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Mutual and Partaken Bliss: Introducing the Science of Bodily Beauty

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The Body Beautiful

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Abstract

It was no easy decision that Paris had to make. According to Ovid’s Heroides, Paris had been resting against a tree in the valleys of Mount Ida, when he was startled by the sudden appearance of Hermes and, in his wake, the three goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. There had been an ‘incident’ at the banquet celebrating the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, to which Eris, Goddess of Discord, had been left uninvited. Angered by the snub, Eris turned up anyway and threw a golden Apple of Discord into the proceeding. On the apple was a most simple inscription: Kallisti, ‘for the fairest one.’ Only, the three goddesses, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, each claimed the apple as their own.

Beauty is Nature’s coin, must not be hoarded, But must be current, and the good thereof Consists in mutual and partaken bliss.

∽ John Milton, Comus

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College London, UK

    Adrian Furnham (Professor of Psychology)

  2. University of Liverpool, UK

    Viren Swami (Research Associate)

Authors
  1. Adrian Furnham
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  2. Viren Swami
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Liverpool, UK

    Viren Swami (Research Associate) (Research Associate)

  2. University College London, UK

    Adrian Furnham (Professor of Psychology) (Professor of Psychology)

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© 2007 Adrian Furnham and Viren Swami

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Furnham, A., Swami, V. (2007). Mutual and Partaken Bliss: Introducing the Science of Bodily Beauty. In: Swami, V., Furnham, A. (eds) The Body Beautiful. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230596887_1

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