What's Wrong with Diet? What's the Role of Aesthetics?

Chapter 24. Authenticity in Public

What we will explore: How was the presence of kalokagathia expressed in public places?

What is new: Why did Plato sharply condemn the body decoration process?

What we will learn: What did a certain Ischomachus encourage his wife to do and why?

1. "Body decoration: an evil, deceitful, base, ignoble occupation, it deceives with lines, colors, smoothness of skin, outfits and makes one chase after someone else's beauty, forgetting about one's own, which gymnastics gives" (Plato, 1990. Gorgias. 465 b) [1].

2. Counterfeiting was manifested in public. In addition to participation in sports game competitions, kalokagathia was manifested in public places. Holding and participating in festivals in honor of the gods, wedding celebrations, births and funerals, dinners with friends, and attending public meetings, court sessions, agoras *, and symposiums **, could also become a reason for criticism. These public places were a good opportunity to show off oneself in all its glory. Some ancient Greeks tried to counterfeit kalokagathia with the help of cosmetics and clothing.

• "Resorting to artificial embellishments and decorations due to the lack of their beauty" (italics added) (Plato, 1993. Phaedrus. 239 d) [2].

* Agora (Greek market square), in the time of Homer - a popular, judicial, or military assembly of free citizens. Later, the agora began to be called a square for holding meetings, which played the role of the center of urban society, life. At the edges of the square, there were public and religious buildings, as well as shops. An example of an agora is the agora in Athens, which acquired its characteristic appearance during the time of Pericles (its excavations have been ongoing since 1913) [3].

** Symposium (Greek symposion - feast), a party, a drinking bout, usually organized after a shared meal. Along with written sources, a detailed idea of ​​the symposia of Greek antiquity can be obtained from drawings on vases (ibid.).

Plato probably observed this situation more than once and denounced the false kalokagathia. Why did Plato so sharply denounce the false kalokagathia?

3. Exposing false kalokagathia. Plato draws our attention to those citizens who did not have genuine kalokagathia. Therefore, before leaving the house, they devoted a lot of time to creating external glosses. Plato calls this activity - body adornment. However, he shows that this is not an ordinary adornment. Plato shows that with the help of all sorts of tricks, citizens try to create an impression of beauty that does not exist - "resorting to artificial embellishments and adornments due to the lack of their beauty" (Plato, 1993. Phaedrus. 239 d) [2]. Such deception is harmful since they first of all deceive themselves. Evil, since such citizens lie to others about their unhealthy state of body, trying to hide it from others. Therefore, Plato calls body adornment beneath the dignity of an educated Greek. Citizens who do not have their dignity, according to Plato, cannot be noble. As a result of their ignoble behavior, other citizens become followers of false kalokagathia. Therefore, they do not see the need to develop their beauty through physical activity - "it deceives with lines, colors, smoothness of skin, outfits and makes you chase after someone else's beauty, forgetting about your own, which gymnastics gives" (Plato, 1990. Gorgias. 465 b) [1]. Who usually used false beauty?

Figure 1. Some Greek women had a whole workshop with mirrors, tweezers, pins, bottles of perfume and fragrances, and containers with cream.

4. Users of false beauty. The famous ancient Greek writer and historian Xenophon wrote in his work "Domostroy" how a certain Ischomachus convinced his wife not to be like dressed-up deceivers (talking about prostitutes), resorting to various body decorations, including cosmetics (Xenophon, 1993. Domostroy. X. 2) [4]. Some Greek women had a whole workshop with mirrors, tweezers, pins, bottles of perfume and fragrances, and containers with cream. Greek women already in ancient times used cream for whitening cheeks, and eyebrows, and dyes for eyebrows and eyelashes.

Figure 2. Cups with lids for storing tablets with cosmetic powder and a Corinthian box found in a tomb of the 5th century BC. Archaeological Museum of Kerameikos in Athens.

5. Summary. Public spaces provide opportunities for citizens to show off their beauty. Historical information, works of art (paintings on vases), and archaeological finds show how widely cosmetics and clothing were used in ancient times to create an external gloss. Plato exposed the adornment of the body, showing the harm of the influence of false kalokagathia, both for the users and for the followers who joined them.

Next Chapter: Private authenticity

What we will explore: What kind of environment did the ancient Greeks live in, and to what extent did it cover their life?

What is new: How did shame and conscience control the freedom of citizens?

What we will learn: What was the conscience of the citizens about Kalokagathia?

References

1. Plato. Collected works in 4 volumes. Volume I / Translation from ancient Greek; Vl. S. Solovyova, M. S. Solovyova, S. Ya. Sheinman-Topshtein and others; Auto. entry Art. and art. in note A. F. Losev; Note A. A. Tahoe-Godi. – M.: Mysl, 1990. – 860 p. – (Philosophical Heritage).

2. Plato Collected Works in 4 volumes. Volume 2/General ed.A. F. Loseva, V. F. Asmusa, A. A. Takho-Godi; Note A. F. Loseva and A. A. Takho-Godi; Translation from ancient Greek. – M.: Mysl, 1993. – 528 p. – (Philosophical Heritage).

3. Dictionary of Antiquity: Translation from German; Responsible editor V. I. Kuzishchin / Comp. Johannes Irmscher in collaboration with Renate Jone. – Moscow: Progress, 1989. – 704 p.

4 . Xenophon. Memories of Socrates. Moscow: Science, Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1993. – 379 p. – (Monuments of philosophical thought).