ABSTRACT
In the fragments of Heraclitus * , frequent mention is made of ψυχή; to understand what Heraclitus means by ψυχή would seem to be central to any attempt to discuss his ideas about human life and death. In order to understand Heraclitus' own usage, however, we must first attempt to review the meaning of the word ψυχή as traditionally used, and particularly as used in the poems of Homer, of whose ideas and influence Heraclitus is harshly critical. 1 It will also be useful to sketch the pre-Heraclitean history of the word λόγος, since its history parallels, in certain important respects, that of ψυχή, and since the two notions will be seen to be vitally related in Heraclitus' ψυχή fragments. The first section of this paper will deal briefly with the history of these words, and go on to investigate the role which, for Heraclitus, ψυχή plays in the living man, and the way in which this role may be seen as dependent upon Heraclitus' ideas about language.
