Author |
: Phillip Sidney Horky |
Publisher |
: Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages |
: 370 |
Release |
: 2022-06-30 |
ISBN-10 |
: 1108438229 |
ISBN-13 |
: 9781108438223 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (29 Downloads) |
Book Synopsis Cosmos in the Ancient World by : Phillip Sidney Horky
Download or read book Cosmos in the Ancient World written by Phillip Sidney Horky and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-30 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did the ancient Greeks and Romans conceptualise order? This book answers that question by analysing the formative concept of kosmos ('order', 'arrangement', 'ornament') in ancient literature, philosophy, science, art, and religion. This concept encouraged the Greeks and Romans to develop theories to explain core aspects of human life, including nature, beauty, society, politics, the individual, and what lies beyond human experience. Hence, Greek kosmos, and its Latin correlate mundus, are subjects of profound reflection by a wide range of important ancient figures, including philosophers (Parmenides, Empedocles, the Pythagoreans, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Lucretius, Cicero, Seneca, Plotinus), poets and playwrights (Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Plautus, Marcus Argentarius, Nonnus), intellectuals (Gorgias, Protagoras, Varro), and religious exegetes (Philo, the Gospel Writers, Paul). By revealing kosmos in its many ancient manifestations, this book asks us to rethink our own sense of 'order', and to reflect on our place within a broader cosmic history.