βίος, ζωή (and ψυχή)

Semantic Range, Lexicography, and other approaches to word meaning - in general, or for particular words.
Post Reply
Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

βίος, ζωή (and ψυχή)

Post by Stephen Hughes »

In the days before I had even a little Greek, I remember reading an article in a Scripture Union magazine that in the period before the New Testament, βίος was the highest form of life - the course of a person's life, and ζωή refered to the the animal life. In the New Testament, however, the writers use ζωή as the highest form of life.

Now that I know some Greek I can see that ψυχή is part of the picture too.

To what extent is that statement about βίος and ζωή a true statement?
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Carlson
Posts: 3351
Joined: May 11th, 2011, 10:51 am
Location: Melbourne
Contact:

Re: βίος, ζωή (and ψυχή)

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Sounds bogus to me.

On a related note: this article has some semantic maps of soul and spirit in various languages, including Greek and Latin: https://www.academia.edu/846905/Semanti ... _languages
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: βίος, ζωή (and ψυχή)

Post by Stephen Hughes »

It is probably one of those things that have been simplified so far as to have taken on a life of its own.

This βίος, ζωή thought doesn't seem to have the same currency that the "The four words for love in Greek." urban myth seems to have.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Post Reply

Return to “Word Meanings”