Metaphors of construction in ancient poetics
The analogy between the activity of poet and that of a blacksmith or builder characterizes the origin of aesthetics in western culture and influences the idea of kósmos, as structure ordered solely with the purpose of the effect of beauty. Although the metaphor of poet-blacksmith occurs only after t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria
2014-12-01
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| Series: | ArcHistoR Architettura Storia Restauro: Architecture History Restoration |
| Online Access: | http://pkp.unirc.it/ojs/index.php/archistor/article/view/29 |
| _version_ | 1827298554815709184 |
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| author | Giovanni Lombardo |
| author_facet | Giovanni Lombardo |
| author_sort | Giovanni Lombardo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The analogy between the activity of poet and that of a blacksmith or builder characterizes the origin of aesthetics in western culture and influences the idea of kósmos, as structure ordered solely with the purpose of the effect of beauty. Although the metaphor of poet-blacksmith occurs only after the 5th century BC, the image of poet-architect or builder dates back to the Indo-European period. Archaic poets (Homer, Hesiod, Pindar, etc.) already described their method of procedure through the comparison with techniques of naval carpentry and building construction: this association is applied both to production and reception of the text, as it is useful to illustrate structural order together with emotional and illusionistic effects of a work. In the classical age, the analogy can be found, in a more pervasive and explicit form, in the treatises of rhetoric which deal with stylistic composition, formulating doctrines which were to influence Vitruvian precepts. The centuries-old validity of comparison between poetry and architecture is also shown by the role which the notion of composition has in Medieval (for example in Dante poetics) and Renaissance poetics, and also in the reflections of contemporary poets (such as Pound, Valéry). |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:17:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-36945fb70f5841f686afe0ad3cdc28a0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2384-8898 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:17:55Z |
| publishDate | 2014-12-01 |
| publisher | Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ArcHistoR Architettura Storia Restauro: Architecture History Restoration |
| spelling | doaj.art-36945fb70f5841f686afe0ad3cdc28a02024-04-02T09:00:46ZengUniversità Mediterranea di Reggio CalabriaArcHistoR Architettura Storia Restauro: Architecture History Restoration2384-88982014-12-010242710.14633/AHR00716Metaphors of construction in ancient poeticsGiovanni LombardoThe analogy between the activity of poet and that of a blacksmith or builder characterizes the origin of aesthetics in western culture and influences the idea of kósmos, as structure ordered solely with the purpose of the effect of beauty. Although the metaphor of poet-blacksmith occurs only after the 5th century BC, the image of poet-architect or builder dates back to the Indo-European period. Archaic poets (Homer, Hesiod, Pindar, etc.) already described their method of procedure through the comparison with techniques of naval carpentry and building construction: this association is applied both to production and reception of the text, as it is useful to illustrate structural order together with emotional and illusionistic effects of a work. In the classical age, the analogy can be found, in a more pervasive and explicit form, in the treatises of rhetoric which deal with stylistic composition, formulating doctrines which were to influence Vitruvian precepts. The centuries-old validity of comparison between poetry and architecture is also shown by the role which the notion of composition has in Medieval (for example in Dante poetics) and Renaissance poetics, and also in the reflections of contemporary poets (such as Pound, Valéry).http://pkp.unirc.it/ojs/index.php/archistor/article/view/29 |
| spellingShingle | Giovanni Lombardo Metaphors of construction in ancient poetics ArcHistoR Architettura Storia Restauro: Architecture History Restoration |
| title | Metaphors of construction in ancient poetics |
| title_full | Metaphors of construction in ancient poetics |
| title_fullStr | Metaphors of construction in ancient poetics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metaphors of construction in ancient poetics |
| title_short | Metaphors of construction in ancient poetics |
| title_sort | metaphors of construction in ancient poetics |
| url | http://pkp.unirc.it/ojs/index.php/archistor/article/view/29 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT giovannilombardo metaphorsofconstructioninancientpoetics |