Psychology

C. George Boeree: History of Psychology  Part One: The Ancients

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1 | 71 © Copyright 2006 C. George Boeree

C. George Boeree: History of Psychology  Part One: The Ancients

Index

Index Psyche and Eros The Presocratics [ The Greeks | The Basics | The Ionians | The Greeks of Italy | The Abderans ] The Alphabet TwoPoems by Sappho Timeline: from 600 BC to 200 BC Map: Ancient Mediterranean Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle Plato Selection: Allegory of the Cave Logical Fallacies Epicureans and Stoics [ Cynicism | Hedonism | Skepticism | Stoicism | Epicureanism ] A Letter from Epicurus Selections from Epictetus Timeline: From 1 AD to 400 AD Map: Roman Empire 116 AD The Roman Empire [ Neo-Platonism | Mithraism |Christianity | Gnosticism | Manicheanism | St. Augustine | The Fall of Rome ] A Brief History of Judaism Early Christian Heresies Sunnis and Shiites Early History of China and India 3 5 12 15 17 17 18 25 28 40 45 47 50 50 51

61 64 67 68

2 | 71 © Copyright 2006 C. George Boeree

C. George Boeree: History of Psychology  Part One: The Ancients

The Story of Psyche and Eros
The so-calledpsyche or butterfly is generated from caterpillars which grow on green leaves, chiefly leaves of theraphanus, which some call crambe or cabbage. At first it is less than a grain of millet; it then grows into a small grub; and in three days it is a tiny caterpillar. After this it grows on and on, and becomes quiescent and changes its shape, and is now called a chrysalis. The outer shell is hard,andthe chrysalis moves if you touch it. It attaches itself by cobweb-like filaments, and is unfurnished with mouth or any other apparent organ. After a little while the outer covering bursts asunder, and out flies the winged creature that we call the psyche or butterfly. (From Aristotle's History of Animals 551a.1) Psyche was one of three sisters, princesses in a Grecian kingdom. All three werebeautiful, but Psyche was the most beautiful. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, heard about Psyche and her sisters and was jealous of all the attention people paid to Psyche. So she summoned her son, Eros, and told him to put a spell on Psyche. Always obedient, Eros flew down to earth with two vials of potions. Invisible, he sprinkled the sleeping Psyche with a potion that would make men avoidher when it came to marriage. Accidentally, he pricked her with one of his arrows (which make someone fall in love instantly) and she startled awake. Her beauty, in turn, startled Eros, and he accidentally pricked himself as well. Feeling bad about what he had done, he then sprinkled her with the other potion, which would provide her with joy in her life. Sure enough, Psyche, although stillbeautiful, could find no husband. Her parents, afraid that they had offended the gods somehow, asked an oracle to reveal Psyche's future husband. The oracle said that, while no man would have her, there was a creature on the top of a mountain that would marry her. Surrendering to the inevitable, she headed for the mountain. When she came within sight, she was lifted by a gentle wind and carried the restof the way. When she arrived, she saw that her new home was in fact a rich and beautiful palace. Her new husband never permitted her to see him, but he proved to be a true and gentle lover. He was, of course, Eros himself. After some time, she grew lonely for her family, and she asked to be allowed to have her sisters for a visit. When they saw how beautiful Psyche's new home was, they grewjealous. They went to her and told her not to forget that her husband was some kind of monster, and that, no doubt, he was only fattening her up in order to eat her. They suggested that she hide a lantern and a knife near her bed, so that the next time he visited her, she could look to see if he was indeed a monster, and cut off his head if it was so. Her sisters convinced her this was best, so the...