by Robert Fagles. ILIAD AND ODYSSEY: ARETÉ AND TIMÉ Homer called the ancient Greeks Danaans, Argives, Achaeans. TIP: If the highest good is justice, and if justice is what brings the greatest happiness to the most people, and if the perfect state and perfect soul embody justice, and if justice requires moderation, then this virtuous mean of justice is the arete of the state and soul. Despite the elusive definitions, we can say arete is often well translated to: “the aristocracy of virtues” (“the highest moral virtue which itself encompasses and implies all other virtues in their perfect state”), and it is in this sense that it can be understood by looking at Plato and Aristotle’s theories on “essence” and, including, importantly for this conversation, Aristotle’s theories on balancing vices and virtues (as explained below).[2]. This way of thinking comes first from Plato, where it can be seen in the Allegory of the Cave. Plato wrote about arete in his Allegory of the Cave and other texts (circa 400 BC) where the term took on deeper meanings regarding truth and wisdom within one’s self. The Status of Arete in the Phaeacian Episode of the Odyssey As you may be picking up on already, arete is a broad catch-all concept used by the Greeks of which there is no English equivalent (nor is there one definition in the Greek texts).
It is a combination of skill, wit, cleverness, bravery, and strength.
If Arete is knowledge and study, the highest human knowledge is knowledge about knowledge itself; in this light, the theoretical study of human knowledge, which Aristotle called "contemplation", is the highest human ability and happiness.
In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, "arete" is used mainly to describe heroes and nobles and their mobile dexterity, with special reference to strength and courage, but it is not limited to this.
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It refers to an innate “Excellence” or “Essence” in all things, and the striving toward that potential or purpose. Moderating all the virtues is then, arete. [3] In particular, the aristocratic class was presumed, essentially by definition, to be exemplary of arete: "The root of the word is the same as aristos, the word which shows superlative ability and superiority, and aristos was constantly used in the plural to denote the nobility."[4].
In the Odyssey, Penelope and Odysseus both have arete.
"excellence.
Any mention of a brand or other trademarked entity is for the purposes of education, entertainment, or parody. Evil intentions and the pursuit of material possessions at the expense of others were the lowest kinds of these tiers, and the pursuit of excellence was the highest.
They did not need to consume one's life, merely exercise the body into the right condition for arete, just like the mind and soul would be exercised by other means.[6]. Some sources claim that it means "righteous", while others connect it with Ares, the Greek god of war. The video below describes goodness and the virtue as understood by Aristotle (in regards to the self and state).
In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, "arete" is used mainly to describe heroes and nobles and their mobile dexterity, with special reference to strength and courage, but it is not limited to this. Males achieved arete in the Ancient Greek world by becoming valiant warriors.
Since the perfect ideal good is not always achievable, just as “knowing” is a journey not a destination, the pursuit of excellence is arete in this sense.
TIP: With this in mind, Plato’s Republic is all about the arete of the state and soul. | eNotes. NOTE: There is more than one way to translate the table, feel free to search for other translations. Excellence. Arete was also depicted as an intelligent and generous hostess by Apollonius in Book 4 of the Argonautica, where he recounts the story of Jason and Medea.
This led to the thought that athletics had to be present in order to obtain arete. Plato considered arete separate from goodness, and the other virtues.
He also applied the concept of arete to non-human objects discussing how even an apple or chimney could possess excellence. Debra Hawhee points out that the norms and practices of Athenian virtuosity “operate within the politics of reputation, whose normative poles are honor and shame” (187).
This article is about the philosophical concept. In the Greek tragedy 'Medea', when the … Penelope's arete, for example, relates to co-operation, for which she is praised by Agamemnon. The opposite of virtue is described instead as vice. It referred to “a young hero’s responsibility – their moral imperative,” the acquisition and mastery of intellectual and physical skills from elders in defense of the state (where the state represents that which is worth defending). In many ways arete can be thought of as virtue itself, thus many simply use “moral virtue,” or just “virtue,” as a placeholder in English. Arete is to all things what the philosopher king is to the state, a representation of a balance of the ideal forms manifesting in the highest form. If you take away one thing from the above, take away that my words are failing to perfectly express the concept of arete properly.
There are many ways to say this, and perhaps in the end it is just that this term is described best by a myriad of words which touches on the deep questions of moral philosophy like “what is justice,” “what is quality,” and “what makes something excellent?” (if not, why did Plato and Aristotle write so many books on the subject from Politics, to Nicomachean Ethics, to the Republic)? Please citespecific examples of arete in The Iliad and The Odyssey. We touched on it above, but to offer more detail, the following table is from Nicomachean Ethics and shows Aristotle’s virtues. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. This can be understood well via Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Theory of the Forms, where the true forms are the arete of the forms. In short, if a person, place, thing, etc has an “excess” or a “deficiency” of excellence, then it is not in its “most excellent” state, and thus the term arete does not describe this imbalanced state (although it could certainly describe striving back toward it). Here after many trials I come to beg for mercy, your husband’s, yours, and all these feasters’ here. The meaning of the word changes depending on what it describes since everything has its own peculiar excellence; the arete of a man is different from the arete of a horse. Odyssey. Medea appealed to Arete, and Arete in turn appealed to her husband to grant mercy to Medea.
When the Argonauts arrived at the island, Arete and her husband received them and Medea hospitably.
(See a list of Aristotle’s vices and virtues, we also explain this in detail below).
Aristotle describes persuasion, politics, and influence as technologies with which one can achieve arete.[4]. Depicted in 'The Odyssey', this was a region in Greek mythology that was the last destination of Odysseus in his 10-year journey.
In ways, Isocrates combines the importance of inward and outward manifestations of arete and further applies the concept to statesmanship and other roles of social influence. See our page on essentialism vs. existentialism. Penelope 's arete, for example, relates to co-operation, for which she is praised by Agamemnon. In some contexts, Arete is explicitly linked with human knowledge, where the expressions "virtue is knowledge" and "Arete is knowledge" are used interchangeably. the Odyssey. The Status of Arete in the Phaeacian Episode of the Odyssey The word arete is never explicitly said, but if you wrap-up every idea in the video into one overarching concept of virtue, goodness, ethics, and higher meaning, you could describe that overarching concept as arete. Kerferd, "Arete/Agathon/Kakon", in Paul Edwards [ed.-in-chief], Stephen G. Miller, "Ancient Greek Athletics", New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004*.
Neither does the term refer to ethics or one’s purpose in life. Please citespecific examples of arete in The Iliad and The ... 4 pics 1 word windows phone answers level 235, geometry worksheet 6 2 parallelograms answers, gujarat university exam time table bsc sem 1, cdl test questions and answers pdf pre trip inspection, jurisprudence exam for social workers in texas, difference between gandhara and mathura school of art essay, simulador de examen teorico de manejo san luis, clinical research interview questions and answers pdf, vocabulary workshop enriched edition level c unit 3 answers. [1] The term may also mean "moral virtue". Arete is honor and excellence.
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and find homework help for other The Odyssey questions at eNotes "[6] 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.