‹‹‹ Vitr. 6.1.6 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 6.1.8 ›››
7Hence those who are in the middle, between the equator and the pole, are gifted with a middle pitch of voice, similar to the tones in the central part of the musical diagram. Advancing to the northern nations, where the pole is more elevated, the people, from an increased quantity of moisture, naturally possess lower toned voices, similar to the hypatè and the proslambanomenos. And finally, those nations extending from the middle regions to the south have shrill and acute voices similar to the tones of paranetè and netè.
7The nations, therefore, that lie midway between the pivots at the southern and the northern extremities of the axis, converse in a voice of middle pitch, like the notes in the middle of a musical scale; but, as we proceed towards the north, the distances to the heaven become greater, and so the nations there, whose vocal utterance is reduced by the moisture to the “hypatès” and to “proslambanomenon,” are naturally obliged to speak in heavier tones. In the same way, as we proceed from the middle point to the south, the voices of the nations there correspond in extreme height of pitch and in shrillness to the “paranetès” and “netès.”