ψῡχ-ή, ἡ,
life, λύθη ψ. τε μένος τε [
Refs 8th c.BC+]; ψυχὰς παρθέμενοι at hazard of their
lives, [
Refs 8th c.BC+]; λίσσου᾽ ὑπὲρ ψ. καὶ γούνων by your
life,[
Refs 5th c.BC+] to save their
life, [
Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὃ ἂν θέλῃ, ψυχῆς ὠνεῖται [θυμός] in exchange for
life, [
NT+7th c.BC+]; τῆς ἐμῆς ψ. γεγώς[
Refs 5th c.BC+]; ποινὴν τῆς Αἰσώπου ψ. satisfaction for the
life of [
NT+5th c.BC+]; δεῖρον ἄχρις ἡ ψ. ἐπὶ χειλέων λειφθῇ within an inch of his
life, [
Refs 3rd c.BC+] —the phrase ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τὴν ψ. ἔχοντα taking his
life in his hands, is probably
falsa lectio in [
LXX+4th c.BC+]; of
life in animals, [
Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἡ φύσις τοιαύτη πάντων ὅσσα ψ. ἔχει Democrit.278; ἐπῴζει καὶ ποιεῖ ψ. ἔχειν (of incubation) [
LXX+5th c.BC+]; ἡ ψ. πάσης σαρκὸς αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐστιν[
LXX]
2)
metaphorically of things
dear as life, χρήματα γὰρ ψ. βροτοῖσι [
Refs 8th c.BC+]; so as an endearing name, [
Refs 1st c.AD+]
II) in [
Refs 8th c.BC+],
departed spirit, ghost (ὑποτίθεται [Ὅμηρος] τὰς ψ. τοῖς εἰδώλοις τοῖς ἐν τοῖς κατόπτροις φαινομένοις ὁμοίας. ἃ καθάπαξ ἡμῖν ἐξείκασται καὶ τὰς κινήσεις μιμεῖται, στερεμνιώδη δὲ ὑπόστασιν οὐδεμίαν ἔχει εἰς ἀντίληψιν καὶ ἁφήν [
Refs 8th c.BC+]; ψ. καὶ εἴδωλον [
Refs 8th c.BC+]; ψυχὰς ἡρώων, opposed to αὐτούς,[
Refs 8th c.BC+]; sometimes hardly distinct from
signification[
Refs]; in swoons it leaves the body, τὸν δὲ λίπε ψ. [
Refs]; so in later writers (seldom in Trag.), σὺν Ἀγαμεμνονίᾳ ψυχᾷ [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἑὰν ψυχὰν κομίξαι[
Refs 5th c.BC+]; ψ. σοφαί, perhaps 'wise
ghosts', [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
III) the immaterial and immortal
soul, first in Pindar, ἐς τὸν ὕπερθεν ἅλιον κείνων. ἀνδιδοῖ [Φερσεφόνα] ψυχὰς πάλιν [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; αἰθὴρ μὲμ ψυχὰς ὑπεδέξατο, σώ[ματα δὲ χθών] [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁπόταμ ψ. προλίπῃ φάος ἀελίοιο [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV) the
conscious self or
personality as centre of emotions, desires, and affections, χερσὶ καὶ ψυχᾷ δυνατοί [
Refs 5th c.BC+]: hence regarded in abstraction, τὸ παρεχόμενον ἡμῶν ἕκαστον τοῦτ᾽ εἶναι μηδὲν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τὴν ψ, τὸ δὲ σῶμα ἰνδαλλόμενον ἡμῶν ἑκάστοις ἕπεσθαι [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; οἴμοι ψυχή woe is
me! [
LXX]; καὶ ἐρῶ τῇ ψ. μου, “ψυχή, ἔχεις πολλὰ ἀγαθά” [
NT]; in periphrases, ψ. Ὀρέστου, ={Ὀρέστης}, [
Refs 5th c.BC+] his
wits, [
Refs]; so ψυχαί
absolutely, ={ἄνθρωποι, ψ. ὀλέσασα} [
Refs 4th c.BC+]; ψ. πολλαὶ ἔθανον many
souls perished, [
NT+5th c.BC+]; in referring to persons, ὅταν μεγάλη ψ. φυῇ [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; καλεῖται γοῦν ἡ ψ. Κρινοκοράκα the
creature, [
NT+4th c.BC+]: generally,
being, ψυχὴ ζῶσα living
creature, [
LXX]
IV.2) of various aspects of the
self, ἐν πολέμοιο μάχαις τλάμονι ψ. παρέμειν) enduring
heart, [
Refs 5th c.BC+] poor-
spirited, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV.3) of the emotional self, ὑπείργασμαι μὲν εὖ ψυχὴν ἔρωτι [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; τίν᾽ οἴεσθ᾽ αὐτὴν ψ. ἕξειν, ὅταν ἐμὲ ῒδ; how will she
feel? [
Refs 4th c.BC+]; μία ψ, proverbial of friends, [
Refs 4th c.BC+]; ψ. μία ἤστην probably in [
Refs 2nd c.AD+]; of appetite, ψυχῇ διδόντες ἡδονήν [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV.4) of the moral and intellectual
self, ἀπὸ πάμπαν ἀδίκων ἔχειν ψ. [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὸ σῶμα ἀπειρηκὸς ἡ ψ. συνεξέσωσεν. διὰ τὸ μὴ ξυνειδέναι ἑαυτῇ the
mind conscious of innocence, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀπὸ τῆς ψ. φιλεῖν with all the
heart, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκ ἐᾷ ἡμᾶς οὐδὲ ψυχῆς λαχεῖν he won't let us call our
soul our own, [
Refs 2nd c.AD+]
IV.5) of animals, ψ. μεγαλόφρων, of a horse, [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; ψ. χηνός, ὀρτυγίου, [
Refs 4th c.BC+]
IV.6) of inanimate things, πᾶσα πολιτεία ψ. πόλεώς ἐστιν [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; also of the
spirit of an author, [
Refs 1st c.BC+]
V) Philosophical uses:
V.1) In the early physicists, of the primary substance, the source of
life and consciousness, ὁρίζονται πάντες (i.e. οἱ πρότεροι) τὴν ψ. τρισίν, κινήσει, αἰσθήσει, τῷ ἀσωμάτῳ [
Refs 4th c.BC+]; ψυχῇσιν θάνατος ὕδωρ γενέσθαι, ὕδατι δὲ θάνατος γῆν γενέσθαι, ἐκ γῆς δὲ ὕδωρ γίνεται, ἐξ ὕδατος δὲ ψ. (i.e. πῦρ) [
Refs 6th c.BC+]; καρδία ψυχῆς καὶ αἰσθήσιος [ἀρχά] [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; Δημόκριτος πῦρ τι καὶ θερμόν θησιν αὐτὴν (i.e. ψυχὴν) εἶναι[
Refs]
V.2) the
spirit of the universe, ψ. εἰς τὸ μέσον [τοῦ κόσμου] θείς [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν τῷ ὅλῳ τινὲς [τὴν ψ.] μεμεῖχθαί φασιν, ὅθεν ἴσως καὶ Θαλῆς ᾠήθη πάντα πλήρη θεῶν εἶναι[
Refs 3rd c.BC+]; ψ. [κόσμου] [
Refs 1st c.AD+]; περὶ ψυχᾶς κόσμου καὶ φύσιος, title of work by [
Refs 5th c.BC+]
V.3) In [
Refs 5th c.BC+] the immaterial principle of movement and life, ὅταν παρῇ [ψυχὴ] τῷ σώματι, αἴτιόν ἐστι τοῦ ζῆν αὐτῷ [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; its presence is requisite for thought, σοφία καὶ νοῦς ἄνευ ψ. οὐκ ἂν γενοίσθην [
Refs 4th c.BC+]; the tripartite division of ψ, οἱ δὲ περὶ Πλάτωνα καὶ Ἀρχύτας καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ Πυθαγόρειοι τὴν ψ. τριμερῆ ἀποφαίνονται, διαιροῦντες εἰς λογισμὸν καὶ θυμὸν καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν [
Refs 5th c.BC+]; in the Stoics and Epicureans, σῶμα ἡ ψ. Zeno and [
Refs 3rd c.BC+]; of the
scala naturae, τὰ μὲν ἕξει διοικεῖται, τὰ δὲ φύσει, τὰ δ᾽ ἀλόγῳ ψ, τὰ δὲ καὶ λόγον ἐχούσῃ καὶ διάνοιαν [
Refs 4th c.BC+]; in the Neo-Platonists characterized by discursive thinking, τοὺς λογισμοὺς ψυχῆς εἶναι ἐνεργήματα [
Refs 3rd c.AD+]; related to νοῦς as image to archetype, εἰκών τίς ἐστι νοῦ [ψ.] [
Refs]; present in entirety in every part, πάρεστι πᾶσα πανταχοῦ ψ. [
Refs]; animal and vegetable bodies possess οἷον σκιὰν ψυχῆς [
Refs 5th c.AD+]
VI)
butterfly or
moth, [
Refs 4th c.BC+]
VI.2) τριπόλιον, Ps.-[
Refs 1st c.AD+]
VII)
Psyche, in the allegory of Psyche and Eros, [
Refs 8th c.BC+] 'blow, breathe'; τὸν δὲ λίπε ψ. [
Refs 8th c.BC+] means 'his
spirit left his body', and so λειποψυχέω means 'swoon', not 'become breathless'; ἀπὸ δὲ ψ. ἐκάπυσσε [
Refs 8th c.BC+] means 'she gasped out her
spirit',
i.e. 'swooned'; the resemblance of ἄμπνυτο 'recovered consciousness' to ἀμπνέω 'recover breath' is deceptive, see at {ἄμπνυτο, ἔμπνυτο}: when concrete the Homeric ψ. is rather
warm blood than
breath,[
Refs 8th c.BC+] escapes through a wound; compare ψυχοπότης, ψυχορροφέω, and [
Refs 5th c.BC+]