I peani catartici di Teleste di Selinunte nelle comunità magno-greche di IV secolo a. C.

The Greeks made use of musical remedies, particularly the singing of the paean, to eradicate epidemic ills, as is first attested in Book I of the Iliad, in which the idea of musical catharsis, or the principle that music is able to deliver from ills, is developed. Aristoxenus’ account of Telestes of Selinus, which includes the Delphic oracle’s prescription of cathartic paeans to cure the madness of the women of Reggio and Locri, constitutes the earliest attestation of a therapeutic use of music in the Magna Graecia Pythagorean sphere. Teleste’s paeans had the specific function of restoring the previous order and reintegrating women within the family and city context.