The efficacy of beauty : aesthetics and action in the thought of Xenophon of Athens
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This dissertation examines the role of aesthetics, art and visual culture in the thought of Xenophon of Athens (c. 430-354 BCE). Although his diverse writings offer many insights into the visual culture of 4th century Greece, no study has yet attempted to explain them as pertaining to a consistent thinker. I argue Xenophon's engagement with art is both coherent and original. His thought about art and beauty was grounded in a conception of their functionality and practical applicability: the experience and value of beauty and art, in other words, are to be explained and considered in relation to human needs and human action. Unlike what the modern concept to aesthetics often implies, Xenophon's approach to art treats it not as a domain separated to itself but as a practice that is organically interwoven with the life of action. I develop my argument in four chapters. In chapter 1, I examine the theoretical principles discussed by Xenophon's Socrates in the Memorabilia, which show that in contrast to contemporary intellectuals, he saw value in the realm of the visual and argued that the phenomenon of beauty should not be abstracted but rather seen in relation to human needs. In chapters 2-4, I demonstrate how this conception of the visual is represented in his other works: in his representation of leisure in the Symposium (chapter 2), of practical domestic life in the Oeconomicus (chapter 3), and in his political thought in the Agesilaus, Cyropaedia and Hipparchicus (chapter 4). I argue that throughout these distinct fields, for Xenophon art and beauty are fundamental forces in human life that inform domestic economy and provide avenues for understanding and practicing politics.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2022; ©2022 |
| Publication date | 2022; 2022 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Gildin Zuckerman, Vladimir |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Nightingale, Andrea Wilson |
| Degree supervisor | Peponi, Anastasia-Erasmia |
| Thesis advisor | Nightingale, Andrea Wilson |
| Thesis advisor | Peponi, Anastasia-Erasmia |
| Thesis advisor | Kidd, Stephen E, 1980- |
| Thesis advisor | Martin, Richard P |
| Degree committee member | Kidd, Stephen E, 1980- |
| Degree committee member | Martin, Richard P |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Classics |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Vladimir Gildin Zuckerman. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Classics. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2022. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/qh245nt0880 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2022 by Vladimir Gildin Zuckerman
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...