Thinking about sensory experiences and evaluating human artifacts is an important part of Western European cultural and intellectual history. This book investigates from different perspectives the origins of this practice and the rich discourse of aesthetic value in classical antiquity.

Ineke Sluiter, Ph.D. (1990) in Classics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, is Professor of Greek at Leiden University. Apart from the Penn-Leiden volumes, her most recent book is (with Rita Copeland), Medieval Grammar and Rhetoric. Language Arts and Literary Theory, AD 350-1475 (2009).
Ralph M. Rosen, Ph.D. (1983) in Classical Philology, Harvard University, is the Rose Family Endowed Term Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Apart from the Penn-Leiden volumes, his most recent book is Making Mockery. The Poetics of Ancient Satire (2007).
Contributors: Myrthe Bartels, Elsa Bouchard, Curtis Dozier, Joseph Farrell, Jennifer Ferriss-Hill, Caitlin Gillespie, Stephen Halliwell, Craig Hardiman, Elizabeth Jones, Jeremy McInerney, Carrie Mowbray, Alexandra Pappas, Irene Peirano, James Porter, Bettina Reitz and Eleonora Rocconi.