Sunday, September 14, 2008

Kalokagathia

Kalokagathia in ancient Greece was ideal physical and moral beauty. Coming from two words, kalos meaning beautiful(outward) and noble(inward), and agthos, meaning noble, courageous, worhty of admiration. It involves notions of symmetry important to Greeks. Plato believed that which is beautiful can only be good, and vice versa. Plotinus followed Plato's ideas and said that "beauty is that which irradiates symmetry rather than symmetry itself."


Below is a kouros, which is a statue of a youth that did not represent a particular person but the idea of youth. Made as dedications to the Gods or as graveside monuments, kouros were fashioned to be flawless representations of the "beautiful and good" ideal.



Friday, September 12, 2008

Nuba Scarification


The Nuba, a tribal group in Sudan, idealise scarification, dark skin and hairlessness. Scarification is considered a mark of beauty on women, and her first set of scars are cut from the naval to the breasts when her breasts first start to mature. On menses, more scars are cut on her body, and after weaning her child, a final set on her back, neck, arms, and legs. The raised scars are connected with sexual desire, and are said to create erotic sensations when touched.