Beauty In Ancient Greek Culture

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While the definition of beauty states that it is a combination of qualities that pleases the sight, many people believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This means that each individual has their own views towards beauty, especially in the “ideal” beauty. Although beauty is a concept every being has recognized since their beginning of time (i.e. young children can already acknowledge the beauty in flowers), their views and ideas towards it are mostly influenced by their environment and culture. Throughout history, it can be noted that every culture has their own perspective on how they visualize beauty or what exemplifies beauty. However, it may be hard to determine how ancient cultures view beauty as there are a lack of primary sources. …show more content…
“The difference no longer rests on the attributes held by the statue” (Ridgway 1970). This means that physical appearance is not the only feature regarded in order to distinguish a sculpture. Due to an increase in characterization, sculptures have the potential to portray personality and narrative. For example, a sculpture of a god/goddess can be recognized by a certain grandeur or action, along with its physical attributions. Presenting sculptures in narrative have become an important characteristic in Ancient Greek art. Sculptures became not only used for statues of representative and decorative purposes, but they also illustrates stories and famous myths; this was executed by displaying emotions and motion in sculptures. All these changes/additions to Greek (sculpture) art also aid in exemplifying their concepts on the ideal …show more content…
Every angle reveals a different, important aspect of the sculpture (Coe 2014). By viewing the Marble Statue of a Naked Aphrodite at all angles, one can see the curves of the body, the position, the details in the hair and facial features, and even the water jug. In pertaining to the concept of the ideal female, Aphrodite is the goddess that mostly portrays this vision. However, other nude female models also show the same figure. As a result, one can conclude from this single sculpture that the ideal beauty for a female should be lean, but voluptuous body. There should also be an aura of elegance and modesty. Nevertheless, it also hints that “the shape of a woman’s body beneath her clothing is tantalisingly suggestive” ( 2015). This was to justify how women were to be covered and contained (portrayed in other Greek sculptures of

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