Affective lexica between Hellenistic philosophy and Christian theology

Doxographies and school texts used lists to distil philosophical reflection on emotional experience, to provide a pleasant variety in speech-craft, and to craft a language for articulating the varieties of pain. These lists have largely been ignored by scholars of ancient emotion and philosophy alike, but were widely utilized among ancient students and readers. They follow a taxonomic structure, with the Stoic generic passions (pain, pleasure, fear, and desire) further divided into species. Pain (λύπη/dolor) comprehends up to twenty-five species, each with its own definition. The species-terms come from medicine, epic and theatrical poetry, as well as more mundane contexts, while the definitions offered comprise descriptions of either the sensation of pain or its social circumstances. These lists were taken up by Christian authors and modified in accordance with theological commitments and new emotional norms. Together, it will be argued, terms and definitions craft a language for pain as well as scripts for its performance, rooted in a shared intellectual and social culture. This language was put to use in scientific, philosophical, forensic, and narrative contexts as authors sought out language to express their experience or to arouse it in their audience.

Copyright 2023 by Jacqueline R. Clarke, Daniel King and Han Baltussen. Published by Koninklijke Brill nv,
Leiden, The Netherlands.