Again, I think you're wrong. I don't believe there is a prior attempt
to
formulise the units of cultural transmission
Well, apart from the notion of "mimesis" coined by Socrates 3,000 years
before Dawkin's birth.
>>>> imitation <<<<
Actually I was about to add that I'd forgotten to mention that meme is
actually derived from mimeme
Plus having just flicked through the relevant bits of Selfish Gene I can
confirm that he tips the hat to noone when it comes to memes - indeed
his preamble to the meme's introduction expresses his surprise and
disappointment that people had avoided the area.
As to (Socrates|Plato)'s mimesis, I thought that it was a thoroughly
degrading thing. And not actually about cultural transmission at all.
But please explain. I forgot almost everything I knew about ancient
greek within 6 months of stopping studying it and that was 15 years
ago :)