Body and Soul in Ancient Greece and Rome

The bodies of ancient Greek and Roman people were essentially the same as ours, but the way they thought and talked about them was different. It wasn't until the Classical period that the soma (body) emerged as an object of care and responsibility. Meanwhile, psyche (soul, mind) went from referring to the breath that leaves the body at death to the central concern of a philosophical life and the religious promise of an afterlife. This volume collects ancient perspectives ranging from...
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The bodies of ancient Greek and Roman people were essentially the same as ours, but the way they thought and talked about them was different. It wasn't until the Classical period that the soma (body) emerged as an object of care and responsibility. Meanwhile, psyche (soul, mind) went from referring to the breath that leaves the body at death to the central concern of a philosophical life and the religious promise of an afterlife. This volume collects ancient perspectives ranging from Pythagoras to Plotinus on the nature of and relationship between soma and psyche, with attention to such topics as health, beauty, exercise, gender, sexuality, aging, and spirituality.With an introduction by Jurgen R. Gatt, the volume contains essays by Alberto Jori, Samatha Newington, Michaela Senkova, Elizabeth Schiltz, Elena Bartolini, Camille Guigon, Sofía Carreño, Audrey L. Anton, Heather L. Reid & Georgios Mouratidis, Stephen M. Kershner, andMakoto Sekimura.