HE Greek sculptor Praxiteles He was the first to represent the naked female body. Around 360 BC (or BC, both formulas apply), he carved a statue. Aphrodite which showed that the goddess was modestly covering her groins. Despite or perhaps because of the unusualness of the piece, the statue was rejected by several cities, refusing to display it, and asking its author for versions in which the divinity seemed a little more veiled.
This continued until it was purchased by the city of Cnino and placed in a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, and its circular plan allowed the figure to be observed from any vantage point in the surroundings. Praxiteles’ artistic proposal and execution was so perfect that Knidos became one of the most popular tourist destinations of the period. So much so that the Greeks say that he went to see the statue of the goddess out of curiosity. Aphrodite in front of the work once and as proof of its perfection asked: “When did Praxiteles see me naked?”
The story is summed up in: our body (Destino, 20223) Juan Luis Arsuaga, prestigious paleoanthropologist It pays homage to the human body, understood as a perfect machine of perfect beauty as the result of millions of years of evolution.
I didn’t want to do another anatomy atlas, but rather a guide that would help us explore our own body and invite us to get to know it better.”
“A story that has never been told before. Although there are many books on anatomy, almost all of them are about medicine,” the author said in front of his statue yesterday at noon. diadumenusRoman copy of a bronze original polycleitos Dated to around 420 AD and exhibited in one of the rooms Prado Museum. “I realized that I recognize the human body as a cadaver, on the dissection table, in the same way that my students recognize the body from slides. Therefore, I wanted to make a discovery, not another anatomy atlas. A guide to our own body that invites us to get to know more closely,” commented Arsuaga while writing this. “I undressed myself, and I urge the reader to do the same. Sometimes I even say in the text: , maybe if you’re reading on the bus, people might look at you a little weird.
an excellent machine
“The human body is the question, evolution is the answer,” says Arsuaga. our bodyan essay he describes as a novel through which characters such as throws, Queen Christina of Sweden anyone miguel wealthus. In an accessible language and in a style that is close to the reader, the scientist deals with the characteristics of the human body and its transformation over time. For example, how fascinating the foot is from an evolutionary perspective compared to the lower limbs of other animalsThe amazing energy optimization that the human body does that allows it to move while consuming very few kilocalories, or if the human body has really barely changed from the bottom up for two million years, or is it just a purchase? homo sapiens and therefore only a quarter of a million years old.
Alongside such questions, the book attempts to answer other seemingly anecdotal questions that will explain many aspects of our species. Among them, why do humans have such a large gluteus maximus? Is it a biomechanical issue or does it respond to reasons for sexual attraction? Or, if humans are truly giant chimpanzees, when do we reach that growth spurt and why don’t all of our limbs and organs grow in proportion? In other words, and as Arsuaga explains, “if a human is a chimp three times, his testicles are diadumenus they must be three times larger.” The answer lies not only in evolution but also in culture: The Greeks, eager to enhance the beauty of the human body, invented an anatomical ideal in which they included things that did not exist. or they ignored details that seemed unaesthetic to them.
“It’s very fashionable now six pack, that six ounces in your belly. But the Greeks did not like it. They opted for the Greek bow or Adonis’ belt, which the athletes loved so much, but which is nothing more than a Greek idealization. If Sergio Ramos reads me, let him know some anatomical details. diadumenus In reality it is unattainable,” joked Arsuaga, concluding his examination of the Hellenic idealization of the body by recalling a bit. clouds: “In comedy AristophanesThere’s a character that’s basically a critique of Socrates, explaining to someone else what the ideal of beauty was and would be for the man of the time: a big butt, broad shoulders, and I’m going to use real Greek here. The term is not the term usually used in translations, but a little dick”.
Know yourself, take care of yourself, love yourself
Our body, as the Delphic commandment advocates, is a thesis for the reader to know himself and learn to care and love himself, beginning with accepting his own body. “I praise the different parts of the book that are of great anatomical interest, such as the armpits, or rather the armpits, because, When parts that seem less noble to us are renamed, we communicate that we have a problem with them.Referring once again to classical culture to defend his approach, Arsuaga says:
I will ask those present how many people find the human body beautiful compared to other animals such as horses or leopards. I think if they’re sincere, not many people will raise their hands.”
“For the Greeks, man was the measure of all things. It was a strict society that did not build pyramids, worked on a human scale, and valued the beauty of the body both physically and mentally. For the Greeks, beauty was the quality of life, but also coming to the Prado, which was free, was the quality of life,” he said. Arsuaga had precisely chosen the auditorium of the art gallery for the book’s presentation on 13 June. 8:30 in the afternoon. “I’ll start the activity by asking how many people think the human body is beautiful compared to other animals like horses or leopards. I think most of them wouldn’t raise their hands if they were sincere,” says Arsuağa, who is not hiding it. his wish read your article changing this humble perception.