθρώπων βίος συνέστηκεν, ἓν ἔργον εὐανθέστατον ἡρμόσατο, εὐμάθειαν πολυμαθείᾳ μίξας.
