The Mind as Container

Abstract

One of the most widespread and natural ways of conceiving of the human mind in European culture is the image of the mind as a container for thoughts, images, memories, reasonings, etc. In this article, we explore the evidence of this metaphor in the Ancient Greek epic poems, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as well as Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, and, for comparative purposes, the evidence of the analogous metaphor in the Ancient Indian epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa. We examine how the metaphor is used, what its functions are and what it implies for the conception of mind in both ancient traditions. Additionally, we offer a brief comparison with the image of the mind-container that emerges from the use of this metaphor in modern English.