87371 - History of Ancient Science (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

Through the study of primary sources as well as of the main exegetical schools developed by modern interpreters, students will be provided with the intellectual tools necessary to: critically read and interpret scientific works, practices and theories from Antiquity; become aware of the historical and philological mechanisms that guided their transmission and promoted their influence over the centuries.

Course contents

Theories and Technologies of Colour in Antiquity

Newton discovered that light breaks down into seven fundamental colours when it passes through a glass prism. However, in the realm of ancient natural philosophy, how were colours conceived? What theories emerged to explain their origin and properties? Were colours considered primary qualities of natural bodies, or were they perceived as mere emanations unaffected by of a body’s composition? Moreover, did changing the colour of an object imply a transformation of its fundamental nature? The course aims to address these questions by delving into the colour theories that developed from classical Greek philosophy to Late Antiquity. Special emphasis will be placed on exploring the interplay between theories of perception, theories of matter, and artistic, dyeing, and alchemical practices of antiquity.

Topics

Colours, elements, and atoms. Empedocles’ and Democritus’ theories

The theory of matter (chōra), metals, and colours in Plato’s Timaeus

Aristotle on the colours of bodies and the rainbow; dyes in Pseudo-Aristotle’s treatise On Colours

The origin of Graeco-Egyptian alchemy and the transmutation of matter: Pseudo-Democritus and Zosimus of Panopolis

Late-antique alchemy in the framework of Alexandrian schools of philosophy

Readings/Bibliography

1) A selection of primary sources in translation related to the topics listed above will be uploaded on Virtuale. 

2) Alberto Jori, “La teoria aristotelica dei colori tra fisica e fisiologia”, Medicina nei secoli 32 (2020): pp. 491-542 (available on Virtuale)

3) Maria Michela Sassi, Le teorie della percezione in Democrito(Firenze: La Nuova Italia, 1978), pp. 77-109 e 133-149 (available on Virtuale)

4) Matteo Martelli, L’alchimista antico. Dall’Egitto greco-romano a Bisanzio (Milano: Editrice Bibliografica, 2019), pp. 1-118 (available on Virtuale)

5) Two articles chosen from the following list (all available on Virtuale):

• Maria Fernanda Ferrini, Pseudo-Aristotele, I colori (Pisa: ETS, 1999), pp. 18-46.
• Katerina Ierodiakonou, “Aristotle and Alexander of Aphrodisias on Colour”, in B. Bydén, F. Radovic (eds.), The Parva naturalia in Greek, Arabic and Latin Aristotelianism(Cham: Springer 2018), pp. 77-90.
• Katerina Ierodiakonou, “Empedocles on Colour and Colour Vision”, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 29 (2005): 1-37.
• Mark Eli Kalderon, “Timaeus on Colour Mixture”, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 61 (2022): 63-101.
• Matteo Martelli, “Transmuting tinctures. Water of sulphur, quicklime, and ‘washes’ in Graeco-Egyptian alchemy”, Technai 13 (2022): 115-142.
• Kelli Rudolph, “Democritus’ Theory of Colour’, Rhizomata 7.2 (2019): 269-305.
• Maria Michela Sassi, “Sul colore dell’oro”, in M. Tortorelli Ghidini (a cura di), Aurum. Funzioni e simbologie dell’oro nelle culture del Mediterraneo antico (Roma: L’«Erma» di Bretschneider, 2014), pp. 349-359.
• Peter Struycken, “Colour Mixture according to Democritus and Plato”, Mnemosyne 56.3 (2003). 273-305.
• Cristina Viano, “Corpi e metalli: le «Meteore» del Timeo”, in C. Natali, S. Maso (a cura di),Plato Physicus. Cosmologia e antropologia nel Timeo (Amsterdam: Hakkert, 2003), pp. 207-223.

Students not attending classes

Not-attending students should read four articles chosen from the list above (point 5 of the bibliography).

Teaching methods

Lecture on the course’s topics.

Reading and in-class commentary of relevant passages from primary sources.

Students will be encouraged to deliver short presentations on discreet topics (either individually or as part of a group).

Assessment methods

The exam consists in a oral interview during which the methodological and critical skills acquired by the student will be evaluated. The student will be invited to discuss texts covered during the course and to expand on their historical context. The achievement of a systematic knowledge of the topics addressed in class and of a critical approach to the sources together with the use of precise language will be assessed with grades of excellence (28-30). Mechanical and/or mnemonic knowledge of the topics together with proper exposition will be assessed by good grades (23-27); gaps in the mastery of the topics of the course, superficial contextualization and knowledge of the texts will be assessed with sufficient grades (18-22). Lack of any of the above requirements will lead to a negative grades.

Teaching tools

Use of ppt slides, photocopies and multimedia educational tools.

Office hours

See the website of Matteo Martelli