Cosmos in the Ancient World

Bibliographic Data

ID23174102
AuthorsPhilip Sidney Horky (Logiques de l'agir, corresponding author)
EditorsPhillip Sidney Horky (0000-0003-3477-586X)
Year2019
Publication date2019-07-04
Open AccessYes
TypeBOOK
VenueCosmos in the Ancient World (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/9781108529082
OpenAlexW2907199829
Open LibraryOL34740947M
ISBN9781108529082
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited274

How did the ancient Greeks and Romans conceptualise order? This book answers that question by analysing the formative concept of kosmos ('order', 'arrangement', 'ornament') in ancient literature, philosophy, science, art, and religion. This concept encouraged the Greeks and Romans to develop theories to explain core aspects of human life, including nature, beauty, society, politics, the individual, and what lies beyond human experience. Hence, Greek kosmos, and its Latin correlate mundus, are subjects of profound reflection by a wide range of important ancient figures, including philosophers (Parmenides, Empedocles, the Pythagoreans, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Lucretius, Cicero, Seneca, Plotinus), poets and playwrights (Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Plautus, Marcus Argentarius, Nonnus), intellectuals (Gorgias, Protagoras, Varro), and religious exegetes (Philo, the Gospel Writers, Paul). By revealing kosmos in its many ancient manifestations, this book asks us to rethink our own sense of 'order', and to reflect on our place within a broader cosmic history.

Art · Art history · Cosmos (plant) · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Ancient Cosmology · Philosophy

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