Homer’s depiction of the living human body in action is not a whole, unified entity motivated by a single agent as it is portrayed in Classical Greek Philosophy by Plato (Timeaus, 69c-73d). For Homer, the living human body is described in a fragmented way with various sources of motivation: body parts themselves, the midriff center of a human, gods, and the speech of other humans. Moreover, the active living body of humans is not named in Homer’s works; only a human dead body receives a name as a single entity.
This fragmented view of the living human body in action can be seen when the complex source of motivation for action is examined. There are four sources for the motivation of action in Homer’s depiction of human body parts: (a) the body parts themselves, (b) the heart, thumos, and midriff area, (c) the divine, and (d) the speech of other humans.
Body Parts Motivate Themselves
First, a few body parts are depicted as having their own power of motivation. In addition to individuals motivating themselves, individual body parts are also shown to be a source of motivation. When fighting needs to be done, the hands (cheires) are said to be eager to grasp a spear (Iliad, 13.77-8). Also, when the time comes to grasp the spear, the hand is said to perform this activity without any direction from another primary body part. When one is in danger and needs to escape, the feet (podes) are shown to swiftly carry an individual away (Iliad, 5.885-6). The feet are not depicted as if they were directed by any agency outside of themselves to do their prime activity of carrying the individual away; it is the feet themselves that are shown to be their own agent.
The Midriff Motivates Action
Second, much of the motivation for action is depicted to come from within the heart (etor), the thumos (which has no easy translation), or the midriff (phrenes). These three all attempt to depict the heart/lungs area of a human which is depicted as the center of a human being and the seat of decisions, courage, anger, etc.
For example, Homer writes Ajax as saying, “My thumos within my breast is more eager to battle and wage war, and my feet below and the hands above are eager” (Iliad, 13.73-5). The thumos is depicted here as eager to wage war and will motivate Ajax into battle. It is not clear in this example, however, if there are three sources of eagerness or if there is a causal connection from the thumos and the feet and hands.
Elsewhere, Agamemnon says, “My heart leaps forth from out of me, and my limbs (guia) tremble beneath” (Iliad, 10.93-5). Even if a causal conception is applied to these situations, it could only be interpreted as one body part causing another to act and not one body part causing the living body as a whole to act, because this description does not occur in Homer.
Combining the thumos and midriff, Homer writes that Hector "pondered in his midriff and thumos" what his next action should be (Iliad, 17.106). For Homer, it is in this area of the body that one goes over problems and is many times stirred on to action. Although this area of humans seems to be the model of what later in Classical Greece is called the soul or mind as the agent of the human body, it is now only a proto-type.
Decisions take place in this area and then action occurs. It certainly appears to be causal, but what is significant is that when the action takes place a named person (e.g., Hector) or a only body part performs it, and there are no depictions of a living body as a whole, unified entity performing an action. The living body is either too impersonal or it is not yet conceived as a whole, unified entity for Homer to name it.
The Divine and Human Speech Motivate Action
Third, the divine is also a source of motivation for the active body parts. When Zeus is described putting armor on Hector, Homer says that his limbs (guia) were “filled with strength and might” (Iliad, 17.210-2). And, fourth, human speech can arouse action in another person. Continuing our previous quote, “with this new strength, [Hector] is stirred to encourage the company of allies to fight (Iliad, 17.12-5). By putting armor on Hector, Zeus gave him strength for his encouragement of his allies, and the speech by Hector motivates them into action.
Described in these examples are individuals being motivated into action either by the divine or by the speech of another human. Again, however, the living human body is not named or described in action.
Although the active living human body has various motivations, it is not described or named in Homer's works as a whole, unified entity. In the next article, the passive living human body is examined and is in Homer depicted as having causal interrelations between parts, but it still not described and named as a whole, unified entity. In the third article, it is shown that Only in death does Homer depict the human body as a single entity.
Links
Homer’s Depiction of the Passive Human Body: The Passive Living Body and the Interrelated Parts
Homer’s Depiction of the Dead Human Body: The Whole, Unified Dead Body
Resources
- Bremmer, Jan N., The Early Greek Concept of the Soul. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1983.
- Homer, Iliad, Translated by A.T. Murray. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1967.
- Hayashi, Hideaki, and Kataoka, Akio. “A Study on the Development of the Greek View of the Body.” Bulletin of the Institute of Health & Sport Sciences. 15:1-14, 1992.
- Plato. Timeaus. The Collected Works of Plato. Edited by E. Hamilton and H. Cairns. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1961.
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