Hölderlin’s Interpretation of Pindar’s Fragment of the Dolphin : A Reading from the Perspective of the Comparative History of Acoustics1

Abstract Throughout earth’s history, organisms have used various sounds to communicate. Humans are no different. Language was born from the sounds that humans create orally as a means of communication. Humans also grew to use musical instruments; and in some regions, the use of instruments led to the development of acoustic science from an early date. Europe and East Asia represent the clearest examples of this phenomenon. As we look back at the history of acoustic culture in the world, the 1870s to 1900s was the period that saw the introduction of such methods of acoustic preservation, reproduction, and propagation in Europe and USA. The telephone, phonograph, and radio stand out as especially prominent. From then, it became possible to preserve, reproduce, and propagate manmade songs and music that had been passed down in various regions of the world through oral tradition, or that had been preserved only through musical scores; even sounds that were not manmade, such as animal calls, could be recorded. Today, the role of preserving, reproducing, and propagating sounds has been adopted by computers, and we can enjoy sounds from around the world through the medium of the internet.