Figure del corpo nel mondo antico

The Body in its artistic form as defined by the Western world was, so to speak, invented for the first time in classical antiquity and most of its subsequent history has concerned the image and the ideal formed during that period. Regarding the Greek world, the exhibition of the male body is one of the most powerful images that has been submitted. No other ancient civilization emphasized the nude body as much as the Greeks did during their most distinguishing social rituals: the symposium, athletic competitions and in military education. This research investigate the various configurations of the male and female body, their images in the Greek culture and their performative utterance. The methodology applied in this research project falls within an area of study which over the last thirty years has advanced the idea that images from the ancient world should not be interpreted as aesthetic objects, but rather as a semantic system that, when deciphered, allows for the recuperation of a discourse on the ancient world as in addition to the written sources. Starting from these premises, the project will create a figurative and historical-text collection of bodily representations in the Greek world, according to structured thematic categories. The intent is not to create a simple assemblage of iconographic images or written sources of corporeality, but rather the body will become a vehicle of information for understanding specific aspects of ancient society (social organization, medical practices, gender and sexual roles, ethical and political functions, theoretical interpretation, mental and physical matters). We will try to understand the specific implications of the body in society (gender identity, cultural structure, power hierarchies, education, habitus, sexual behaviors, agency). The aim of this project is to analyze the problem of the Greek preoccupation with body and nakedness in different fields: visual arts, philosophy, theater, religion, war, religion etc.