Essay #1

My original definition of arête is excellence of many varieties. Someone with arête is smart, brave, witty, athletic, and confident, features that an everyday hero needs. And some people like this were considered hero’s back then. One example, someone we should all know by now, is Socrates. Socrates was smart and witty. He was confident in his beliefs to the point where he died for them. Socrates thought outside of the box. His teaching method, the Socratic Method, is a perfect example of how unique his mind was. He repetitively asked question in order to make his students become their own person by making them develop their own opinion and debating it in class. The Greeks demonstrated arête by giving everyone a say in their government and making everyone equal in opinion. They looked down on idiots, who were the opposite of arête. Idiots were anti-social civilians who didn’t participate in voting and kept to themselves.  Arête was definitely a huge part of the Greek civilizations and in a way it still is today.