But does having features — eyes, eyebrows, nose, lips, chin, and jaw — that are consonant with the ancient Greek idea of perfection actually count, or does maths not matter?
The Golden Ratio: proportional perfection
The concept is also symbolised by the Greek letter phi (φ), a mathematical constant equal to around 1.618033987, referred to as the World’s Most Astonishing Number in a book by astrophysicist Mario Livio.
![A drawing of a man with outstretched arms and legs inside a circle](https://images.sbs.com.au/96/36/8881051640318a512d36c620008c/da-vinci-vitruve-luc-viatour.jpg?imwidth=1280)
Italian polymath and artist Leonardo Da Vinci used the Pythagorean Golden Ration in his drawing The Vitruvian Man, which for him was the embodiment of perfection in the male form. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Golden Ratio determines aesthetic perfection in anything — including art, architecture, design, music, nature, and even financial markets.
It was discovered about 2,400 years ago by the Pythagoreans, a “cult of mathematicians who discovered many mathematical truths,” according to UNSW Sydney senior lecturer and mathematician Thomas Britz.
Why does the Golden Ratio make things beautiful?
If that’s lost you, don’t worry. The concept can be more easily explained in visual form.
![A pentagram is a visual representation of the Golden Ratio](https://images.sbs.com.au/8b/26/e93eed0c45a48a5181d7ff382b4c/pentagram.png?imwidth=1280)
The Pythagoreans took the equally sided and equally angled pentagram as their symbol. Credit: Thomas Britz
A ratio close to 1.618 gives a shape better balance and symmetry, which seems to evoke a sense of perfection or beauty in observers.
“In the pentagram, the four thick black line segments grow in length by a fixed ratio φ at each step. For instance, the long thick horizontal line is φ longer than the side length of the pentagram. This constant φ is indeed the Golden Ratio,” Britz wrote in his 2022 academic article, The Beauty of the Golden Ratio.
What do experts say?
In it, he wrote that: “There is no record of ancient Greeks mentioning the Golden Ratio outside of math and numerology, and studies show φ is very rarely observed in ancient Greek art and architecture.”
“Research shows that physical beauty is linked to signs of good health and personal qualities, including average features, symmetry, skin texture, emotions, and uniqueness.”