Abstract
The Homeric epics, but also some later texts contain numerous expressions that are based on the idea of loosening or dissolving the body or its parts. This paper focuses on the Homeric formula ‘the knees and the dear heart were loosened’ (λύτο γούνατα καὶ φίλον ἦτορ), which is mainly used for overwhelming emotions, and argues for two interrelated main points: first, the formula describes experiences in which a character loses control over his or her life; second, from a cognitivist perspective, the focus on the physiological symptoms can stimulate recipients to form an intense imagination of these experiences. Comparable expressions of dissolving can be also found in early Greek lyric, where the compound ‘limb-loosening’ (λυσιμελής) and the metaphor of melting are regularly applied love or desire, another experience of loss of control. To some degree even the Hebrew Bible provides similar cases, especially in the Psalms and the Lamentations.
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