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Beauty: The Fortunes of an Ancient Greek Idea (Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture) 1st Edition

by David Konstan (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 16 ratings
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What does it mean to say something is beautiful? On the one hand, beauty is associated with erotic attraction; on the other, it is the primary category in aesthetics, and it is widely supposed that the proper response to a work of art is one of objective contemplation. At its core, then, beauty is a contested concept, and both sides feel comfortable appealing to the authority of Plato, and via him, to the ancient Greeks generally. So, who is right-if either?

Beauty offers an elegant investigation of ancient Greek notions of beauty and, in the process, sheds light on how we ought to appreciate the artistic achievements of the classical world. The book opens by reexamining the commonly held notion that the ancient Greeks possessed no term that can be unambiguously defined as "beauty" or "beautiful." Author David Konstan discusses a number of Greek approximations before positioning the heretofore unexamined term kállos as the key to bridging the gap between beauty and desire, and tracing its evolution as applied to physical beauty, art, literature, and more. The book then examines corresponding terms in Biblical Hebrew and ancient Latin literature to highlight the survival of Greek ideas in the Latin West. The final chapter compares the ancient Greek conception of beauty with modern notions of beauty and aesthetics. In particular, it focuses on the reception of classical Greek art in the Renaissance and how Vasari and his contemporaries borrowed from Plato the sense that the beauty in art was transcendental, but left out the erotic dimension of viewing. Even if Greece was the inspiration for modern aesthetic ideals, this study illustrates how the Greek view of the relationship between beauty and desire was surprisingly consistent-and different from our own. This fascinating and magisterial exploration makes it possible to identify how the Greeks thought of beauty, what it was that attracted them, and what their perceptions can still tell us about art, love, desire-and beauty.
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  1. ISBN-10
    019992726X
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0199927265
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    January 2, 2015
  6. Part of series
    Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    1 x 5.8 x 8.3 inches
  9. Print length
    278 pages
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In his absorbing "Beauty: The Fortunes of an Ancient Greek Idea," the classicist David Konstan sets out to recover ancient Greek notions of beauty in both life and art. Did the Greeks have a coherent concept of "beauty" at all, Mr. Konstan asks, and how far does it overlap with modern Western ideas of beauty?" --The Wall Street Journal--

"Only a scholar as sure-footed as Konstan would attempt such a philologically rigorous inquiry in a book series targeted at general readers (Oxford's acclaimed Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture). Somehow, Konstan carries it off, keeping up a brisk pace as he leads his readers, text by text, through the maze, briefly and breezily contextualizing each new passage as it comes in view." --The Times Literary Supplement

"Beauty offers an immense variety of both thoughts and thinkers...As beauty is a rather complex topic, this is a complex, but readable, book--it is challenging but interesting...As well as philological detail, Professor Konstan also brings a considerable amount of recent scholarship into the discussion, making Beauty a valuable book for students of philosophy or Classics." --Minerva

"A breathtakingly wide view of beauty as the ancient Greeks conceived it, from Homer to the Septuagint, and from Plato to Derrida and Bourdieu-this is the work of a scholar with an immense command of classical literature and its legacy in our own time. This book should be required reading for anyone working in aesthetics, ancient or modern. Readers will never again be able to imagine beauty shorn completely of its historical ties to passion and desire." --Paul Woodruff, The University of Texas at Austin

"An eloquent contribution to the new literature on beauty. Konstan asks a basic question: How well do ancient notions of beauty translate into our modern lexicon? The result is a rich sampling of sources from Homer to the Hebrew Bible to the Byzantine Church Fathers, expertly traced through a series of philological probes. Because ancient beauty was not limited to art or reduced to a focal concept of any kind, looking into the past like this provides a valuable and often surprising reminder of the limits of our own aesthetic intuitions. Konstan's study will be a critical resource for anyone interested in this fascinating set of issues." --James I. Porter, University of California at Irvine

"Only a scholar as sure-footed as Konstan would attempt such a philologically rigorous inquiry in a book series targeted at general readers (Oxfords acclaimed Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture) ... Somehow, Konstan carries it off, keeping up a brisk pace as he leads his readers, text by text, through the maze, briefly and breezily contextualizing each new passage as it comes in view." --James Romm, Times Literary Supplement

"An eloquent contribution to the new literature on beauty. Konstan asks a basic question: How well do ancient notions of beauty translate into our modern lexicon? The result is a rich sampling of sources from Homer to the Hebrew Bible to the Byzantine Church Fathers, expertly traced through a series of philological probes. Because ancient beauty was not limited to art or reduced to a focal concept of any kind, looking into the past like this provides a valuable and often surprising reminder of the limits of our own aesthetic intuitions. Konstan's study will be a critical resource for anyone interested in this fascinating set of issues." --James I. Porter, University of California at Irvine

"An eloquent contribution to the new literature on beauty. Konstan asks a basic question: How well do ancient notions of beauty translate into our modern lexicon? The result is a rich sampling of sources from Homer to the Hebrew Bible to the Byzantine Church Fathers, expertly traced through a series of philological probes. Because ancient beauty was not limited to art or reduced to a focal concept of any kind, looking into the past like this provides a valuable and often surprising reminder of the limits of our own aesthetic intuitions. Konstan's study will be a critical resource for anyone interested in this fascinating set of issues." --James I. Porter, University of California at Irvine

"David Konstan's book addresses the linguistic roots of the issues around the notion of beauty and offers an impressive analysis and history of the idea of beauty, from Ancient Greece to the present day. Konstans erudition is striking: with knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, he offers a remarkable examination of the uses of the equivalent words for beauty in classical literature, the Bible, and beyond." --Ines Morais, Forma de Vida

Book Description

What makes something beautiful? In this engaging, elegant study, David Konstan turns to ancient Greece to address the nature of beauty.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (January 2, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 278 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 019992726X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199927265
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1 x 5.8 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

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David Konstan

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
16 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

james parke
5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy entree to a fundamental inquiry
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2017
Verified Purchase
If there is a raison d'être for living, among many big meaning-and-purpose concepts like "doing good" and "making a difference", is appreciating beauty. But, some understanding of the word is a prerequisite. This overview ably begins that journey. I was surprised at the erudition, scholastic rigor and breadth of source material cited. Not exhaustive enough to induce exhaustion, yet comprehensive enough to leave the reader a well developed foundation for further exploration. We really haven't improved much on the ancient Greeks, good to understand their thinking on the subject. This book neatly balances the weight of Greek thought with that which follows.
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Alexandra Young-Leak
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2015
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Interesting topic filled with great information.
3 people found this helpful
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Alicia Montemayor
5.0 out of 5 stars Maravilloso libro
Reviewed in Mexico on April 16, 2020
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Uno de los libros más relevantes sobre este tema.
Escrito de forma rigurosa y accesible.
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Dr. Nuno Rodrigues
5.0 out of 5 stars Mandatory to Art Historians!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2019
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Excellent book!
One person found this helpful
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