engleski

The concept of memory in Presocratic culture

The Greek concepts corresponding to the root *mna-, that is, the root of the semantic field of the concept of memory were significantly broader than the modern notion of memory. My thesis is that the Greek concept of memory consisted not only of knowledge about contingencies of the past, but also included knowledge of the primary order, of constancies and principles that rule over time, and thus a fortiori knowledge of the present and those of direct relevance for the future. If understood in this way, the Greek memory can be seen as an epistemic reservoir out of which men take knowledge, the knowledge which is a gift of gods, not a product of our psychical activities. I show this by taking example of two pillars of the Greek society before Socrates: the poet and the prophet. The outcome of this research is especially important in connection to Plato's theory of "anamnesis".

Homer; Hesiod; Mnemosyne; memory

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