Aesthetic Value in Classical Antiquity

495 Pages·2012·3.325 MB·English

by  Ineke Sluiter, Ralph M. Rosen

Aesthetic Value in
Classical Antiquity
Mnemosyne
Supplements
Monographs on Greek and
Latin Language and Literature
EditorialBoard
G.J.Boter
A.Chaniotis
K.M.Coleman
I.J.F.deJong
T.Reinhardt
VOLUME350
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/mns
Aesthetic Value in
Classical Antiquity
Editedby
InekeSluiter
RalphM.Rosen
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2012
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Aestheticvalueinclassicalantiquity/editedbyInekeSluiter,RalphM.Rosen.
pages.cm.–(Mnemosyne.Supplements;volume350)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-90-04-23167-2(hardback:alk.paper)–ISBN978-90-04-23282-2(e-book)
1.Aesthetics,Classical.2.Classicalliterature–Historyandcriticism.3.Philosophy,Ancient.I.
Sluiter,I.(Ineke)II.Rosen,RalphMark.III.Series:Mnemosyne,bibliothecaclassicaBatava.
Supplementum;v.350.
BH108.A372012
111'.850938–dc23
2012024810
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CONTENTS
ListofContributors..................................................... vii
1.GeneralIntroduction ................................................. 1
InekeSluiterandRalphM.Rosen
2.Amousia:LivingwithouttheMuses .................................. 15
StephenHalliwell
3.IstheSublimeanAestheticValue?................................... 47
JamesI.Porter
4.MoreThanMeetstheEye:TheAestheticsof(Non)senseinthe
AncientGreekSymposium......................................... 71
AlexandraPappas
5.TheAestheticValueofMusicinPlatonicThought................... 113
EleonoraRocconi
6.SenexMensura:AnObjectiveAestheticsofSeniorsinPlato’sLaws.. 133
MyrtheL.Bartels
7.AllocatingMusicalPleasure:Performance,Pleasure,andValuein
Aristotle’sPolitics................................................... 159
ElizabethM.Jones
8.Audience,PoeticJustice,andAestheticValueinAristotle’sPoetics.. 183
ElsaBouchard
9.AuthenticityasanAestheticValue:AncientandModern
Reflections ......................................................... 215
IrenePeirano
10.HeraclidesCriticusandtheProblemofTaste ....................... 243
JeremyMcInerney
11.‘Popular’AestheticsandPersonalArtAppreciationinthe
HellenisticAge ..................................................... 265
CraigHardiman
vi contents
12.Art,Aesthetics,andtheHeroinVergil’sAeneid ..................... 285
JosephFarrell
13.TantaeMolisErat:OnValuingRomanImperialArchitecture ....... 315
BettinaReitz
14.Poetry,Politics,andPleasureinQuintilian.......................... 345
CurtisDozier
15.TalisOratioQualisVita:LiteraryJudgmentsAsPersonalCritiques
inRomanSatire .................................................... 365
JenniferL.Ferriss-Hill
16.CaptiveAudience?TheAestheticsofNefasinSenecanDrama...... 393
CarrieMowbray
17.CreatingChloe:EducationinErosthroughAestheticsinLongus’
DaphnisandChloe.................................................. 421
CaitlinC.Gillespie
IndexofGreekTerms................................................... 447
IndexofLatinTerms.................................................... 453
IndexLocorum ......................................................... 457
GeneralIndex........................................................... 475
LISTOFCONTRIBUTORS
MyrtheL.BartelsisPh.D.studentinClassicsatLeidenUniversity.
Elsa Bouchard is Assistant Professor in Ancient Greek Language and
LiteratureatUniversitédeMontréal.
CurtisDozierisVisitingAssistantProfessorofClassicsatVassarCollege.
Joseph Farrell is Professor of Classical Studies and Joseph B. Glossberg
TermProfessorintheHumanitiesattheUniversityofPennsylvania.
JenniferFerriss-HillisAssistantProfessorofClassicsattheUniversityof
Miami.
CaitlinC.GillespieisarecentPh.D.graduateinClassicalStudiesatthe
UniversityofPennsylvania.
StephenHalliwellisProfessorofGreekattheUniversityofSt.Andrews.
CraigHardimanisAssociateProfessorofClassicalStudiesattheUniver-
sityofWaterloo.
ElizabethM.JonesreceivedherdoctoraldegreeinClassicsfromStanford
Universityin2012.
JeremyMcInerneyisProfessorofClassicalStudiesandDavidsonKennedy
ProfessorintheCollegeattheUniversityofPennsylvania.
CarrieMowbrayisaPh.D.studentinClassicsattheUniversityofPennsyl-
vania.
Alexandra Pappas is Assistant Professor of Classics and Raoul Bertrand
ChairinClassicsatSanFranciscoStateUniversity.Chapter4inthisvolume
wasdevelopedunderaffiliationwiththeUniversityofArkansas,andwhile
shewasaFellowattheCenterforHellenicStudies.
viii listofcontributors
IrenePeiranoisAssistantProfessorofClassicsatYaleUniversity.
JamesI.PorterisProfessorofClassicsandComparativeLiteratureatthe
UniversityofCalifornia,Irvine.
BettinaReitzisaPh.D.studentinClassicsatLeidenUniversity.
EleonoraRocconiisAssistantProfessorofGreekatPaviaUniversity.
Ralph M. Rosen is Rose Family Endowed Term Professor of Classical
StudiesattheUniversityofPennsylvania,andAssociateDeanforgraduate
studiesintheschoolofArtsandSciences.
InekeSluiterisProfessorofGreekatLeidenUniversity.
chapterone
GENERALINTRODUCTION
InekeSluiterandRalphM.Rosen*
1.Introduction
TwoGreektheater-goersarewatchingaplay.‘Whatdoyouthink?’,oneof
themwhisperstohisneighbor.‘Ilikeit’,‘Idon’t’.Thiswasthekindofpro-
totypicalsituationwehadinmindwhendesigningtheprojectthatresulted
inthisvolume.Suchascenario,completelycredibleinitself,immediately
raises two issues. The first is: did they care? Was ‘liking a play’ (or any
otherartifact)animportantquestionatall,and,ifso,why?TheGreeksand
Romansdoseemtohavecaredandthissuggeststheexistenceofa‘valueof
“aesthetics”’inclassicalantiquity,ageneralvalueattributedtotheexperi-
enceofart(aswewillcallitfornow).Thesecondissueis:howwouldthe
theater-goershavemotivatedanyinitialanswertheymighthavegiven?Why
wouldtheyconsideraplaygood,sublime,stupid,orboring?Theircriteria,
themotivationsforsuchsnapjudgments(andthoseofotherpeopleaskedto
discusstheirexperienceof‘artistic’production)wouldbepartoftherange
of‘aestheticvalues’inancientdiscourse.Boththe‘valueof“aesthetics”’and
‘aestheticvalues’areincludedinthisproject.1
Wewillnotbeconcernedinthisvolumewiththequestionof‘theaes-
thetic’ as a universal feature or faculty of humans (or not), nor will we
engagewiththeproblemofmodern‘aesthetics’asarticulatedfromtheeigh-
teenthcenturyonwards.2Wetakeourcuefromtheetymologicalmeaningof
theword,derivedfromtheverbαἰσθάνοµαι,‘toperceive’,andwillbelooking
forhistoricized,embodied,and(potentially)culturallyspecificreactionsto
* WewouldliketothankJoeFarrellforhisinsightfulcommentsonthetopicofthis
introduction.
1 Forthevalueattributedto‘art’,seethechapterbyStephenHalliwellinthisvolume;for
‘aestheticvalues’,seebelow,sections3and4.
2 EversinceBaumgarten1750;Kant1790;Hegel1835.AnexcellentintroductioninShep-
pard1987.