Arete
| Arete | |
|---|---|
Goddess of excellence and virtue | |
| Member of The Praxidicae | |
 Statue of Arete in Celsus' Library in Ephesus, 2nd century AD | |
| Gender | Female |
| Personal information | |
| Parents | Praxidice and Soter |
| Siblings | Homonoia |
| Equivalents | |
| Roman equivalent | Virtus |
Arete (
The concept was also occasionally personified as a minor goddess, Arete (not to be confused with the mythological Queen
In its earliest appearance in
In some contexts, arete is explicitly linked with human knowledge, where the expressions "
History
The
Aristotle deliberated on the various goals of education: including practical skills, arete, and theory.[7][8]: 149–152 Educating towards arete means boys would be educated towards things that are useful in life. However, there is no agreement about what constitutes arete, which leads to disagreement about how to train students for arete.[8]: 150 To say that arete has a common definition of excellence or fulfillment may be an overstatement simply because it was very difficult to pinpoint arete, much less the proper ways to go about obtaining it.
Homer
In
In the Iliad, the way Homer describes
According to Bernard Knox's notes in the Robert Fagles' translation of The Odyssey, "arete" is also associated with araomai, the Greek word for "pray".[11]
Personification
Arete was occasionally personified as a goddess, the sister of
The only surviving story involving Arete was told in the 5th century BCE by the sophist Prodicus. Known as "Hercules at the crossroads", it concerns the early life of the hero Heracles. At a crossroads, Arete appeared to Heracles as a young maiden and offered him glory and a life of struggle against evil; her counterpart Kakia (κακία, 'badness') offered him wealth and pleasure. Heracles chose to follow the path of Arete.[12]
This story was later used by Christian writers, such as Methodius of Olympus, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Basil of Caesarea.
Examples of usage
- In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Book 2, chapter 6: "Virtue (arete), then, is a habit or trained faculty of choice, the characteristic of which lies in moderation or observance of the mean relatively to the persons concerned, as determined by reason, i.e., by the reason by which the prudent man would determine it."[13]
- In the Admonition of Paul in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence (arete) and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
- Robert Pirsig uses "arete" as a synonym for "quality" in his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which includes an extensive discussion of Plato's Phaedrus and the historical contrast between Dialectic and Rhetoric: "And what is good, Phaedrus, And what is not good—Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?"[14] Pirsig's line plays off a line in the Platonic dialogue The Phaedrus which reads: "And what is well and what is badly—need we ask Lysias, or any other poet or orator, who ever wrote or will write either a political or any other work, in metre or out of metre, poet or prose writer, to teach us this?"[15]
- In a Pindarian ode inscribed on the base of an Olympian victor's statue for the boxer Diagoras of Rhodes: "O father Zeus, give honor to this hymn for a victor at Olympia, and to his now famous arete in boxing."[8]
- Arete is the name of a key protagonist in . She is a precocious teenager who also appears in the sequel. Arete's name and its meaning ("excellence") is a small but important plot point in the book—as well as a general theme of the series as a whole.
Athletics
Arete was also used by Plato in his discussion of athletic training and the education of young boys.[8] It was commonly believed that the mind, body, and soul each had to be developed for a man to live a life of arete. This led to the thought that athletics had to be present in order to obtain arete. Athletics did not need to occupy one's life, but could be used to exercise the body into the right condition for arete, just as the mind and soul would be exercised by other means.[8]
Paideia
Arete is a significant part of the .
See also
- Aretaic turn– Normative ethical theories
- Aretology– Narrative about a divine figure
- Maturity (psychological) – Learned ability to respond to the environment in a socially appropriate manner
- Mens sana in corpore sano – Latin phrase regarding health ("a healthy mind in a healthy body")
- Pirsig's metaphysics of Quality– Theory of reality
- Virtue ethics – Normative ethical theories
- Virtus – Masculine virtue in Ancient Rome
References
- ^ a b c d e Liddell, H.G.; Scott, R., eds. (1940). "ἀρετή". A Greek–English Lexicon (9th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ "Arete: definition and meaning". Collins English Dictionary. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ Aristotle. "X: Conclusion". Nicomachean Ethics.
- ^ "Plato, Republic, Book 6". Perseus Digital Library. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
- ^ Jaeger, Werner (1945). Paideia; the Ideals of Greek Culture. Vol. I. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 5.
- ^ "Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Bekker page 1094a". Perseus Digital Library. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
- ^ Aristotle. Politics. VIII.
- ^ ISBN 978-0300115291.
- ^ "Homer, Odyssey". Perseus Digital Library. Book 13, line 1. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
- ^ S2CID 143802236.
- ^ Knox, Bernard (1996). "Introduction and notes". The Odyssey. Translated by Fagles, Robert. London: Penguin Classics Deluxe Ed.
- ^ Xenophon (1897), "The Memorabilia Recollections of Socrates", Book II, translated by Dakyns, Macmillan and Co., retrieved 2021-06-11
- ^ Aristotle (1906). "II. Moral Virtue". Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by Peters, F.H.
- ^ Pirsig, Robert M. (1974). Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
- ^ Plato. Phaedrus. Translated by Jowett, Benjamin.
Further reading
- Kerferd, G.B. (1967). "Arete/Agathon/Kakon". In Edwards, P. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Macmillan & The Free Press.
- Sócrates, su legado sobre la Areté y qué es el Hombre; Daniel Cerqueiro; Ed. Pequeña Venecia; Buenos Aires 2016.ISBN 978-987-9239-25-4
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