Abstract

This entry is a comprehensive study of ancient Greek and Roman aesthetic theories. The history of ancient aesthetics covers centuries, and during this time numerous nuanced arguments and positions were developed. In terms of theories of beauty it is possible to classify the theories into three distinct groups: those that attribute the origin of beauty to proportion, those that attribute it to functionality and those that attribute the Form as the cause of beauty. Ancient philosophers were also the authors of some of the more notable concepts in the philosophy of art. The notions of catharsis, sublimity and mimesis originated in antiquity and have played a role in aesthetics ever since then.