ABSTRACT
For the West, elios proves to be lacking the generosity and expansiveness of a Sanskrit term like karuna. It takes a while for the West to settle on the right word that would have the same elasticity and sense of inclusion. The word that ever-so slowly emerges to meet this demand is the Greek term sympatheia, but how this word became the West’s “go-to” concept for fellow-feeling is the result of a rather tangled history. It grows out of a series of Greek words with the “sun” prefix that signifies “suffering together.” These words include sunalgein (“feel pain with”), sunakthesthai (to feel pain or grieve with family or friends), sumpatheia (medical term for physical interrelatedness), and finally sumpathaheia (without the medical connotation and becoming something of synonym for pity). 1
