Single Idea 5851

[catalogued under 21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 5. Natural Beauty]

Full Idea

The pentathletes are the most beautiful, being at the same time naturally suited to both speed and force.

Gist of Idea

Pentathletes look the most beautiful, because they combine speed and strength

Source

Aristotle (The Art of Rhetoric [c.350 BCE], 1361b09)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'The Art of Rhetoric', ed/tr. Lawson-Tancred,H.C. [Penguin 1991], p.89


A Reaction

This is still true. Watch the Olympics. The bodies we envy most belong to those who do a variety of disciplines. The most beautiful music fulfils a variety of functions (structure, as well as melody, drama, rhythm, harmony, novelty).