General Question

whitecarnations's avatar

Where did the idea that the heart representing compassion and love come from?

Asked by whitecarnations (1638points) March 28th, 2012

Is there some kind of ancient society that documented the correlation between the heart and love?

Which ancient societies documented this through their art work?

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7 Answers

CaptainHarley's avatar

Your heart responds physically to strong emotions, thus the presumption that is where they come from.

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

Great love hits you in the chest. I don’t know why. It just does.

noraasnave's avatar

In an interesting, and yet not totally unrelated twist; Ancient Jewish people considered the kidneys the seat of all emotions.

I think the idea of the human heart being the seat of all emotions comes from Ancient Greece.

john65pennington's avatar

Ever had a broken heart? That should tell it all.

SpatzieLover's avatar

The heart is an involuntary muscle. Some would say that love is involuntary emotion.

The heart is the organ that feels while the brain rationalizes.

This article explaining symbols contains some interesting heart facts.

Ancient wisdom is relevant to today’s science: Broken Heart Syndrome

whitecarnations's avatar

@SpatzieLover Indeed very interesting.

dabbler's avatar

Vedic tradition (5000+ years old) holds the heart chakra, energy center, as the seat of emotions and empathy.

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