William writes: "I'm glad you liked the post re Greek sculpture. But your post suggests that you don't agree with one word of what I said."
No, don't think that. I did believe what you wrote. In remarking that Rodriguez has a body like that of, say, the discobolus, I meant to convey that an ordinary viewer like me fails in the same way as the Greeks: We don't observe that this statue is wrong, and I mean anatomically wrong, not just a faulty picture of the stresses of the particular position of a man throwing a discus. What the layman -- this layman, anyway -- observes is largely proportions, plus gross anatomy. Rodriguez, the discobolus, and, as I recall, some of the Nazi statuary, all have long legs, well muscled but not "heavy"; slender waist; and a strong upper body, again well-muscled, but supple-looking, capable of both power and quickness. Other baseball players at the plate tend to look bulky, or, at best, "compact". I have no personal regard for Rodriguez, for many reasons (including that I'm a Red Sox fan and he's a Yankee!), but there's no question he is unmatched in baseball for his "Greek God" physique, and the appearance is compounded by his physical adroitness. I don't question what you say about the abdominus oblique, but since Rodriguez always has a uniform on, we can't submit a picture of him to belie the discobolus representation. You yourself say the proportions of the Greek figures are not wrong in their idealizations. When you say, "What people respond to in preferring the Greek proportions in real people is not the actual details of measurement but the general rule of symmetry," I don't follow you. A gauntly skinny guy or grossly obese person can be symmetrical. What do you have in mind? ************** You're invited to Hollywood's biggest party: Get Oscars updates, red carpet pics and more at Moviefone. (http://movies.aol.com/oscars-academy-awards?ncid=emlcntusmovi00000001)
