Plato was a divided soul. Torn between reason and passion, he gave birth to a philosophy marked by disconcerting duality. On the one hand, Plato was an artist and a poet: he encased his concepts in mystifying myths and slippery metaphors, worked out arguments in the form of dialogues rather than dry

Classical rhetoric, Clever, Contemplative, Homoerotic, Ironic, Mythic, Pioneering, Spiritual

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word "dandy" as "a man who affects extreme elegance in clothes and manners." Take a gander at the illustration next to the definition, and you could easily see a photograph of entertainment legend Noel Coward. While it's hard to find one word to capture th

Bright, Charming, Clever, Ironic, Musical comedy, Political, Witty

At the mention of international intrigue and espionage, we naturally think of dashing secret agents who play roulette in Monacco while dressed in sparkling white dinner jackets. If the story involves a mad dictator, we expect his adversary to be a clever and precise dandy, whose smart lip can undo th

Ironic, Melancholy, Post-war literature, Power, Religious, Tragic

Beginning their career as the most popular surf band in the nation, the Beach Boys finally emerged by 1966 as America's pre-eminent pop group, the only act able to challenge (for a brief time) the overarching success of the Beatles with both mainstream listeners and the critical community. From their

Baroque, Bright, Cartoonish, Charming, Clean, Contemplative, Cool, Dreamy, Elegant, Funny, Ironic, Joyful, Lush, Lyrical, Melancholy, Polychromatic, Pop, Pristine, Psychedelic, Sincere, Smarty arty pop, Sublime