(Ψυχή; Psychḗ). [German version] [1] Lover of Amor Female protagonist in the novella Psyche et Cupido embedded in Apuleius' (Ap(p)uleius [III]) Metamorphoses (Apul. Met. 4,28-6,24). P., a royal princess, is honoured throughout the world by virtue of her extraordinary beauty as a new Venus. Thus spurned and thereby enraged, the true goddess Venus sends her son Cupid/Amor (Eros [1]) to punish P.; Cupid, however, falls in love with her. As P.'s singularity makes it impossible to find her a husband, her father consults the …

[German version] A. Concept of the soul In order to understand the concept and the theory of the soul ('psychology': λόγος/ lógos, 'theory', from ψυχή/ psychḗ, 'soul') in Graeco-Roman Antiquity, it is important to distinguish between two ways of perceiving the soul: the soul as an essential component of a human being, as the subject of thinking and feeling, which controls one's behaviour, and the soul as the general quality that infuses a living thing with life. The first view is based on the perception of the soul ( psychḗ) as an individual's shadowy doppelgänger, which separates itself…

[German version] Is there an ancient equivalent to the modern concept of a 'person', and are there parallels to the characteristics associated with 'being a person'? As asked in modern contexts, the question of personhood includes further issues. Is a person's essential self based on their biological makeup or their psychological characteristics (Am I my body or my spirit?)? Is 'being a person' independent of social class, gender and perhaps species (Are animals persons?)? In ancient thought, an important issue was was whether a human being was essentially a ψυχή/ psychḗ, 'soul' (sep…

(εἴδωλον; eídōlon, Lat. idolum, picture, image, delusion). [German version] [1] Refers to a smaller-than-life-portrait Refers to a smaller-than-life portrait (cf. the votive gift of a female statue in Delphi, in Hdt. 1,51). Kunz, Heike (Tübingen) [German version] [2] Refers to a delusion in Greek mythology In Greek mythology, esp. in Homer, eidolon refers to a delusion (Hom. Il. 5,449), but especially to the soul of the deceased in Hades (Hom. Od. 11,213; Il. 23,104; the eidolon is disembodied but still has the shape of the living person: Hom. Il. 23,107). In pictorial…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The concept of time in cuneiform cultures is characterized by cyclic and linear rhythms, ideas of beginning and end, before and after, repetition and change, progress, past, present, future, and 'eternity'/perpetuity. All these aspects can be grasped both notionally and conceptually in the transmitted sources, but are not the subject of a systematic, theoretical discourse. The languages of the cuneiform cultures had several means available to describe events, circum…

[German version] (Ἄβαρις). Mythical figure derived from the cult of Apollo, formed on the model of shamanistic miracle-working priests [1; 2; 3; 4]. Dated by Pindar in the time of Croesus (fr. 270 Maehler), also dated earlier by other authors [5. 16]. According to Hdt. 4,36 A., coming from the imaginary northern land of the  Hyperborei, carried the spear of  Apollo around Greece, without partaking of any food. He prophesied in a state of divine possession (Lycurg. fr. 86 = Orat. Att. p. 271 Baiter…

[German version] (Μιλησιακά; Milēsiaká). Title of a work by one Aristides [2] with the epithet ‘of Miletus’ (his actual origin is unknown). The text is not extant; all we know for certain is that it had an obscene character. The ancient references are difficult to interpret and do not allow precise categorization: it may have been a novel [1] or, as is more widely accepted, a collection of novellas, possibly integrated into a framework structure. Modern literary studies favour the latter hypothesis, which was forcefully argued by E. Rohde [3; 4]. This is linked to a wider use of the term Milēsi…

[German version] I. Term and genre In antiquity the folk-tale as a well-defined literary genre with unequivocally established terminology was not known. However, since oral narratives, partly put down in writing, that according to the modern meaning of the term can undoubtedly be designated as folk-tales, existed in all ages and all cultures, the issue of the folk-tale becomes a meaningful and inevitable subject also with regard to antiquity. The German word ‘Märchen’ is derived from OHG māri, MHG diu/daz maere = ‘report’, ‘message’, i.e. ‘narrative’, still entirely in the …

[German version] In Greek religion enthusiasm (ἐνθουσιασμός/ enthousiasmós) refers to being taken by a higher power, usually personified by the gods (cf. θειασμός/ theiasmós, ‘inspiration’; ἔνθεος/ éntheos, ‘possessed by god’). The individual leaves an ordinary state and enters one that is determined from without and strange, to being no longer ‘him- or herself’ (ἔκστασις/ ékstasis; cf.  Ecstasy). What humans achieve in this state, which is experienced as paranormal, is god-given (cf. Heraclitus [1] fr. 22 B 92; B 93 DK;  Pythia [1]). How this possession ( katokōchḗ, Pl. Phdr. 24…

[German version] (Θαλῆς; Thalês). One of the Seven Sages, philosopher, astronomer and mathematician, said to be the founder of the Milesian School, 1st half of 6th cent. BC. Some anecdotes about T. survive, but no reliable biographical information. He is said to have travelled in Egypt. To what extent his erudition was influenced by the Near East is unknown. The ancient sources disagree as to whether T. recorded his theories in writing. Those who argue for it name the titles of three works: Ναυτικὴ ἀστρολογία ( Nautikḕ astrología, 'Nautical Astronomy', in hexameters), Περὶ τροπῆς ( Perì t…

[German version] A. Greek (CT) “What Schole-boy, what apprentice knows not Heliodorus?” [20]. Exaggerated as this assessment from England at the beginning of the 17th cent. may seem, it demonstrates the author's special position within the ancient genre and the rapid spread of his fame after the beginning of his reception in Central and Western Europe. The groundwork for the exceptional status accorded him and his work, the Aethiopica, was laid in Byzantium by the influential  legend of his elevation to the bishopric of Tricca, and by revaluation of the text on…

[German version] Martianus Minneus Felix Capella, author of a Latin encyclopaedic work in 9 bks. called De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii (‘Philologia's wedding with Mercury), which he dedicated to his son [11. 1], originated from Carthage, according to the subscriptions of the MSS. Several remarks in the work (Mart. Cap. §§ 577, 999) suggest he may have been a lawyer. Today, the period of composition is thought to lie in the 420s [3. 98-111] or (rather) around AD 470 [2. 309f.; 11. 21-28; cf. also 14. 165], writt…

(ἀρετή/ aretḗ; 'fitness', 'excellence'; Latin virtus). [German version] A. Archaic Period The term ‘virtue’ has pre-philosophical and philosophical meanings. Pre-philosophical conceptions (in, for example, Greek epic and Archaic elegy, historiography and the Attic orators) correspond to a heroic and political ethics, whose main characteristics are practical wisdom and courage as well as the pursuit of fame and the avoidance of shame. On the other hand, the Delphic Maxims, ascribed to the Seven Sages, proclaim ‘know yourself’, ‘nothing to excess’. The transformation from un…

[German version] Views about what awaits humans after death exist in most cultures. In the Graeco-Roman world, they were found in literature and art, in philosophical reflection, theological propaganda and, not least, in epitaphs; yet the literary and philosophical opinions in themselves are more coherent than the everyday concepts expressed in the epitaphs. It must also be emphasized that it is difficult to discern a strong connection between concepts of the afterlife and funerary rites, in the s…

[German version] (ἡ ψυχή/ psychḗ, literally ‘soul’ e.g. in Aristot. Hist. an. 5,19,551a 14; νύμφη/ nýmphē, literally ‘young girl’ in Aristot. Gen. an. 3,9,758b 33; Lat. papilio and papiliunculus in Tert. De anima 32). Butterflies and moths is the collective term for the insect order of the Lepidoptera. Despite their certainly large spread in the Mediterranean region, they were not often recorded in scientific treatises in antiquity. Aristot. Hist. an. 5,551a 13-27 (cf. Aristot. Gen. an. 1,18,723b 5f. and 2,1,733b 13-16) correctly assigns them to the insects (ἔντομα/ éntoma, cf. In…

Hinz, Berthold (Kassel RWG) [German version] A. Middle Ages (CT) Both Greek and Roman art is rich in erotic themes and objects of all kinds.  They are found in a multitude of genres and modes of expression, from large-scale sculpture, painting and mosaics to craft products and finally small art objects (e.g. gems and cameos). When the triumph of Christianity brought an end to the eroticism of ancient art, the world of erotic imagery also disappeared from the light of day. Objects of this kind were, of cou…

[English version] The term 'oratorio' denotes very diverse musical works, whose commonality can be expressed as follows:  major vocal compositions with instrumental accompaniment, depicting a plot of usually sacred subject matter, intended for unstaged and extra-liturgical performance. In the context of the reception of Antiquity, three elements are of interest: the beginnings of the oratorio in 17th-cent. Italy, 18th-cent. efforts at reform and the choosing (albeit infrequent) of ancient materials. The term 'oratorio' derives from the Ecclesiastical Latin name fo…

[German version] (γνῶσις or ἐπιστήμη ἑαυτοῦ/ gnôsis or epistḗmē heautoû; Latin notitia, cognitio sui; noscere/cognoscere seipsum). The philosophical and popular conceptions of self-knowledge throughout antiquity often refer explicitly to the precept inscribed above the temple of Apollo in Delphi (Delphi, Oracles): 'know thyself' (γνῶθι σ[ε]αυτόν/ gnôthi s[e]autón); the precise date of origin of that inscription, however, is uncertain. The oldest testimony is Soph. fr. 509 P. (θνητὰ φρονεῖν χρὴ θνητὴν φύσιν/ thn ētà phroneîn chrḕ thnētḕn phýsin, "the mortal soul must thin…

[German version] (θεουργία/ t heourgía), from Greek 'divine' ( theîos) and 'work' ( érgon): 'divinely oriented actions'. During the first few cents. AD, there arose a number of religious movements that combined elements of Platonic philosophy, practices drawn from traditional cult, and newer doctrines that adherents claimed were revealed to them directly by the gods. One of the most influential of these movements was Theurgie, which emphasized worshipping the gods through ritual. Theurgie was said to have been founded by a certain Julian, who came to be known as 't…

(Εὐρώπη; Eurṓpē). [German version] [1] Geographic concept Originally reserved for the female mythological figure ( E. [2]; cf. Hes. Theog. 357, 359), as a geographical term E. initially referred to central Greece (cf. Hom. H. ad Apollinem 251, 291) and the Thracian-Macedonian north (cf. Hdt. 6,43; 7,8), as opposed to the Peloponnese in the south, the Ionian Islands in the west and the Aegean islands, and separated from the Asiatic land-mass by the Aegean Sea, the Hellespont, Propontis, the Bosporus and Pontus Euxinus. As awareness grew during the ‘great colonisation’ that the…