ABOUT BEAUTY AND UGLINESS

July 25, 2015 - Our modern society now searchs in everything aesthetics and beauty. What really covers this quest and is it justified?

In the ancient greek legends, "First, there was Chaos, the immeasurable abyss, like a violent sea, dark, lavish, wild." (Milton). Long before the gods, everything was dark, empty, silent and eternal. Then, without knowing really how, from night and death, born love and from its birth, order and beauty took the place of the blind confusion. Love created light and with it, the glorious day, its necessary companion. The creation of the world followed.

Our modern society now makes a permanent worship to the ancient goddess Aphrodite (Venus), goddess of love and beauty. The ancient poets sang that she moved into a radiant light and that without it there would be no joy or attraction.

In the history of humanity, handsome beings always had a special place. The aesthetic canons of greek statues already erected beauty to pinnacle: people admired them because beauty was a sign of the gods. Religious and western monarchy realized very quickly what they could gain thanks to the support of beauty: subjection. And so, Jesus Christ, the saints, western kings and princes could beonly represented as full of beauty. If unsightly bodies existed, artists have the order to represent the best profile, the best fabric, the most beautiful glittering jewels and trimmings. In short, beauty has become a mark of distinction, as well as courage and virtue.

But beauty alone can lead the world? Of course, no!

In modern imaging sold by the western media, too often are associated : beauty, youth and wealth. In short, if you don’t have the three gifts together you miss the happiness and if really, you have none, then, you are good to throw away. And run the leuers for consumption : care to gain eternal youth and beauty. Because nowaday, the concept of beauty has become the diktat of the civilized world: female beauty is determined by high fashion couturiers and designers who have chosen androgines mannequins, vegetables and fruit must meet precise norms, there are rigorous selection of some breeds of animals and destruction of others ; TV shows and advertising are usually full of handsome actors as human advertising promoting western way of live to which viewers around the world want to look like.

Beauty has become a political and economic weapon, a way to export and sell, nothing more but here is the worst : beauty is become a cause of intellectual regression, too. Indeed, who can think a boy and a girl trained to be narcissistic since their childhood, are going to want to make then long studies to become a doctor of medicine or molecular physics? Honestly, no one believes it!

Western civilization wanted to forget the true image of Aphrodite (Venus). That one of some poems which portrayed her as a treacherous and mischievous character, exercising a fatal and destructive power over those she seduced. And what is less known is that this beautiful goddess was the wife of Hephaestus (Vulcan), the god of the forge and fire, who lived underground and was ugly and deformed. His ugliness did not stop Vulcan from being an affable god, a peace lover, popular both in heaven and earth, protector of the blacksmiths and human craftarts with Athena. Venus’ punishment was therefore to be associated with her opposite.

Beyond this ancient metaphor, one must understand that the association of opposites is necessary in all things. The world must not be driven only by the search for beauty, because with that, we miss the truth. Ugliness, extraordinary is necessary for life, activity, nature and therefore to humans. As a perfect illustration: spiders are generally hunted and killed by western people with insecticide and broom. If this insect is disliked in the West and in some parts of Africa, it is highly popular in China as it is the announcement of an imminent happiness, ditto for the toad that Chinese were used to bury in the foundations of a new home to bring happiness to the new household.

Choosing the paradigm of aesthetics at all costs in all things, in fact contribues to reduce life itself. And, it is towards the destruction in reality that lead us the worshipers of beauty as a kind of announced return to the original chaos, when darkness and death had not yet given birth to love.

At terrificator.com’s, we know every day that reality is worse than your worst nightmare!