![]() ![]() ![]() In the Homeric poems, arete is frequently associated with bravery, but more often with effectiveness. Though particularly associated with 'manly' qualities, the Homeric usage of the term was not necessarily gender specific, as Homer applied the term to both the Greek and Trojan heroes as well as major female figures, such as Penelope, the wife of Greek hero Odysseus. In the Homeric world, arete involves all of the abilities and potentialities available to humans. ![]() A person of arete is of the highest effectiveness they use all of their faculties- strength, bravery, and wit-to achieve real results. In its earliest appearance in Greek, this general notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one's full potential. ![]() The concept was also occasionally personified as a minor goddess, Arete (not to be confused with the mythological Queen Arete), who, together with sister Homonoia, formed the Praxidikai ('Exacters of Justice'). Statue of Arete in Celsus' Library in Ephesus, 2nd century ADĪrete ( Ancient Greek: ἀρετή, romanized: aretḗ) is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to 'excellence' of any kind -especially a person or thing's "full realization of potential or inherent function." The term may also refer to excellence in " moral virtue." ![]()
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