Socrates' Ancestor: An Essay on Architectural Beginnings

by Indra Kagis McEwen

Socrates' Ancestor is a rich and poetic exploration of architectural beginnings and the dawn of Western philosophy in preclassical Greece. Architecture precedes philosophy, McEwen argues, and it was here, in the archaic Greek polis, that Western architecture became the cradle of Western thought. McEwen's appreciation of the early Greek understanding of the indissolubility of craft and community yields new insight into such issues as orthogonal planning and the appearance of the encompassing colonnade - the ptera or "wings" - that made Greek temples Greek. Who was Socrates' ancestor? Socrates claims it was Daedalus, the mythical first architect. Socrates' ancestors were also the first Western the preSocratic thinkers of archaic Greece where the Greek city-state with its monumental temples first came to light. McEwen brilliantly draws out the connections between Daedalus and the earliest Greek thinkers, between architecture and the advent of speculative thought. She argues that Greek thought and Greek architecture share a common ground in the amazing fabrications of the legendary statues so animated with divine life that they had to be bound in chains, the Labyrinth where Theseus slew the Minotaur, Ariadne's dancing floor in Knossos. Socrates' Ancestor is an exploration as remarkable for its clarity as for its avoidance of reductionism. Drawing as much on the power of myth and metaphor as on philosophical, philological, and historical considerations, McEwen first reaches from Socrates to the earliest written record of Western philosophy in the Anaximander B1 fragment, and its physical expression in Anaximander's built work - a "cosmic model" that consisted of a celestial sphere, a map of the world, and the first Greek sun clock. From daedalean artifacts she draws out the centrality of early Greek craftsmanship and its role in the making of the Greek city-state. The investigation then moves James forward to a discussion of the polis and the first great peripteral temples that anchored for the meaning of "city."

Genres: Architecture, Philosophy, Art History

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Lanny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those little books I never want to be without.
Its combination of Greek philology and Architectural theory and conjecture are beyond reproach.. Just the term theoros meaning
both witness and participant has so much interesting cultural
'baggage' though I would hardly call it that. There is a densely leavened murk lurking. Maybe dry for some, but I think of this as one of the 'books' of Phaneronoemikon, this is part of my DIY byblos of the self..

[Brent Pinkall · Rating 4 out of 5]

McEwen provides a very interesting and compelling case for the idea that ancient Greek architecture and ancient Greek philosophy were intricately woven together. Since architecture houses life, the Greek architect had to have a comprehensive knowledge of all the different crafts and philosophies involved in life, making architecture the craft of crafts and the architect the philosopher of philosophers. McEwen draws from ancient Greek poetry, myth, and sociology to demonstrate how various concepts were embodied in architecture. One of the most interesting is her claim that the ancient Greek ptera were looms that "wove" together the city. Also interesting is her discussion of kosmos as a central idea of craft as a reflection of the orderliness of the world and vice versa.

At times McEwen's prose is hard to read and follow. Her heavy reliance on Greek is also hard for someone who hasn't studied Greek to follow. Overall, though, this was an interesting read.

[Bangquito · Rating 4 out of 5]

My lay interest in greek mythology, especially tie-up story of Daedelus and Icarus precedes my understanding of this book. Before I found Daedelus's role as Archetypal architect, I was lost in most of the content. The only thing reside in my mind was the idea of interrelation between western philosophy and architecture as its cradle. Recently, I find joy in rereading the book to see how McEwen exploration of daedelus-socrates, in parallel to philosophy-architecture relationship, in order to build her main arguments. Although it's not friendly enough to be read and mainly talks about anaximander, the idea that architecture as foundation in western thinking is quite thought-provoking.