
The Imagination of the Mind in Classical Athens
Forms of Thought
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 19. December 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
332 pages
978-0-367-70669-2 (ISBN)
Description
This book explores the imaginative processes at work in the artefacts of Classical Athens. When ancient Athenians strove to grasp 'justice' or 'war' or 'death', when they dreamt or deliberated, how did they do it? Did they think about what they were doing? Did they imagine an imagining mind?
European histories of the imagination have often begun with thinkers like Plato and Aristotle. By contrast, this volume is premised upon the idea that imaginative activity, and especially efforts to articulate it, can take place in the absence of technical terminology. In exploring an ancient culture of imagination mediated by art and literature, the book scopes out the roots of later, more explicit, theoretical enquiry. Chapters hone in on a range of visual and verbal artefacts from the Classical period. Approaching the topic from different angles - philosophical, historical, philological, literary, and art historical - they also investigate how these artefacts stimulate affective, sensory, meditative - in short, 'imaginative' - encounters between imagining bodies and their world.
The Imagination of the Mind in Classical Athens offers a ground-breaking reassessment of 'imagination' in ancient Greek culture and thought: it will be essential reading for those interested in not only philosophies of mind, but also ancient Greek image, text, and culture more broadly.
European histories of the imagination have often begun with thinkers like Plato and Aristotle. By contrast, this volume is premised upon the idea that imaginative activity, and especially efforts to articulate it, can take place in the absence of technical terminology. In exploring an ancient culture of imagination mediated by art and literature, the book scopes out the roots of later, more explicit, theoretical enquiry. Chapters hone in on a range of visual and verbal artefacts from the Classical period. Approaching the topic from different angles - philosophical, historical, philological, literary, and art historical - they also investigate how these artefacts stimulate affective, sensory, meditative - in short, 'imaginative' - encounters between imagining bodies and their world.
The Imagination of the Mind in Classical Athens offers a ground-breaking reassessment of 'imagination' in ancient Greek culture and thought: it will be essential reading for those interested in not only philosophies of mind, but also ancient Greek image, text, and culture more broadly.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Academic, Postgraduate, and Undergraduate Advanced
Illustrations
29 s/w Abbildungen, 29 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder
29 Halftones, black and white; 29 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
526 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-367-70669-2 (9780367706692)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
07/2023
1st Edition
Routledge
€207.10
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
07/2023
1st Edition
Routledge
€59.49
Available for download

E-Book
07/2023
1st Edition
Routledge
€59.49
Available for download
Persons
Emily Clifford is Junior Research Fellow in Greek Mythology at Christ Church College in Oxford, UK. Her research examines visual and verbal media from the Greek and Roman worlds to build a cultural history of thinking and idea-formation, currently focusing on death. She is completing a monograph on culturally-mediated reflections on death in Classical Athens.
Xavier Buxton is Teaching Fellow in Greek Language and Literature at the University of Warwick, UK. His research combines literary criticism and intellectual history to explore ways of thinking, especially thinking with emotions, in Classical Athens.
Xavier Buxton is Teaching Fellow in Greek Language and Literature at the University of Warwick, UK. His research combines literary criticism and intellectual history to explore ways of thinking, especially thinking with emotions, in Classical Athens.
Content
Introduction -Emily Clifford and Xavier Buxton; 1. How Far, How Close? Imagining the Battle of Cunaxa in Greek Historiography -Luuk Huitink; 2. The Realms of Fantasy: Aristotle on the Phenomenality of Mental Imagery -Pia Campeggiani; 3. Morbid Phantasies: the 'After-Death' and the Dead between Imagination and Perception -Karolina Sekita; 4. An Imagined and Imagining demos in Athenian Public Inscription -Leah Lazar; 5. Imagining Justice in the Athenian Lawcourt: Aeschines and Others -Guy Westwood; 6. Plato's Creative Imagination -Zacharoula Petraki; 7. Imagining Death with Painted Pots -Emily Clifford; 8. Imagining Bodies with Gorgias -David Fearn; 9. Vigilance to the Point of Magic -Tom Phillips; 10. Performing the Mind: Aeschylus' Suppliants and the Theatre of 'Deep Thought' -Xavier Buxton; Epilogue: The Ancient Imagination in Retrospect -Jas Elsner and Michael Squire.