James I. Porter is Professor of Classics at the University of California, Irvine. Recent publications include Classical Pasts: The Classical Traditions of Greece and Rome (edited, 2006), and The Invention of Dionysus: An Essay on the Birth of Tragedy (2000).

'[A] remarkable book … Porter's argument is substantial: learned, challenging and, on various levels, worth serious consideration.' The Times Literary Supplement

• Introduction; Part I. Foundations: Aesthetics, Formalism, and Materialism: 1. Aesthetic thought in antiquity; 2. Form and formalism; 3. Matter and appearances; Part II. The Nascent Aesthetic Languages of the Sixth to Fourth Centuries BCE: 4. The rise of aesthetic reflection in the fifth century; 5. The evidence of Aristophanes and Gorgias; 6. The music of the voice; 7. The voice of music; 8. Visual experience; Part III. Broader Perspectives: 9. Sublime monuments in ancient aesthetics; Epilogue.

James I. Porter is Professor of Classics at the University of California, Irvine. Recent publications include Classical Pasts: The Classical Traditions of Greece and Rome (edited, 2006), and The Invention of Dionysus: An Essay on the Birth of Tragedy (2000).

'[A] remarkable book … Porter's argument is substantial: learned, challenging and, on various levels, worth serious consideration.' The Times Literary Supplement

• Introduction; Part I. Foundations: Aesthetics, Formalism, and Materialism: 1. Aesthetic thought in antiquity; 2. Form and formalism; 3. Matter and appearances; Part II. The Nascent Aesthetic Languages of the Sixth to Fourth Centuries BCE: 4. The rise of aesthetic reflection in the fifth century; 5. The evidence of Aristophanes and Gorgias; 6. The music of the voice; 7. The voice of music; 8. Visual experience; Part III. Broader Perspectives: 9. Sublime monuments in ancient aesthetics; Epilogue.

James I. Porter is Professor of Classics at the University of California, Irvine. Recent publications include Classical Pasts: The Classical Traditions of Greece and Rome (edited, 2006), and The Invention of Dionysus: An Essay on the Birth of Tragedy (2000).

'[A] remarkable book … Porter's argument is substantial: learned, challenging and, on various levels, worth serious consideration.' The Times Literary Supplement

• Introduction; Part I. Foundations: Aesthetics, Formalism, and Materialism: 1. Aesthetic thought in antiquity; 2. Form and formalism; 3. Matter and appearances; Part II. The Nascent Aesthetic Languages of the Sixth to Fourth Centuries BCE: 4. The rise of aesthetic reflection in the fifth century; 5. The evidence of Aristophanes and Gorgias; 6. The music of the voice; 7. The voice of music; 8. Visual experience; Part III. Broader Perspectives: 9. Sublime monuments in ancient aesthetics; Epilogue.