PHYSIS IN THE POETRY OF THE CLASSICAL PERIOD

Abstract

The study examines the use of the term φύσις and its semantic relationship with νόον, ἔθος, ἦθος and νόμος in classical poetry. The task of the research is to determine the pre-philosophical meanings of φύσις through the analysis and comparison of verses by Aeschylus, Pindar, Sophocles and Euripides. At the same time, the context in which the first mention of the word stands in Homer’s Odyssey was taken as the basis for further development of the term. The results of these analyzes should open the way to a more correct understanding of the concept of φύσις in philosophical thought in which critical argumentation relies heavily on the previously given meaning in Hellenic poetry.