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attisches Maß

English translation: Attic measure

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:attisches Maß
English translation:Attic measure
Entered by: inkweaver

10:16 Jan 7, 2009
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Architecture
German term or phrase: attisches Maß
Doch nicht nur die Politik strebte nach Idealen. Architektur und Kunst erreichten perfekte Proportionen -das sogenannte attische Maß.

Im Voraus vielen Dank!
inkweaver
Germany
Local time: 09:25
Attic measure
Explanation:
Depending on whether the Ptolemaic or Attic measure was employed....

http://www.jstor.org/pss/506829

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Note added at 13 mins (2009-01-07 10:30:00 GMT)
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If the cubit used is the standard Attic measure of about 1 1/2 feet, the dimensions given are •about 68 feet on each side and 135 feet in height, with wheels 12 feet in diameter; but a shorter Macedonian cubit, perhaps about one foot long, is possible (Tarn, Hellenistic Military and Naval Developments, 15‑16).

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_S...

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Note added at 28 mins (2009-01-07 10:45:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

From Voltaire, I believe:

He fancied, too, that we lacked that grace
of Attic measure which comes of just proportions and
the exact union of word and thought ; he found us
neither alert, nor serene, nor bright, nor gay. And
he was writing of England in the eighteenth century.
http://www.archive.org/stream/frenchprocession00robiiala/fre...

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Note added at 42 mins (2009-01-07 10:58:47 GMT)
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My comment to Jim's comment has been deleted with his deletion, so I would like to say that although proportion is ok in itself, it would be a shame to lose the poetry of the term.

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Note added at 7 days (2009-01-15 09:00:53 GMT) Post-grading
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Thanks for the points, Katharina
Selected response from:

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:25
Grading comment
Thank you, Helen!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3Attic measure
Helen Shiner
4 +2Attic proportion
Jim Tucker (X)


  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Attisches Maß
Attic proportion


Explanation:
An antiquated term nowadays, but still encountered in idealized discussions of Greek culture. (see link)

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Note added at 18 mins (2009-01-07 10:35:18 GMT)
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or e.g. from Kendrick Smithyman, a NZ poet:

Just breath-snatching beautiful,
legendary classic face from stater or temple piece,
attic proportion of his torso

http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:l9ipntZ6_JIJ:www.smithy...



    Reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=zrURAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA86&lpg=PA...
Jim Tucker (X)
United States
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  David Moore (X)
13 mins
agree  Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)
1 day 38 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Attisches Maß
Attic measure


Explanation:
Depending on whether the Ptolemaic or Attic measure was employed....

http://www.jstor.org/pss/506829

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 mins (2009-01-07 10:30:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

If the cubit used is the standard Attic measure of about 1 1/2 feet, the dimensions given are •about 68 feet on each side and 135 feet in height, with wheels 12 feet in diameter; but a shorter Macedonian cubit, perhaps about one foot long, is possible (Tarn, Hellenistic Military and Naval Developments, 15‑16).

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_S...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2009-01-07 10:45:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

From Voltaire, I believe:

He fancied, too, that we lacked that grace
of Attic measure which comes of just proportions and
the exact union of word and thought ; he found us
neither alert, nor serene, nor bright, nor gay. And
he was writing of England in the eighteenth century.
http://www.archive.org/stream/frenchprocession00robiiala/fre...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 42 mins (2009-01-07 10:58:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My comment to Jim's comment has been deleted with his deletion, so I would like to say that although proportion is ok in itself, it would be a shame to lose the poetry of the term.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 days (2009-01-15 09:00:53 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks for the points, Katharina

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:25
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 254
Grading comment
Thank you, Helen!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Lancashireman: 1. First answer posted; 2. "most helpful answer" (as defined in KudoZ rules); 3. 'proportion' is already used earlier in the sentence.
1 hr
  -> Thanks for the vote of confidence, Andrew. New Year greetings to you through the frozen wastes.
agree  Rebecca Garber: since proportion already appears as part of the definition, this suits the context better. // HNY to you, too, Helen!
7 hrs
  -> Thanks, Rebecca - HNY, as the acronym goes!
agree  Stephen Reader: With you and Voltaire (not with your 1st sense, as I read 'harmony', not 'unit of measurement')/Best, S.
2 days 17 hrs
  -> Thanks, Stephen, HNY - I agree the link I give in my second posting is probably a bit misleading, but my feeling is that it is a sense of harmony and just proportions probably originally based on some mathematical concept, since then used metaphorically.
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