BS: Arete

Subject: BS: Arete
From: GUEST,sorefingers
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 07:50 PM

What happened to European genius? 2000 years and it is still withering!

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: Leadfingers
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 08:11 PM

Thread title should be Wither European Genius then

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: open mike
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 03:01 AM

what the heck are you finger guys talking about?!
can't put my finger on it...
can you please point it out?
perhaps when it becomes clear
it will be a snap...

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 04:44 AM

It's a snare to draw innocent mudcatters in with. It doesn't mean a bloody thing.

eric

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 04:53 AM

Maybe he means an Arriette accordian, and this is really a music thread!
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: Wolfgang
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 08:52 AM

The thread title is Greek to me,
but then, that's no wonder, I had to learn old Greek at school.

The same complaint, Sorefingers, has been heard in Germany in the last and before last century. That's life.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: beardedbruce
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 08:57 AM

The most articulated value in Greek culture is areté. Translated as "virtue," the word actually means something closer to "being the best you can be," or "reaching your highest human potential." The term from Homeric times onwards is not gender specific. Homer applies the term of both the Greek and Trojan heroes as well as major female figures, such as Penelope, the wife of the Greek hero, Odysseus. In the Homeric poems, areté is frequently associated with bravery, but more often, with effectiveness. The man or woman of areté is a person of the highest effectiveness; they use all their faculties: strength, bravery, wit, and deceptiveness, to achieve real results. In the Homeric world, then, areté involves all of the abilities and potentialities available to humans. We can, through the frequent use of this term in Homer's poems, make some tentative conclusions about the early Greek world view. The concept implies a human-centered universe in which human actions are of paramount importance; the world is a place of conflict and difficulty, and human value and meaning is measured against individual effectiveness in the world.


link

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: freda underhill
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 09:08 AM

He went straight through the court, still hidden by the cloak of darkness in which Minerva had enveloped him, till he reached Arete and King Alcinous; then he laid his hands upon the knees of the queen, and at that moment the miraculous darkness fell away from him and he became visible.

The Odyssey by Homer

Sorefingers, you can gain enlightenment by falling at the feet of a woman, and placing his hands on her knees.

then all that seems dark will become pure and light...

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 09:11 AM

Is sorefingers on about that dopey athletes story the papers seem full of. Big deal.

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: Micca
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 09:43 AM

From Merriam-Webster dictionary
"Main Entry: arête
Pronunciation: &-'rAt
Function: noun
Etymology: French, literally, fish bone, from Late Latin arista, from Latin, beard of grain
: a sharp-crested ridge in rugged mountains "

This was the only meaning I knew for the word and was, understandably confused by the thread opening as it seemed to have little or nothing to do with climbing!!

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: Amos
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 10:22 AM

BEardedbruce's entry was writtn by Richard Hooker at http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GLOSSARY/ARETE.HTM, who goes on to describe the use of the Greek term arete in SOcratic diakoigues.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: beardedbruce
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 10:44 AM

Amos, I DID include the link...

Subject: RE: BS: Arete
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 10:08 AM

Arrietty from The Borrowers maybe?
Giok