On eyes and facets in Homeric Greek

This paper examines the usage of the terms ὄμμα, ὄσσε and ὀφθαλμός in Homeric Greek within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics. Despite their shared anatomical reference - the eyes -, these terms exhibit distinct syntactic and semantic functions: ὀφθαλμός often serves as the instrument with vision verbs, while ὄμμα and ὄσσε, in contrast, lack this role and are mostly linked to appearance and gaze. This discrepancy suggests the existence of two distinct ‘facets’ within the concept of the eye, following the theory of Cruse (1986, 2000, 2002). In Homeric Greek, ὄμμα and ὄσσε represent the eye as a visible part of the face, while ὀφθαλμός embodies the facet of the eye as a sensory organ. A parallel situation can be found in the Spanish terms for the ear, where oreja refers to the visible part and oído to the sensory organ.