Philosophy & ThoughtGreek → English
Arete
/ˈærəteɪ/noun
Excellence of the kind that consists in performing one's proper function well, a central term in Greek ethics.
The Greek roots
ἀρετή
aretḗ
excellence, virtue
Literally: “excellence at being what one is”
Follow a root:ἀρετή1 word
The story of the word
In Homer arete is battlefield prowess and good breeding; nothing moral about it. Plato widens it until a knife, a horse, an eye and a soul can each have their own arete, meaning each does its job well, and that move is what lets him ask what the job of a human being is. Translating it as virtue imports a Christian flavour the Greek does not have. Scholars usually connect it to ἄριστος, best, the word behind aristocracy, though the link is not certain.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → English
Same family
aristocracyaristeia
In a sentence
For Aristotle, happiness is activity of the soul in accordance with arete.