This study aims to to rethink the episteme of westernizing biopolitics in the 'body history' of Eurasia. It also enquires to what extent can the classical ideal at the core of Western-ness be conceived without its antithesis, the Dionysian reign of indulgence, genius, magnificence and grandiosity (Lawrence 20217). The latter goes back to neo-Assyrian rulers represented with fat bodies as eviedence of splendour and authority. Classical greeks saw these oriental rulers as paradigms of oriental decadence and despotism, which allowed the expansion of Hellenic civilisation to shine more brightly. The classics, conceived as the 'soft power of Westernness', are thus inextricably bound up with the question of the 'Dionysian', in Nietzsche's terms. The study will also trace the impact of modern research on classical and oriental art. Late-19th c. 'Dionysian' art and lifestyle as expressions of Asianism challenged the classical ideal, and were incriminated in Germany by the Lex Heintze (1900). The classical ideal pitted against Asianism, particularly the muscle-strengthened body of the Greek hoplite against effeminate and pompous Asia dominated by fat despots, experienced a new boom in the Bush-era USA.