Searching the seat of the soul in Ancient Greek and Byzantine medical literature

Objective - The objective of this paper was to examine the ancient and medieval concepts about the seat of the mental functions, as exposed in Greek texts from Antiquity to Byzantine times. Methods - The review of the philosophical and medical literature from the original ancient Greek language from the Homeric epics to the Holy Fathers of Christianity, as the problem of the seat of the soul remained without a certain answer through the centuries. Results - Primitive concepts attributed great significance to the soul and dictated cannibal behaviours for the possession and eating of the defeated enemy's heart. Mental functions, such as thinking, feeling and mainly those related to affective manifestations, were attributed to the heart and to some other internal organs (liver, diaphragm) from the times of Greek mythology. Philosophy and empirical medicine had underestimated the brain probably because it is a 'silent' organ, contrary to the palpitating heart, with its obvious participations in the emotional reactions. The role of the brain as the mental organ and the seat of emotions has been gradually recognized. Conclusion - The permanent question of the seat of the soul had been for many centuries a critical dispute and the contribution of Greek philosophical and medical thought was decisive for the contemporary transformation of the whole concept.