Little Happier: In Ancient Greece, Two Painters Held a Contest. Who Won?

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Education, Health & Fitness, Self-improvement

4.7 • 13K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2021

⏱️ 2 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A delightful story from the ancient world describes a contest between two artists that was decided in a surprising way. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin Get the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletter Order a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.com Leave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336 For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Many of us are already planning our New Year's resolutions to work out more in 2023.
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0:30.2	I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier.
0:33.3	In my study of the five senses, I often come across delightful stories from the past,
0:39.0	related to seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.
0:43.6	For instance, according to a famous story recounted in the naturalis
0:47.6	history of Pliny the Elder, two acclaimed painters of ancient Greece, Zuxus, and Prostius staged a contest.
0:56.0	They wanted to determine which of the two ranked as the greater artist.
1:01.2	When Zuxus unveiled his painting of grapes, they appeared so real that birds flew down to
1:08.6	peck at them. What mastery? However, when it was Prostius's turn, his painting was hidden behind
1:16.8	a curtain. He asked Zuxus to draw aside the curtain, but when Zuxus tried to do so,
1:22.2	he discovered that the curtain itself had been painted.
1:26.3	Prostius won. Zuxus admitted, I have deceived the birds, but Prostius has deceived Zuxus.
1:35.3	I love this ancient story of trickery and trickery again from the legends of sight.
1:41.2	I'm Gretchen Rubin and I hope this makes your week a little happier.

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