Aeschylus' Use of Psychological Terminology: Traditional and New

In this in-depth analysis of Aeschylus' use of psychological terms, Shirley Darcus Sullivan compares his usage with that of earlier and contemporary poets, including Homer, Hesiod, Pindar, and Bacchylides, and assesses the degree to which his usage is innovative or traditional.

Sullivan focuses on eight key psychological terms - phr n, thumos, kardia, kear, tor, nous, prapides, and psych - that appear frequently in ancient Greek texts but which have a wide range of possible meanings. Gathering instances from The Persians, Seven against Thebes, Suppliants, Agamemnon, Choephoroi, and Eumenides (instances from Prometheus Bound, whose authorship is in question, are treated in notes and an appendix), Sullivan first examines each psychic term separately. She then discusses instances of the terms in each play, examining the meaning of the psychic term in the context of the play in which it appears and providing details on Aeschylus' usage.

This book sheds light on the rich and sometimes elaborate way in which Aeschylus uses psychological terminology and is an excellent reference for classicists, psychologists, philosophers, and scholars of comparative literature.