Sight and the Ancient Senses

It is to Greek critical thinking about ‘seeing’ that we owe our conceptual framework for theorising the senses. Contributors to Sight and the Ancient Senses aim not only to explore ancient ideas and ideologies, but also to examine their influence on the history of western ‘seeing’ at large: by bringing together philosophers, historians of science, literary critics and art historians, the aim is to interrogate the cultural, social and intellectual backdrops against which discourses of sight came to be theorised in antiquity on the one hand, and to ask what these backdrops mean for understanding extant literary and archaeological products on the other.

It is to Greek critical thinking about seeing that we owe our conceptual framework for theorizing the senses, and it is also to such thinking that we owe the lasting legacy of Greco-Roman imagery. Sight and the Ancient Senses is the first thorough introduction to the conceptualization of sight in the history, visual culture, literature and philosophy of classical antiquity. Examining how the Greeks and Romans interpreted what they saw, the collection also considers sight in relation to the other senses.

This volume brings together a number of interdisciplinary perspectives to deliver a broad and balanced coverage of this subject. Contributors explore the cultural, social and intellectual backdrops that gave rise to ancient theories of seeing, from Archaic Greece through to the advent of Christianity in late antiquity. This series of specially commissioned thematic chapters demonstrate how theories about sight informed Graeco-Roman philosophy, science, poetry rhetoric and art. The collection also reaches beyond its Graeco-Roman visual framework, showcasing how ancient ideas have influenced the longue durée of western sensory thinking. Richly illustrated throughout, including a section of color plates, Sight and the Ancient Senses is a wide-ranging introduction to ancient theories of seeing which will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of classical antiquity.