Smell and the ancient senses
From flowers and perfumes to urban sanitation and personal hygiene, smell—a sense that is simultaneously sublime and animalistic—has played a pivotal role in western culture and thought. Greek and Roman writers and thinkers lost no opportunity to connect the smells that bombarded their senses to the...
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| Format: | Book |
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Routledge
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31337/ |
| _version_ | 1848794180487217152 |
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| author | Bradley, Mark |
| author2 | Bradley, Mark |
| author_facet | Bradley, Mark Bradley, Mark |
| author_sort | Bradley, Mark |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | From flowers and perfumes to urban sanitation and personal hygiene, smell—a sense that is simultaneously sublime and animalistic—has played a pivotal role in western culture and thought. Greek and Roman writers and thinkers lost no opportunity to connect the smells that bombarded their senses to the social, political and cultural status of the individuals and environments that they encountered: godly incense and burning sacrifices, seductive scents, aromatic cuisines, stinking bodies, pungent farmyards and festering back-streets.
The cultural study of smell has largely focused on pollution, transgression and propriety, but the olfactory sense came into play in a wide range of domains and activities: ancient medicine and philosophy, religion, botany and natural history, erotic literature, urban planning, dining, satire and comedy—where odours, aromas, scents and stenches were rich and versatile components of the ancient sensorium. The first comprehensive introduction to the role of smell in the history, literature and society of classical antiquity, Smell and the Ancient Senses explores and probes the ways that the olfactory sense can contribute to our perceptions of ancient life, behaviour, identity and morality. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:12:06Z |
| format | Book |
| id | nottingham-31337 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:12:06Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Routledge |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-313372020-05-04T16:57:58Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31337/ Smell and the ancient senses Bradley, Mark From flowers and perfumes to urban sanitation and personal hygiene, smell—a sense that is simultaneously sublime and animalistic—has played a pivotal role in western culture and thought. Greek and Roman writers and thinkers lost no opportunity to connect the smells that bombarded their senses to the social, political and cultural status of the individuals and environments that they encountered: godly incense and burning sacrifices, seductive scents, aromatic cuisines, stinking bodies, pungent farmyards and festering back-streets. The cultural study of smell has largely focused on pollution, transgression and propriety, but the olfactory sense came into play in a wide range of domains and activities: ancient medicine and philosophy, religion, botany and natural history, erotic literature, urban planning, dining, satire and comedy—where odours, aromas, scents and stenches were rich and versatile components of the ancient sensorium. The first comprehensive introduction to the role of smell in the history, literature and society of classical antiquity, Smell and the Ancient Senses explores and probes the ways that the olfactory sense can contribute to our perceptions of ancient life, behaviour, identity and morality. Routledge Bradley, Mark 2015-01-01 Book PeerReviewed Bradley, Mark. Bradley, Mark, ed. (2015) Smell and the ancient senses. The Senses in Antiquity, 2 . Routledge, London. ISBN 9781844656424 smell antiquity classics senses perception odour noses https://www.routledge.com/products/9781844656424 |
| spellingShingle | smell antiquity classics senses perception odour noses Bradley, Mark Smell and the ancient senses |
| title | Smell and the ancient senses |
| title_full | Smell and the ancient senses |
| title_fullStr | Smell and the ancient senses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Smell and the ancient senses |
| title_short | Smell and the ancient senses |
| title_sort | smell and the ancient senses |
| topic | smell antiquity classics senses perception odour noses |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31337/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31337/ |