the Quadrivium, the fourfold
             path to the knowledge of 'essences'- things unaffected by material substance.2" The fact that
             music was considered one of the mathematical disciplines is interesting to modern people, since it
             is now considered part of the arts, and on nearly the opposite end of the spectrum from math.
             Math is now considered strict, predetermined, rigid, and structured, while music is expressive,
             emotional, and subjective. However, people of the time assumed that the study of music would
             be limited to the mathematical characteristics of harmonic proportions. In this respect, music
             does have many characteristics that can be related to math, and it was on these observations that
             Boethius based a large part of his Fundamentals of Music.
             Some people have stated that Boethius's five books on music are merely translations of
             works by Pythagoras. This could not be true, because Pythagoras left no writings. "But they are
             based on a strong tradition and on the work of later members of the Pythagorean school; from his
             education by his father-in-law Symmachus and in Athens Boethius was well acquainted with
             these, and it is evident from his writings that he was firmly convinced of the system's validity.3"
             A large section of Fundamentals of Music deals with musical instruments. Boethius outlines the
             development of the tetrachord and other instruments, and describes their relationships to
             mythological gods and astronomy. Boethius also wrote about the Greek beliefs in various modes
             having different impacts on human beings and their emotions. This was a primitive, but very
             intuitive and brilliant observation on the effect music can have on
             ...