Abstract

THE ANCIENTS were in no doubt as to what they meant by Art. It was the ability to make things, to make them consciously (not instinctively); and since conscious ability always seemed to follow certain rules, they defined art as the ability to make things according to rules. It was a flawless definition, clear and unambiguous: there could be no doubt as to what is and what is not art. It was a very wide definition: it covered not only architecture or sculpture, but also carpentry, tailoring and many other productive abili-ties which today we would call crafts. Also arithmetic or logic and other sciences came within the scope of the definition because they de-manded a certain ability and followed certain rules. In modern times the term 'art ' has been preserved, but the meaning of the term changed so much that the old definition ceased to apply. Its scope has become very much narrower: carpentry, tailoring and other crafts, as well as arithmetic, logic and other sciences now fall definitely outside it. But, on the other hand, the scope of the concept has also been widened, because it also contains poetry and music which the ancients at first did not include among the arts. This followed from their under-standing of art; for the ancients it was not the business of art to express feelings or to follow an inspiration. But poetry and music are exclusively matters of feelings and inspiration. Poetry, for the ancients, was the domain of bards or soothsayers, and music was the domain of priests who in performing their rituals used to sing and play instruments. Art, on the other hand, was the domain of trained professionals, technicians. However, there came a moment, still within the period of classical antiquity, when music and poetry had to be incorporated among the arts. When the Pythagoreans discovered the laws of harmony and made