Aesthetic Value in Classical Antiquity

This is the sixth volume representing the Penn-Leiden Colloquia on Ancient Values, a biennial gathering initiated by the editors Sluiter (Greek, Leiden U.) and Rosen (classical studies, U. of Pennsylvania) in 2000. Their introductory essay defines the parameters of the theme including what is not under consideration or is peripheral, such as modern aesthetics or whether aesthetics is a universal faculty of humans. Instead the emphasis is on how, for example, Greek theater goers might have responded to a play, and how they might have compared their responses with one another. A sampling of topics addressed in 17 contributions: life without the muses, the aesthetics of (non)sense, music in Platonic thought, authenticity as an aesthetic value, Roman imperial architecture, and literary judgments as personal critiques in Roman satire. The volume is thoroughly indexed. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ineke Sluiter, Ph.D. (1990) in Classics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, is Professor of Greek at Leiden University. Apart from the Penn-Leiden volumes, her most recent book is (with Rita Copeland), Medieval Grammar and Rhetoric. Language Arts and Literary Theory, AD 350-1475 (2009). Ralph M. Rosen, Ph.D. (1983) in Classical Philology, Harvard University, is the Rose Family Endowed Term Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Apart from the Penn-Leiden volumes, his most recent book is Making Mockery. The Poetics of Ancient Satire (2007).Contributors: Myrthe Bartels, Elsa Bouchard, Curtis Dozier, Joseph Farrell, Jennifer Ferriss-Hill, Caitlin Gillespie, Stephen Halliwell, Craig Hardiman, Elizabeth Jones, Jeremy McInerney, Carrie Mowbray, Alexandra Pappas, Irene Peirano, James Porter, Bettina Reitz and Eleonora Rocconi.