Earring

Areté Sculpture, Ephesus.

The areté (in ancient Greek, ἀρετή aretḗ 'excellence') is one of the crucial concepts of Ancient Greece. In its most general form, for some sophists the areté is "excellence" or prominence in the cultivation of eloquence; the etymological root of the term is the same as that of (aristós, 'better'), the finished fulfillment of the purpose or function.

It is a vague concept that implies a set of civic, moral and intellectual qualities.

Carlos Schrader

According to Hippias de Élis, the purpose of the teaching was to achieve areté, which means training to think, speak and act successfully. The political excellence ("citizen") of the Greeks consisted in the cultivation of three specific virtues: andreía (courage), sofrosine (moderation or balance) and dicaiosine (justice): these virtues formed a relevant, useful and perfect citizen. To these virtues Plato later added a fourth, Prudence, which gave rise to the so-called cardinal Virtues: prudence, strength and temperance would correspond to the three parts of the soul, and the harmony between them would engender the fourth, the justice. In a way, the Greek areté would be equivalent to the Roman virtus, dignity, honor or good manhood.

In ancient Greece one could speak indistinctly of the areté of a soldier, a bull or a ship, although its use for inanimate objects is rare. However, since the Archaic Era it was especially linked to the possession of virtues, especially courage and skill in combat.

For the first Greek warriors of more than three thousand years ago, the only way to achieve areté was through feats in battle. The classic example is Achilles, who would rather die in combat than any other life form. The Greeks were very afraid of fate. Fate could immediately prevent them from reaching areté. For example, an accident, being born blind, or being born a woman made it impossible to achieve feats in battle. Also the areté is related to cunning in the works of Hesiod and Homer; when in the Iliad , Agamemnon praises Penelope, he does so in attention to her cooperation with the purposes of Ulysses.

Towards the classical period —over all the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. C.— The meaning of areté came closer to what today is considered «virtue», fundamentally through the work of Aristotle, in general, including traits such as μεγαλοψυχια (megalopsyjía, 'magnanimity'), the σοφροσυνη (sofrosyne, 'temperance') or the δικαιοσυνη (dikaiosyne, 'justice').

The acquisition of the areté was the axis of the education (παιδεία, paideía) of the young Greek to become a citizen man, following the ideal exposed by Isocrates. Traces of the more restricted conception of the archaic era can be seen in the emphasis placed on discipline and mastery of the body through gymnastics, one of the main activities, and wrestling, but a finished training also included the arts of oratory, music and —eventually— philosophy.