The Early Greek Concept of the Soul

Jan Bremmer

Published by Princeton University Press 1983

The Early Greek Concept of the Soul

Jan Bremmer

Volume 517 in the series Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology

In the series Bollingen Series (General)

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691219356

Overview
Contents

About this book

Jan Bremmer presents a provocative picture of the historical development of beliefs regarding the soul in ancient Greece. He argues that before Homer the Greeks distinguished between two types of soul, both identified with the individual: the free soul, which possessed no psychological attributes and was active only outside the body, as in dreams, swoons, and the afterlife; and the body soul, which endowed a person with life and consciousness. Gradually this concept of two kinds of souls was replaced by the idea of a single soul. In exploring Greek ideas of human souls as well as those of plants and animals, Bremmer illuminates an important stage in the genesis of the Greek mind.

Author / Editor information

Jan N. Bremmer is Professor of the History of Religion at the Rijksuniversiteit, Groningen, Holland.

Reviews

"Since Erwin Rohde published Psyche in 1893, the theme of the soul and its relation to life before and after the death of the body has interested scholars of ancient Greek religion. Jan Bremmer's contribution to the discussion is likely to become definitive, for its conclusions as well as its procedures. . . . For such a brief book it is unusually clear and comprehensive in its treatment and thorough in its examination of primary sources. It extracts Greek materials from the hands of specialists to situate them in the broad context of humanistic study."---Larry J. Alderink, Journal of the History of Religions

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
ONE. THE SOUL Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
TWO. THE SOUL OF THE LIVING Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
THREE. THE SOUL OF THE DEAD Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
Appendix One. The Soul of Plants and Animals Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
Appendix Two. The Wandering Soul in Western European Folk Tradition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	132
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Index of Passages Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
General Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
MYTHOS: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155