Extended Essays 2021

The Hellenistic Ideal

The Hellenistic Ideal of beauty stems from philosophical theories on aesthetics and is

represented through the culture and art of Ancient Greece. Aristotle recognised beauty as

possessing a relation to virtue, or ‘goodness’, that was mirrored in the philosophy and religion of Greece, which promoted harmony between body and soul 12 . Additionally, American philosopher, Crispin Sartwell, has concluded that this classical view of aesthetics regarded beauty as being an arrangement of essential parts into a coherent whole 13 , thus,

connecting the concept of beauty with one’s moral integrity. Consequently, depictions of the

gods and goddesses were glorified versions of the human body, in order to best represent the strong connection between physical beauty and spirituality 14 .

The Hellenistic Ideal serves as the orientation of the protagonist, Dorian Gray, as it presents

the virtue of beauty. This is markedly demonstrated at the novel’s commencement, when

Lord Henry Wotton convinces Gray that his current youth and beauty are fleeting but

powerful weapons of desire. Lord Henry explains that, ‘…the gods have been good to you.

But what the gods give they quickly take away. You have only a few years in which really to live’ 15 . Wilde has established Gray’s beauty as a ‘gift’ from the gods which can, and will, be

quickly rescinded. Therefore, Dorian Gray’s youth and beauty is portrayed by Wilde as being

of insurmountable importance and value. In recognition of this, Gray shouts in a fit of

distress, ‘If it was only the other way! If it was I who were to be always young, and the picture that were to grow old!’ 16 . Thus, establishing the character of Dorian Gray as someone

who will exploit beauty and youth indefinitely.

Furth ermore, the Hellenistic Ideal ultimately conveys ‘absolute beauty’ as a concordance of

one’s outward appearance and moral integrity, in one entity. This contradicts the character

Dorian Gray. Due to his deteriorating sense of virtue , as symbolised by the portrait, Gray

could not conceptually be considered ‘beautiful’. This is best represented in the narrative’s

12 Essayrx.com, 2019. What are Hellenic Ideals?. [Online] Available at: https://essayrx.com/article/what-are-hellenic-ideals [Accessed 5 May 2021]. 13 Sartwell, C., 2017. Beauty. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 14 Essayrx.com, 2019. What are Hellenic Ideals?. [Online] Available at: https://essayrx.com/article/what-are-hellenic-ideals [Accessed 5 May 2021]. 15 P.24, Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray 16 P.28, Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

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