Aphrodite, the beauty and the art

Beauty and art must be presented in context. “Art” is bound to the understanding of how the objects should be perceived and how the surrounding environment shaped their meaning. To the ancient Greeks beauty was bound to the existing, practical and useful. It was expressed by suitable proportions. Beautiful man was an athletic figure characterized by a set of proportions, beautiful woman was ever young, sensitive and charming, and divine as in art represented by Aphrodite. Such understanding was directed towards the practical, beauty adds pleasure to the surroundings just by its plain presence. But even beauty can be abused – as shown by the described incident.