Mental space compression in ancient myths: The case of catabatic journeys (Part 4)
PART 4 (FINAL) of an interview in which Anna Bonifazi and Riccardo Ginevra share their interest in applying the cognitive-linguistic concept of compression to the analysis of ancient Greek and other ancient Indo-European myths. A particularly congenial script for such an application is the tale of catabatic journeys: mythological characters or heroes get the chance […]
MENTAL SPACE COMPRESSION IN ANCIENT MYTHS: THE CASE OF CATABATIC JOURNEYS (PART 3)
Part 3 of an interview in which Anna Bonifazi and Riccardo Ginevra share their interest in applying the cognitive-linguistic concept of compression to the analysis of ancient Greek and other ancient Indo-European myths. A particularly congenial script for such an application is the tale of catabatic journeys: mythological characters or heroes get the chance to enter the subterranean world with some purpose in mind, and manage to come back alive. The interviewer, Cristóbal Pagán Cánovas, a cognitive scientist and classicist himself, gets the interviewees involved in a conversation on what makes our minds able to discern catabatic elements in ancient myths, and more in general on viable tools for a more comprehensive understanding of conceptual systems in ancient traditions.
Mental space compression in ancient myths: The case of catabatic journeys (Part 2)
Part 2 of an interview in which Anna Bonifazi and Riccardo Ginevra share their interest in applying the cognitive-linguistic concept of compression to the analysis of ancient Greek and other ancient Indo-European myths. A particularly congenial script for such an application is the tale of catabatic journeys: mythological characters or heroes get the chance to enter the subterranean world with some purpose in mind, and manage to come back alive. The interviewer, Cristóbal Pagán Cánovas, a cognitive scientist and classicist himself, gets the interviewees involved in a conversation on what makes our minds able to discern catabatic elements in ancient myths, and more in general on viable tools for a more comprehensive understanding of conceptual systems in ancient traditions.
Mental space compression in ancient myths: The case of catabatic journeys (Part 1)
In this interview, Anna Bonifazi and Riccardo Ginevra share their interest in applying the cognitive-linguistic concept of compression to the analysis of ancient Greek and other ancient Indo-European myths. A particularly congenial script for such an application is the tale of catabatic journeys: mythological characters or heroes get the chance to enter the subterranean world with some purpose in mind, and manage to come back alive. The interviewer, Cristóbal Pagán Cánovas, a cognitive scientist and classicist himself, gets the interviewees involved in a conversation on what makes our minds able to discern catabatic elements in ancient myths, and more in general on viable tools for a more comprehensive understanding of conceptual systems in ancient traditions.
Blending in Pindar
The quintessentially dense ancient Greek texts of the lyric poet Pindar (ca. 518-437 BCE) cannot be conceived, performed, studied, and taught without the basic human ability to create and understand networks of blends. Blending happens whenever we unconsciously connect conceptual counterparts and integrate them, so that new meanings emerge. Identifying blends not only helps us make sense of Pindar (‘Pindar’ metonymically stands for ‘Pindar’s poems’), but also of our blending-based thinking in general