Searching for a Semantic Parallel to the Concept of Depression

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines whether a semantic parallel to the modern use of the word depression can be identified in ancient Greek. To that end, it retraces the development of the lexical family of the verb θλίβω, ‘to press’, and the abstract noun θλῖψις to gain the emotional and psychological meaning of ‘pressure’ or ‘affliction’. An analysis of the collected data suggests that a similar valence may be found in Hellenistic and Imperial Greek. However, this development is disregarded by authors with greater stylistic ambitions. Even physicians such as Galen continue to use θλῖψις solely in a physical, concrete sense. Conversely, the conceptualization in the singular of the word de-pression is lacking in ancient Greek. An antecedent may be identified in the formation of the prefixed verb καταθλίβω and the derived noun κατάθλιψις, found only from Late Antiquity onward, but this retains a concrete valence.