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Cosmos in the Ancient World

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Abstract

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.

Citation

Horky, P. S. (Ed.). (2019). Cosmos in the Ancient World. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108529082

Book Type Edited Book
Acceptance Date Apr 1, 2017
Online Publication Date Jun 30, 2019
Publication Date Jul 31, 2019
Deposit Date Apr 1, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Publisher Cambridge University Press
ISBN 9781108423649
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108529082

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