Harmony: The ultimate guiding force in the works of Laza Kostić and Milutin Milanković on the European cultural and political stage

This paper aims to indicate the key aspects of the intellectual convergence between Laza Kostić (1841-1910) and Milutin Milanković (1879-1958), two central figures of Serbian philosophical and scientific thought. Although they belonged to different disciplines, both thinkers grounded their creative and theoretical work in the classical principle of harmony. They understood the ancient concepts of proportion (analogia) and logos as expressions of cosmic order. By examining selected passages from their writings, the paper highlights how each author explicitly engaged with ancient Greek intellectual heritage: Kostić through his reflections on symmetry, harmony, convergence, and aesthetic structure, and Milanković through his cosmological interpretations shaped by Plato, Aristotle, and Democritus. The analysis demonstrates that harmony functions not merely as a thematic motif but as a shared epistemic and metaphysical framework that informs their understanding of nature and creativity and shapes their intellectual identity. In this sense, the study situates Kostić and Milanković within a broader classical tradition. It shows how ancient Greek thought served as a generative foundation for Serbian culture, science, and philosophy.