Phren

In Ancient Greek philosophy, Phren (Ancient Greek: φρήν, romanized: phrēn, lit. 'mind'; plural phrenes, φρένες) is the location of thought or contemplation.[1] The kind of mental activity conducted in the Phren involves what 20th and 21 Century Western thinkers consider both feeling and thinking; scholars have remarked that Ancient Greeks located this activity in the torso as opposed to the head. [2] [3]

For example, phren is where Achilles considered his sadness about losing Briseis and his duty to join the Greeks against Troy.[2] Phren, however, is not exclusively applied to humans. In Empedocles' system, Phren is a general psychological agent to which moral blame and praise can be extended,[4] that darts through the universe as effluences, steers and controls the cosmos in the process and is the measure of what is harmonious and what is fit to exist.[5] It is said that it is strongest at the region found beyond the universe where strife reigns.[5]

  1. ^ Sullivan, Shirley D. (1999). Sophocles, Use of Psychological Terminology: Old and New. Carleton University Press (in 2018 called McGill-Queen's University Press). ISBN 0-88629-343-X.
  2. ^ a b Scott, Sarah. "Core Vocab: phrēn, phrenes". Kosmos Society: An Online Community for Classical Studies. Harvard University Center for Hellenic Studies. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  3. ^ Catlin, Brian; John, Lyons. "Etymology of Thoracic Terms". Dartmouth Medical School. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  4. ^ Petrovic, Andrej; Petrovic, Ivana (2016). Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion: Volume I: Early Greek Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780198768043.
  5. ^ a b Drozdek, Adam (2016). Greek Philosophers as Theologians: The Divine Arche. Oxon: Routledge. pp. 78–79. ISBN 9780754661894.