How the Mind Is Affected in Homer and the Sanskrit Epics. Part I: Negative Mental Changes

This article analyzes Homeric expressions attributing negative changes or states to the so-called “mental organs” (θυμός, φρένες, etc.), and compares them, by means of a transparent classification, with analogous Sanskrit expressions found in the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, the second oldest extant representatives of epic poetry in an Indo-European language. Applying the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, we propose to treat the collected expressions as instances of conceptual metaphors; on this basis, we identify the ways of conceptualizing the mind in both traditions. In addition, we use the comparison with the Indian material to capture the specific features of Homer’s psychological ideas.