Beautiful Harmony: The Balance of Physical Beauty and Internal Virtues
Student Podcast for Credit in HIST 2210, LC
By: T. Smith
Abstract
The concept of beauty in the Greek world was a complex and vastly dynamic thing, often changing and evolving over time. With the help of material culture and literature we can gain significant insight into the opinions of ancient poets and philosophers and learn how they felt beauty and the idea of harmony between the physical and the internal, sexuality and desire, and love. To gain the full scope of these complex ideas this research took primary literature from the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods analyzing poems by Sappho and Demosthenes, and philosophies from Plato. This research also analyzed sculpture from the Hellenistic period by the artist Praxiteles to see what influences the evolving philosophical ideas and poetic themes had on art. The question is how did the Greek conceptualize beauty with the idea of balance and harmony of physical beauty, internal virtues and sexual desire when defining something as beautiful? and did these concepts separate or did they combine to form one singular notion of beauty? Literary culture is important because when analyzing poetry along with philosophy and art it can offer a more human and emotional view into ancient people’s ideas which are filled with strong desires and feelings, can truly convey the most genuine answers regarding the harmony and complexity of beauty.
Bibliography
Johnson, M., & Ryan, T. (2008). Sexuality in Greek and Roman society and literature: a sourcebook. Routledge. ProQuest Ebook Central. Retrieved https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/detail.action?docID=5292752. on November 18, 2020.
Koloski-Ostrow, A. O., Lyons, C. L., & Boymel, K. W. A. E. B. (Eds.). (1997). Naked truths: Women, sexuality and gender in classical art and archaeology. ProQuest Ebook Central Retrieved https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/detail.action?docID=180372. on November 18, 2020
Levin, S. B. (2000). The ancient quarrel between philosophy and poetry revisited: Plato and the greek literary tradition. Oxford University Press. ProQuest Ebook Central. Retrieved https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/detail.action?docID=431047. November 20, 2020
Praxiteles (350-340 BC), Apollo Sauroctonus (sculpture). The Louvre, Paris, France. https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/apollo-sauroctonus?sous_dept=1
Praxiteles (4th century BC), Aphrodite of Knidos (sculpture). Closest original piece is located at the Vatican Museum, Italy, Rome. Image from https://cfami469.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/aphrodite-of-knidos/
Plato. (2004). Plato’s Symposium. (Hunter, R. Trans.). Oxford University Press. ProQuest Ebook. Central Retrieved https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/detail.action?docID=4703886 on November 17, 2020
Roisman, J. (2011). Ancient Greece from Homer to Alexander: The evidence. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. ProQuest Ebook Central. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/detail.action?docID=832297. on November 18, 2020.
Sartwell, C. (2004). Six names of beauty. Routledge. ProQuest Ebook Central. Retrieved https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/detail.action?docID=182923. on November 18, 2020.
Music Intro
Henson, J., Georgiades, M., & Kyd, J. (2018, November 25). Assassin's Creed: Odyssey - Calm & Beautiful Music Mix, Instrumental Ancient Greece Medieval Music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAktXjsl9s0.
