Kallos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term originating from Greek, referring to an ideal of beauty that encompasses physical attractiveness and aesthetic appeal
2. Denotes a concept that values striking beauty in individuals or art, often invoking a sense of admiration
3. Represents an appreciation for beauty that is not merely superficial, but rather embodies harmony and appeal in various forms

Etymology: Homer and Hesiod used "kallos" for the visible loveliness of a person, a face, or a thing, and the root survives in the name Calliope, usually glossed as "beautiful voice." Plato gave the idea a sharper edge. In his dialogues, beauty becomes a standard that ordinary beautiful things only partly share, so a lovely face points beyond itself toward beauty as such. His phrase "to kalon," the beautiful, also covers what is fine and admirable in character, so the concept reaches from appearance toward moral worth. English keeps the root in compounds. "Calligraphy" means "beautiful writing," from "kallos" and "graphein," "to write." "Callipygian," describing well-shaped buttocks, comes from a Greek compound meaning "beautiful buttocks."