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Visualizing the invisible with the human body : Physiognomy and ekphrasis in the ancient world / J. Cale Johnson, Alessandro Stavru
(Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Cultures, ; volume 10)
| Material Type | E-Book |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter |
| Year | [2019] |
| Language | English |
| Size | 1 online resource (VI, 501 pages) |
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| Media type | 機械可読データファイル |
|---|---|
| Notes | Physiognomy and ekphrasis are two of the most important modes of description in antiquity and represent the necessary precursors of scientific description. The primary way of divining the characteristics and fate of an individual, whether inborn or acquired, was to observe the patient's external characteristics and behaviour. This volume focuses initially on two types of descriptive literature in Mesopotamia: physiognomic omens and what we might call ekphrastic description. These modalities are traced through ancient India, Ugaritic and the Hebrew Bible, before arriving at the physiognomic features of famous historical figures such as Themistocles, Socrates or Augustus in the Graeco-Roman world, where physiognomic discussions become intertwined with typological analyses of human characters. The Arabic compendial culture absorbed and remade these different physiognomic and ekphrastic traditions, incorporating both Mesopotamian links between physiognomy and medicine and the interest in characterological 'types' that had emerged in the Hellenistic period. This volume offer the first wide-ranging picture of these modalities of description in antiquity Open Access In English Includes bibliographical references and index Online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Nov 2019) |
| Authors | Johnson, J. Cale, Stavru, Alessandro, |
| Subjects | LCSH:Literature, Ancient -- History and criticism
All Subject Search
LCSH:Physiognomy in literature LCSH:Ekphrasis LCSH:Human body in literature FREE:Literary studies: classical, early & medieval FREE:History of science BISACSH:HISTORY -- Ancient -- General All Subject Search FREE:Ekphrasis FREE:Human body in literature FREE:Literature, Ancient FREE:Physiognomy in literature MESH:Human Body MESH:Physiognomy MESH:History, Ancient MESH:Roman World MESH:Greek World LCSH:Electronic books FREE:Criticism, interpretation, etc |
| Classification | DC:480 |
| ID | ED00001678 |
| ISBN | 9783110642698 |
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