SOME GREEK TERMS
important to the understanding of Homer
Arete is often translated "virtue," but this English word is more abstract and suggests to us a
Judaic-Christian ethic which is of course alien to the classical Greeks. "Excellence" is better, or
"worth." Arete conveys in one word the combination of qualities for which a Homeric hero is
admired: physical strength, courage, daring, and above all success in battle.
Time is the honor or recognition which the hero expects to receive in proportion to his "worth"
(arete). The word time may be used in a fairly abstract sense, like English "honor;" it may also be
used (sometimes in the plural, timai) for the gifts or prizes which are the tokens of honor--for
example, the share of booty from a captured city given to each warrior who helped to take that
city. The quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in Book I of the Iliad starts when
Agamemnon threatens to take Briseis, a captive woman who was given to Achilles when he
sacked her town. For Achilles this is an intolerable loss of time.
Kleos is the fame or renown which a hero wins when he accomplishes some great deed, like the
killing of a powerful enemy or the sacking of a city. Like time, it has both an abstract
sense--something like English "glory"--and a more concrete sense, for it is based in the first place
on what is reported and can only survive if people, and especially poets, continue to speak or
sing of it. To the Homeric heroes, who believe in a dismal and shadowy afterlife for all men,
kleos is the closest thing to immortality that a human being can attain. It is thus the ultimate goal
of the warrior.
Moira is an individual's "lot" or "portion;" in the distribution of booty in means a share, and in
speaking of a person's life as a whole it means his or her destiny. On yet a higher level it is
sometimes translated "Fate" and refers to the impersonal and inscrutable forces--beyond the
control even of the gods--which impose the ultimate conditions under which men live, in
particular the time and manner of one's death.
Aidos is usually translated "shame," but it covers a whole range of emotions, from simple respect
to a deep-seated fear of disgrace. In every case, however, it is an emotion which is created by the
anticipation of "what people will think" and is based on a sense of one's obligations to family or
society. Hector repeatedly says he feels aidos toward the Trojan men and women, whose chief
defender he is; and Achilles' friends accuse him of a lack of aidos when he refused to fight in
their behalf.
Nemesis is the "righteous indignation" evoked by a lack of aidos in another person. The
Trojans--and especially Hector, the hero of aidos--feel nemesis toward Paris when he hangs back
from fighting in the war he is chiefly responsible for starting.
Ate is the "blindness," "madness" or" folly" a god can send to punish or harass a mortal. In some
cases, it is actually both a punishment and a crime, insofar as it leads the mortal into further
wrongdoing. But it may be inflicted for no apparent reason.
This material has been used for many years by Professor Tom Sienkewicz in his courses at Monmouth College in
Monmouth, Illinois. If you have any questions, you may contact him at toms@monm.edu.