Aristotle was the first philosopher to discuss the idea of beauty. He argued that beauty is an object that pleases the senses. Hence, a beautiful face is one that satisfies the sense of sight. There are several different definitions of beauty, which differ greatly depending on the individual’s background, racial origin, age, gender, body shape, weight, and even the culture in which it was perceived.

For Plato, beauty is the relation between part and whole. His political theory describes justice as a relation between part and whole. His account of beauty can be found in The Symposium, a crucial Socratic text for neo-Platonism and the idealist conception of beauty. Throughout his works, Plato emphasized the connection between the individual’s happiness and the satisfaction of the other. His notion of beauty is both subjective and objective.

Classical definitions of beauty place great emphasis on the ecstatic aspects of beauty. In the works of Plotinus, beauty is akin to a harmonious whole characterized by its parts. Hedonist conceptions of beauty relate beauty to pleasure. Thus, beautiful objects are valued for their function, while they are able to bring pleasure to their creators. For the Ancients, beauty was not merely a matter of appearance; it was an experience.

The ancient Greeks were the first to recognize the benefits of beauty. The ancients ascribe the pleasures of beauty to ecstatic qualities. For instance, the philosopher Plotinus described the pleasures of beauty as “wonderful trouble, delicious delight, longing, love, and trembling.” These experiences are all ascribed to the ecstatic qualities of beauty. So, how can we experience such joy?

The ancients often attributed the pleasures of beauty to the parts of the objects they found beautiful. According to Plotinus, beauty is the relation between the whole and the parts. It is a harmonious whole. It is an object’s value and its function. It is a person’s experience of happiness. For this reason, aesthetics in the Ancients is viewed as the science of pleasure. The ecstatic perceptions of beauty are closely connected to happiness and love.

Plato’s definition of beauty relates to the world of forms. It relates to an observer’s experience of beauty, rather than a person’s personal perception of it. It is a concept that transcends the individual and transcends time. The ancients were interested in the aesthetic pleasures of beauty, and they viewed the art of others as a kind of perfection. In other words, it is about the object’s form, not the observer.

Renaissance beauty were synonymous, but different definitions of beauty were derived from each other. The concept of beauty was defined as a “composition” of many different faces. The more faces there were contributing to a composite, the more attractive it was. Therefore, the most beautiful faces were those closest to the average population. However, these faces were not prototypical; they were composites of other people. The face that looks the most beautiful is the most desirable.