The word image suggests a visual or mental representation. It may refer to the object that is seen or to the mental representation of it that the observer forms in his mind. Since the concept is a complex one, it is not surprising that various words are used in Gk. and that these tend to merge and overlap. The terms used are: charaktēr, image, mark or stamp, formed by impressing a pattern; idea, appearance, in Plato’s philosophy the archetypal forms which underly the