Western Civilization I / Unit 3 WC1 0203 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Homer, Arete, and the Culture of Contest
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The idea
Homer's poems were written down after centuries of oral recitation. Their ethic was arete, excellence as a moral quality, fulfilling one's potential in arms and in words. Excellence was performed in public: no second prizes, and losers mocked.
In practice
Domination by war and by rhetoric, the two Homeric arts.
Where people slip
Arete is not virtue in the Christian sense. It is winning well.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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