SOURCE: Introduction to The Euclidean "Division of the Canon," University of Nebraska Press, 1991, pp. 1-108.

In the following essay, Barbera examines the evidence and scholarly opinion surrounding the issue of the authorship of Sectio Canonis, concluding that "it would be bold to assert definitely" that Euclid is or is not the author.

The Division of the Canon … is an ancient Pythagorean treatise on the relationship between mathematical principles and acoustical truths. Composed largely in the style of Euclid's Elements of Geometry, the Division is handed down in three distinct traditions: (1) a semi-independent version in Greek, which is attributed to Euclid or to Cleonides; (2) a Greek version contained in the fifth chapter of Porphyry's commentary on Ptolemy's Harmonics; and (3) a Latin version comprising the first two chapters of the fourth book of Boethius's De institutione musica. Of the three traditions, the semi-independent version is the longest. The other two...