On the Truths and Lies of "Natural Beauty"

In the Odyssey and in the Iliad, we see Athena and Aphrodite frequently interfering in the lives of mortals to make them taller, more muscular, their skin shine brightly, their hair longer and more luscious, their faces younger. Beauty in the classical world is entirely a gift from the deathless gods and there is no difference between illusion and reality if it is a god who wills it.

Helen of the Argives is as beautiful as Aphrodite wills her to be, and it is not merely an illusion. In reality, there are ways to make ourselves more beautiful and ways to neglect one’s appearance…and yet there is also a delicate distinction between enhancements in real beauty and enhancements that are mere illusions.