. Westphal indeed asserts that both these forms are found in the Argive alphabet. But the inscription (C. I. 1) which he quotes [27] for
really contains only
in a slightly different form. We cannot therefore say that the inventor of the notation derived it entirely from the alphabet of Argos, but only that he shows an acquaintance with that alphabet. This is confirmed by the fact that the form
for iota is not found at Argos. Probably therefore the inventor drew upon more than one alphabet for his purpose, the Argive alphabet being one.
The special fitness of the notation for the scales of the Enharmonic genus may be regarded as a further indication of its date. We shall see presently that that genus held a peculiar predominance in the earliest period of musical theory—that, namely, which was brought to an end by Aristoxenus.
If the author of the notation—or the second author, inventor of the modified characters—was one of the musicians whose names have come down to us, it would be difficult to find a more probable one than that of Pronomus of Thebes. One of the most striking features of the notation, at the time when it was framed, must have been the adjustment of the keys. Even in the time of Aristoxenus, as we know from the passage so often quoted, that adjustment was not universal. But it is precisely what Pronomus of Thebes is said to have done for the music of the flute (supra, [p. 38]). The circumstance that the system was only used for instrumental music is at least in harmony with this conjecture. If it is thought that Thebes is too far from Argos, we may fall back upon the notice that Sacadas of Argos was the chief composer for the flute before the time of Pronomus, [28] and doubtless Argos was one of the first cities to share in the advance which Pronomus made in the technique of his art.