The History Of The Concept Of The Soul

Homer didn't have a comprehensive word for mind
The psyche and the conscious self had not yet been combined
He understood events as repetition from the past
But individual consciousness was not a part of that

But early Greek thought played a role
In the complicated history of the concept of the soul

By the time of Plato these ideas had taken shape
The Phaedo and Timaeus are works which demonstrate
The conscious separation of the knower from the known
And the dual nature of the body and the soul

Modern thought was possible
The complicated history of the concept of the soul
Whoo!

Pythagoras and Orphic doctrines all came into play
'Cause Plato was a mystic in his own Platonic way
The pre-Socratic Naturalists saw things in terms of "stuff"
But Plato's metaphysics showed that this was not enough

This is the incredible
Complicated history of the concept of the soul
Rock and roll!

[Guitar solo]

For an interesting discussion
See E.R. Dodds' The Greeks and the Irrational
Berekely, 1953
Pages 45 to 115

Ibid.!