A Comprehensive Report on Arete, Timê, and Kleos in Greek Mythology

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the concepts of Arete, Timê, and Kleos in Greek mythology. It explores the meaning and significance of Arete, which represents excellence and knowledge, examining its association with Greek gods and its manifestation in moral virtue. The report then delves into Timê, or honor, discussing its importance in rituals, sacrifices, and the heroic narratives of figures like Herakles. Finally, it examines Kleos, the concept of glory achieved through heroic acts and wisdom, highlighting its connection to dedication, sacrifice, and the pursuit of one's true self. The report references key texts and sources to illustrate these concepts and their roles in shaping Greek culture and values.

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Greek Mythology
Introduction
Greek mythology has been an integral part of the history of the world. This
civilization was established in early times as much as 1000 years ago. Greek mythology has
been famous for its literature and religion and has been the building blocks of the civilization
for years to come.
In this report we will be discussing the concept of arete (excellence), timê (honor),
and kleos (glory) in Greek mythology and discussing their roles in Greek Mythology.
Arête
Arête is the term related to excellence or knowledge in Greek mythology. It finds its
path again deep rooted in the Greek gods somewhere.
Arête, was the goddess of excellence. Popularly known as Queen Arête was the wife
of Alcinous, who was the king of Phaeacians and mothered two children: Nausicaa and
Laodamas. They both are said to be the decedents of Posedon (Asedopholis, A study of Arete
in Greek Mythology, 2017)
Not much is known about Arête as she was a minor Greek goddess. It has been
depicted in “the Odyssey” that she was the queen of Scheria and is closely associated to
knowledge and excellence.
Symbolically speaking, Arête refers to the knowledge possessed by some one or his virtue of
excellence, which is unique to everyone and not common. For example, the excellence

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possessed by a man is different than the excellence possessed by a dog. It actually refers to
the “moral virtue” one possesses.
This has a clear mention in Palto’s Allegory where its deep meaning with the
application has been explained quite nicely. According to Greek mythology, Arête is the
highest virtue possessed by a being (DeMichele, 2016). ANoher reference can be taken from
Plato’s Timaeus which offers the perspective of knowledge and intellect from the point of
view of the origination of the universe (Stanford University , 2010)
Arête has been placed at the highest pedestals of the god things and considers to be
the true to its form of moderation, justice, happiness, equality, morality and duty. It points in
a way to all the higher status that a man wishes to achieve by his virtue. Every girl wishes to
marry a man who possess these virtues and lives by them in the society, for he is not only
righteous in nature, but also Equanimeous and just.
We are or possess Arête is us when:
 We are being our true selves and adhering to all rules of being excellent ie, only a a
perfect seed can grow into a perfect plant
 If we can offer happiness to people alike
 If our soul is in perfect balance
Arête is something which every complete individual wishes to achieve.
Timê
Timê is referred to as honour in Greek Mythology. It refers to the honour paid to all
the gods and hero’s in Greek mythology. It is however not only restricted to certain oral
practices, but can also take form of rituals and sacrifices as well. We can take reference of
this from the Greek play Euripides’ Alcestis. Here the entire story is set in the backdrop of
honor and the love of a wife who sacrifices herself for her husband (Adington, 2010).
As mentioned in the Euripide’s Herakle’s (1328-1337), king Theseus of Athens
announces all the honour and glory that Herakle’s will get once he is back from war. It

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signifies his virtues as a warrior and how he is befitted to this timeless glory and honour, or
better timê (Ann, 2015)
This honour calls for his worship even after he dies and the city will remember him to
bring him back. So basically, time is based on the background of a tragic hero of Greek
mythology Herakle and how he was honoured and glorified by sacrifices and ritual to bring
back to life.
When one looks at its symbolicall meaning, we can realise that time refers to the
person’s accumulation of all honour and glory which they possess by their Arête or by their
virtue. This focuses on the part of attaining it and then eventually maintaining it as well.
Since it is said that honour, pride, respect and ego are just a matter of few minutes. They
come and go and in order ot be retained they are to be well kept, preserved and even feared
for they are nobody’s constant companion.
The legends have many description and reasoning behind the term Timê and how it
came into existence. It refers to a lot of sacrifices, bloodshed and battles with the self.
Kleos
Kleos is ancient Greek mythology refers to Glory, again can be considered to be a
subset of Timê. It refers to a lifetime full of glory achieved by the virtue of heroic acts and
wisdom.
The glory and its notion however isn’t that simple. The glory comes to those who
achieve what they seek. It is hard earned in nature unlike Timê. It calls for complete
dedication leaving everyone and everything behind, executing complete focus and
accomplishing great deeds on and off the battlefield (Langois, 2016).
It is said that someone who isa hero will only achieve Kleos as he won’t ever give up
his dream, but might give up his family, wife, children or anything which stops him from
achieving his dream. This can also be constituted from Hyginu’s Fabulae (Hyginus, n.d.)

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On a subtle deeper level. This calls for an in-depth analysis of human character of
their wants and needs and how sometime can we leave everything and everyone for that one
thing we have sod desired for. Kleos is our true self.
However some section og Greek myth also connects Kleos with death, which again is a glory
attained after the battle called life (Bryan, 2015)
Works Cited

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Adington, R. (2010). ANCIENT GREECE - EURIPIDES - ALCESTIS. Retrieved from
www.ancient-literature.com:
http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_euripides_alcestis.html
Ann, M. (2015). Timé- a description . Retrieved from www.uh.edu:
http://www.uh.edu/~cldue/3307/time.html
Asedopholis, A. (2016). Arete in Greek Mythology: Definition & Explanation. Retrieved
from www.study.com: https://study.com/academy/lesson/arete-in-greek-mythology-
definition-lesson-quiz.html
Asedopholis, A. (2017). A study of Arete in Greek Mythology. Retrieved from
www.study.com: https://study.com/academy/lesson/arete-in-greek-mythology-
definition-lesson-quiz.html
Asedopholis, A. (2017). Arete in Greek Mythology: Definition & Explanation. Retrieved
from www.study.com: https://study.com/academy/lesson/arete-in-greek-mythology-
definition-lesson-quiz.html
Bryan, V. (2015). Kleos: Death and Glory. Retrieved from www.classicalwisdom.com:
https://classicalwisdom.com/kleos-death-glory/
DeMichele, T. (2016). Arete Explained. Retrieved from www.actmyth.com:
http://factmyth.com/arete-explained/
Hyginus. (n.d.). HYGINUS, FABULAE 1 - 49. Retrieved from
http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae1.html
Langois, K. (2016). Kleos in Ancient Greek Culture & Beliefs. Retrieved from
www.study.com: https://study.com/academy/lesson/kleos-in-ancient-greek-culture-
beliefs.html
Stanford University . (2010). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from
plato.stanford.edu: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-timaeus/

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