ABSTRACT
Were the Ancient Greeks able to see the color ‘blue’? This question is still posed, and its answer has been a matter of much debate. The issue raised was based on Pliny’s list of the palette used by Ancient Greek painters that did not include a ‘blue’ pigment, coupled with Homer’s poems whose interpretation did not seem to contain a term to designate ‘blue.’ This paper addresses the reasons underlying such arguments and contributes to the discussion by pointing out why Ancient Greeks were able to see blue. For such purpose, the adopted approach brings together data from disciplines that range Greek philosophy on theories of color and vision-bridging them to later achievements when necessary-, color terminology, and the archaeological hypothesis that stems from the application of color to art and architecture in Ancient Greece.
