eBook - ePub

Beauty and the Gods

Name: Beauty and the Gods
ISBN: 9780691252445

A History from Homer to Plato

Hugo Shakeshaft,

English
ePUB (mobile friendly)
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - ePub

Beauty and the Gods

A History from Homer to Plato

Hugo Shakeshaft,

About this book

How ideas and experiences of beauty informed human relationships with the divine in ancient Greece

Beginning with the earliest Greek literature, the epics of Homer and Hesiod, beauty was seen as having a special connection with the divine. The gods of ancient Greece were defined by their exceptional beauty; even today, ‘to look like a Greek god’ is proverbial for human beauty. In Beauty and the Gods, Hugo Shakeshaft explores the relationship between the beautiful and divine in ancient Greece, principally in the Archaic period (ca. 750–480 BCE). Analysing evidence that ranges from poetry, art, and philosophical texts to architecture and the natural landscape, Shakeshaft shows how ideas and experiences of beauty shaped Greek relations with the divine.

With a powerful call for the place of beauty and aesthetics in the writing of history, Shakeshaft uncovers the cultural dialogue between beauty and the gods in a variety of contexts in the Archaic Greek world: in forms of divine worship; in poetry, music, and dance; in attitudes to the natural environment; and in architecture and art. This early chapter of Greek history, he argues, holds an unrecognised key to understanding some long-running threads in the histories of religion, art, and aesthetics, from Plato’s aesthetic theories to beauty’s status in contemporary discourse. Beauty’s deep past and divine connection in ancient Greece can help us see beauty now in sharper focus.

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Yes, you can access Beauty and the Gods by Hugo Shakeshaft in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Greek Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.