|
| ▲ | bryanrasmussen an hour ago | parent | next [-] |
| There's really no knowing why the Greeks chose liver, or some specific Greek chose liver. It could have been because the liver was regenerative and they were using the titan with the regenerating liver as another reference to humanity, or it could have been as someone pointed out because predators like to eat the liver first, or it could have been that you can take damage to the liver and live for hours afterwards in agony whereas the same amount of damage to the heart or lungs is apt to cause death to come much quicker. Perhaps there are undiscovered variants out there were the eagle or a serpent or some other animal attacks his genitals, or his eyes. But at any rate the Eagle ate his liver, it means nothing in particular, and at the same time it means every particular interpretation we can place on it. |
| |
| ▲ | bheadmaster an hour ago | parent [-] | | Whatever the actual reason for choosing the liver was, we can be certain it wasn't its regenerative property, since such proprerty was unknown to the Greeks at the time. | | |
| ▲ | bryanrasmussen an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | Probably not, I don't think I ever read Galen mentioning it, but then again people would get injured in the liver and recuperate better than other injuries I suppose, which makes me think it is surprising if he didn't. Just went and checked, evidently he never said anything about it. old American translation of Galen and Hippocrates for anyone interested, as it can be
difficult to find otherwise https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/coxe-the-writings-of-hipp... | |
| ▲ | rightnutwingjob 6 minutes ago | parent | prev [-] | | And you know because you were there? |
|
|
|
| ▲ | pazimzadeh an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I don't know about the Greeks but I know a lot of ancient cultures thought the liver was the most important organ (probably because it's full of blood). For example in Persian poetry the word liver is found pretty much everywhere you would expect to see the word heart. "You are my liver" is a nice/romantic thing to say to this day. |
|
| ▲ | mwigdahl an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I thought they chose it because it tastes great with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. |
|
| ▲ | seizethecheese 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Why would liver signal defiance? |
| |
| ▲ | Sleaker an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | It was the believed area of emotion, passion and 'soul'. I think western/modern religion has morphed from the liver to the heart essentially. | | |
| ▲ | pinkmuffinere an hour ago | parent [-] | | This is still the normal in the middle east (and likely elsewhere)! In Turkey you call somebody dear to you "my liver" as a pet name. |
| |
| ▲ | jephs an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | There are a bunch of Japanese words (including a several loanwords from Chinese) that use the liver / gallbladder metaphorically for courage. Both derive from associations between the humours and personality / behavior. I have no idea, however, why both Eastern and Western naive psychology associate gall with, well, gall. | | | |
| ▲ | bheadmaster an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I phrased it awkwardly. Simply put, in Ancient Greece, liver was something like heart in modern society. It was the seat of human emotions. So by destroying Prometheus' liver, Zeus attempted to destroy his human emotions, including his pride and defiance against gods. | | | |
| ▲ | Bluestein 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Humors perhaps. Not my area, so I do not recall the correspondence ... |
|
|
| ▲ | bell-cot 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| I'm thinking the Greeks chose liver because it is the first thing that many predators will eat from a kill - large, more nutrient-dense than almost any other tissue, and relatively quick to access. |
