On Hom. ἐπίφρων and πρόφρων in View of Homeric Human Physiology

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating a specific class of exocentric nominal compounds in Homeric Greek. These are adjectives that have –φρων, with the -ograde of the stem φρεν- of φρέν-ες, plural form of φρήν ‘midriff; pericardium; mind’, as a second constituent, and a particle, namely a preposition, as a first constituent, e.g. ἐπίφρων ‘thoughtful; sage; wise’ and πρόφρων ‘with forward mind; kindly; willing; zealous’. The Homeric idea of the self involves a strong “mind-body” association, which results in a lexical overlap between the psychical and physical domains, since the latter is the only one recognized by Homer. In this regard, the φρένες (almost always plural in Homeric poems) are very frequently involved, given that the motion of the heart (i.e. κραδίη/καρδία, κῆρ, ἦτορ; sometimes also θυμός, as a life force) inside the φρένες, i.e. the inner side of the pericardium, supervises all human functions in Homer (see Laspia 1996: 107–113, among others). According to the Homeric cardiocentric model, through the analysis of Homeric distribution and contexts of use of ἐπίφρων and πρόφρων, the study aims at shedding light on their semantic value, based on both the role of the φρένες in Homeric human physiology and the specific inner spatial value of particles. From the textual analysis of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the meaning of the two compounds at issue turns out to be dependent on the spatial-directional value of the prepositions, with reference to the specific motion of the φρένες.