
Visualizing the invisible with the human body
Physiognomy and ekphrasis in the ancient world
De Gruyter (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 5. November 2019
Book
Hardback
VI, 501 pages
978-3-11-061826-6 (ISBN)
Description
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.
This volume offer the first wide-ranging picture of these modalities of description in antiquity.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Berlin/Boston
Germany
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student
Illustrations
4 s/w Tabellen, 1 Abbildung
1 ill., 4 tbl.
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 175 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
1032 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-11-061826-6 (9783110618266)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

J. Cale Johnson | Alessandro Stavru
Visualizing the invisible with the human body
Physiognomy and ekphrasis in the ancient world
E-Book
11/2019
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€0.00
Available for download

J. Cale Johnson | Alessandro Stavru
Visualizing the invisible with the human body
Physiognomy and ekphrasis in the ancient world
E-Book
11/2019
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€0.00
Available for download
Persons
J. Cale Johnson
, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom;
Alessandro Stavru
, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy.