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 duree 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.

About the Author
Michael Squire is Lecturer in Classical Greek Art at King's College London. He has a special research interest in the relationship between visual and verbal representation in antiquity, and is currently working on ideas of vision in the Elder Philostratus' Imagines.

Reviews

"Sight had a special place among the senses in antiquity. In different circumstances it was thought to be the guarantee of truth or the root of deception. In a powerful demonstration of why philosophers, art historians and literary critics need to be in constant dialogue, this book goes a long way to explaining both the causes and the consequences of sight's peculiar status for the Greeks and the Romans, as it explores both ancient theories of vision and some of the ways in which seeing and not seeing structured attitudes to knowledge and ignorance, memory and forgetfulness, life and death, the human and the divine."

- Robin Osborne, Professor of Ancient History, University of Cambridge, UK

"One must be grateful to Mr. Squire for having, in the spirit of the collection, contributed to the production of a coherent whole. We do not read there a meeting of autonomous texts but a book collectively thought, in which the different authors dialogue and respond. Since the work covers a very wide field, both in terms of the chronological extent and the cultural aspects envisaged, this merit must be welcomed."

-Frederic Le Blay, Universite de Nantes, France, in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Book Information
ISBN 9781844658664
Author Michael Squire
Format Paperback
Page Count 322
Imprint Acumen Publishing Ltd
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 940g