Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

Beauty and the Goat: A hypothesis on the relationship between beauty and tragedy

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Submitted   Jan 6, 2025
Published   Mar 21, 2025
Issue    Vol 6 No 1 (2025)
DOI   10.25082/IJAH.2025.01.006

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Kostas Terzidis corresponding author
College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
Filippo Fabrocini
College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
Hyejin Lee
College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

Abstract

This article attempts to explore the concept of beauty using Greek and Chinese etymology. In Greek, the word 'tragedy' means 'song of the male goat'. In Chinese, the word 'beauty' means 'big goat'. Why is the goat so important? Is there a reason for the presence of this animal in the definition of aesthetics of two completely different cultures? The article hypothesizes that there may be an archetypical reason: beauty and tragedy are related not only to aesthetics but also to a hidden code.

Keywords
tragedy, beauty, etymology, goat, code

Article Details

Author Biography

Kostas Terzidis, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

Kostas Terzidis is professor in the College of Design & Innovation at Tongji University and director of the ShangXiang Lab.  Previously, was associate professor at Harvard University GSD (2003-2011) and assistant professor at the UCLA (1995-2003).   He holds a PhD from the University of Michigan, Masters from OSU, and diploma from Aristotle University.  His research is in language-based neural networks for automated design.  He is author of numerous academic papers and the sole author of four books: Permutation Design (Routledge: 2014), Algorithms for Visual Design (Wiley: 2009), Algorithmic Architecture (Architectural Press: 2006), and Expressive Form (Spon:2003).  In 2023 he received the Magnolia 白玉兰 Baiyulan award.

How to Cite
Terzidis, K., Fabrocini, F., & Lee, H. (2025). Beauty and the Goat: A hypothesis on the relationship between beauty and tragedy. International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 6(1), 327-333. https://doi.org/10.25082/IJAH.2025.01.006
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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