The Imagination of the Mind in Classical Athens: Forms of Thought

Description

"This book explores the imaginative processes at work in the artefacts of Classical Athens, building a diverse picture of culturally mediated thought in this period, prior to the development of explicit theories of the imagination in the centuries after Plato and Aristotle. When ancient Athenians strove to grasp 'justice' or 'war' or 'death', when they had dreams or encountered ghosts, when they deliberated upon problems, how did they do it? Did they think about what they were doing? Did they worry about it? Did they imagine an imagining mind? European notions of the imagination have often begun with philosophical theories, such as those of Aristotle. This volume is premised upon the idea that imaginative activity, especially efforts to articulate it, can take place in the absence of technical terminology or formal theory as developed in later periods. In exploring the imagination and self-reflection mediated by art and literature, the book scopes out the cultural roots of later, more explicit, theoretical enquiry. Taken together, the chapters explore a range of visual and verbal cultural artefacts from the Classical period. Approaching the topic from different angles - philosophical, historical, philological, literary, and art historical - they turn attention upon how these artefacts stimulate affective, sensory, meditative - in short, 'imaginative' - encounters between imagining bodies and their world. The Imagination of the Mind in Classical Athens offers a fascinating reassessment of "imagination" in ancient Greek culture and thought, of interest to students and scholars researching ancient philosophies of mind, as well as those working on ancient philosophy, art, and Greek culture, thought, and literature more broadly"-- Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of Illustrations List of Contributors Introduction Part I: The Form of the Imagination 1 How Far, How Close: Imagining the Battle of Cunaxa in Greek Historiography 2 The Realms of Fantasy: Aristotle on the Phenomenality of Mental Imagery Part II: Imagination Takes Form 3 Morbid Phantasies: The 'After-Death' and the Dead Between Imagination and Perception 4 An Imagined and Imagining Dēmos in Athenian Public Inscription Part III: Formative Processes of Imagination 5 Imagining Justice in the Athenian Lawcourt: Aeschines and Others 6 Plato's Creative Imagination Part IV: Form Defines Imagination 7 Imagining Death with Painted Pots 8 Imagining Bodies with Gorgias Part V: Form Becomes Imagination 9 Vigilance to the Point of Magic 10 Performing the Mind: Aeschylus' Suppliants and the Theatre of 'Deep Thought' Epilogue: The Ancient Imagination in Retrospect Index