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[11]
Beauty varies with each age. In a young man, it
consists in possessing a body capable of enduring all efforts, either of the
racecourse or of bodily strength, while he himself is pleasant to look upon and
a sheer delight. This is why the athletes in the pentathlon1 are most beautiful, because they are
naturally adapted for bodily exertion and for swiftness of foot. In a man who
has reached his prime, beauty consists in being naturally adapted for the toils
of war, in being pleasant to look upon and at the same time awe-inspiring. In an
old man, beauty consists in being naturally adapted to contend with unavoidable
labors and in not causing annoyance2 to
others, thanks to the absence of the disagreeable accompaniments of old age.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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