Ἀρετή

arete, virtue, excellence

Translated by Marcelo Boeri10 Mar 2000Vetting: high6 revisions

7 notes · 121 words

Andocides and Thucydides [sc. use this term] to mean good reputation.¹
Virtue² can be lost due to drunkenness or melancholy but it cannot be lost because of a firm apprehension;³ and they⁴ maintain that it is self-sufficient, too. But others⁵ [say] that it is not self-sufficient but there is need for strength, health and economic resources. Virtue is included among the opposite things; "opposite" are those things that are constituted by the destruction of the contraries: blindness [and] sight, affirmation [and] negation, and the like.
Search in the entry "arrogant".⁶
[Concerning] a possession of virtue: when one looks toward the Romans' good order, it will be recognized that [sc. their empire] is a possession of virtue, not a gift of fortune.⁷

Greek original · Adler’s text

Ἀρετή· Ἀνδοκίδης καὶ Θουκυδίδης ἀντὶ τοῦ εὐδοξία. ὅτι ἀποβλητὴ ἡ ἀρετὴ διὰ μέθην ἢ μελαγχολίαν, ἀναπόβλητος δὲ διὰ βεβαίαν κατάληψιν· καὶ αὐτάρκη δὲ αὐτήν φασιν εἶναι. οἱ δὲ οὐκ αὐτάρκη εἶναι, ἀλλὰ χρεία ἐστὶν ἰσχύος καὶ ὑγείας καὶ χορηγίας. ὅτι ἡ ἀρετὴ τῶν ἀντικειμένων ἐστίν· ἀντικείμενα δέ εἰσιν, ὅσα τῇ ἀναιρέσει τῶν ἐναντίων συνίσταται· τυφλότης, ὄψις, κατάφασις, ἀπόφασις καὶ τὰ ὅμοια. ζήτει ἐν τῷ ὑπερήφανος. ὅτι ἀρετῆς κτῆμα, ὅταν ἀπίδοι τις εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων εὐταξίαν, ἐπιγνώσεται εἶναι ἀρετῆς κτῆμα, οὐ τύχης δῶρον.

Betacode

*)areth/: *)andoki/dhs kai\ *qoukudi/dhs a)nti\ tou= eu)doci/a. o(/ti a)poblhth\ h( a)reth\ dia\ me/qhn h)\ melagxoli/an, a)napo/blhtos de\ dia\ bebai/an kata/lhyin: kai\ au)ta/rkh de\ au)th/n fasin ei)=nai. oi( de\ ou)k au)ta/rkh ei)=nai, a)lla\ xrei/a e)sti\n i)sxu/os kai\ u(gei/as kai\ xorhgi/as. o(/ti h( a)reth\ tw=n a)ntikeime/nwn e)sti/n: a)ntikei/mena de/ ei)sin, o(/sa th=| a)naire/sei tw=n e)nanti/wn suni/statai: tuflo/ths, o)/yis, kata/fasis, a)po/fasis kai\ ta\ o(/moia. zh/tei e)n tw=| u(perh/fanos. o(/ti a)reth=s kth=ma, o(/tan a)pi/doi tis ei)s th\n *(rwmai/wn eu)taci/an, e)pignw/setai ei)=nai a)reth=s kth=ma, ou) tu/xhs dw=ron.

Notes (7)

See also alpha 3830 (and alpha 3832).
1Andocides fr. 6 Blass; Thucydides 1.33.2; both cited from Harpokration s.v. ↩
2The source now becomes Diogenes Laertius 7.127-128. ↩
3That virtue can be lost is said by Chrysippus; that it cannot be lost, by Cleanthes (Diogenes Laertius 7.127). Probably Cleanthes' position was that if your epistemic state is knowledge (episteme) and you have a firm or secure apprehension (katalepsis), you cannot cease being a virtuous person. The point is very controversial and apparently there was debate within the school (see Diogenes Laertius 7.91). In this context "melancholy" means "excess of black bile". ↩
4The Older Stoics (Zeno, Cleanthes and Chrysippus). ↩
5These are the Stoics Panaetius and Posidonius (Diogenes Laertius 7.128). The orthodox Stoic thesis (as held by Zeno and Chrysippus) is that virtue is sufficient for happiness (Diogenes Laertius 7.127). ↩
6upsilon 290. The thesis developed there is that every virtue has its opposite vice (e.g. temperance is opposed to salaciousness, continence to gluttony, justice to advantage or excess of power, mildness to anger, prudence to imprudence, and so on). ↩
7This addendum cites (very summarily) a passage of Josephus (Jewish War 3.71-72), where the author points out that if one pays attention to the organization, discipline or "good order" of the Roman army, it will be recognized that the Roman power is like a prize or acquisition of virtue, not like a gift of fortune.

↩

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α3829Ἆρ' ἔστιν; οὐκ ἔνεστιν; ἡ γνώμη πλανᾷ; καὶ φημὶ κἀπόφημι κοὐκ ἔχω τί φῶIs it? Is it not possible? Does judgment err? I say both yes and no and I do not know what I should say α3830Ἀρετήarete, excellence, virtue α3831Ἀρετήarete, virtue, excellence α3832ἈρετῶI am excellent, I pursue excellence α3833ἈρζανηνήArzanene

Revision history6 revisions · last 31 Aug 2015

31 Aug 2015Revised — David Whitehead
5 May 2015coding — Catharine Roth
11 Apr 2012x-refs; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
13 Oct 2005another keyword — David Whitehead
24 Aug 2002augmented notes and keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
9 Oct 2000cosmetics — David Whitehead
10 Mar 2000Translated — Marcelo Boeri

α3830 α3832

Ἀρετή

arete, virtue, excellence

Translated by Marcelo Boeri10 Mar 2000Vetting: high6 revisions

7 notes · 121 words

Greek original · Adler’s text

Betacode

*)areth/: *)andoki/dhs kai\ *qoukudi/dhs a)nti\ tou= eu)doci/a. o(/ti a)poblhth\ h( a)reth\ dia\ me/qhn h)\ melagxoli/an, a)napo/blhtos de\ dia\ bebai/an kata/lhyin: kai\ au)ta/rkh de\ au)th/n fasin ei)=nai. oi( de\ ou)k au)ta/rkh ei)=nai, a)lla\ xrei/a e)sti\n i)sxu/os kai\ u(gei/as kai\ xorhgi/as. o(/ti h( a)reth\ tw=n a)ntikeime/nwn e)sti/n: a)ntikei/mena de/ ei)sin, o(/sa th=| a)naire/sei tw=n e)nanti/wn suni/statai: tuflo/ths, o)/yis, kata/fasis, a)po/fasis kai\ ta\ o(/moia. zh/tei e)n tw=| u(perh/fanos. o(/ti a)reth=s kth=ma, o(/tan a)pi/doi tis ei)s th\n *(rwmai/wn eu)taci/an, e)pignw/setai ei)=nai a)reth=s kth=ma, ou) tu/xhs dw=ron.

Notes (7)

See also alpha 3830 (and alpha 3832).
1Andocides fr. 6 Blass; Thucydides 1.33.2; both cited from Harpokration s.v. ↩
2The source now becomes Diogenes Laertius 7.127-128. ↩
3That virtue can be lost is said by Chrysippus; that it cannot be lost, by Cleanthes (Diogenes Laertius 7.127). Probably Cleanthes' position was that if your epistemic state is knowledge (episteme) and you have a firm or secure apprehension (katalepsis), you cannot cease being a virtuous person. The point is very controversial and apparently there was debate within the school (see Diogenes Laertius 7.91). In this context "melancholy" means "excess of black bile". ↩
4The Older Stoics (Zeno, Cleanthes and Chrysippus). ↩
5These are the Stoics Panaetius and Posidonius (Diogenes Laertius 7.128). The orthodox Stoic thesis (as held by Zeno and Chrysippus) is that virtue is sufficient for happiness (Diogenes Laertius 7.127). ↩
6upsilon 290. The thesis developed there is that every virtue has its opposite vice (e.g. temperance is opposed to salaciousness, continence to gluttony, justice to advantage or excess of power, mildness to anger, prudence to imprudence, and so on). ↩
7This addendum cites (very summarily) a passage of Josephus (Jewish War 3.71-72), where the author points out that if one pays attention to the organization, discipline or "good order" of the Roman army, it will be recognized that the Roman power is like a prize or acquisition of virtue, not like a gift of fortune.

↩

Linked from3 entries

Neighbouring entries

Revision history6 revisions · last 31 Aug 2015

31 Aug 2015Revised — David Whitehead
5 May 2015coding — Catharine Roth
11 Apr 2012x-refs; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
13 Oct 2005another keyword — David Whitehead
24 Aug 2002augmented notes and keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
9 Oct 2000cosmetics — David Whitehead
10 Mar 2000Translated — Marcelo Boeri

Translation

Greek original · Adler’s text

Notes (7)

Linked from3 entries

Neighbouring entries

Translation

Greek original · Adler’s text

Notes (7)

Linked from3 entries

Neighbouring entries