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ἀρετή [α^], ἡ,
A.goodness, excellence, of any kind, in Hom. esp. of manly qualities, “ποδῶν ἀρετὴν ἀναφαίνων” Il.20.411; “ἀμείνων παντοίας ἀρετὰς ἠμὲν πόδας ἠδὲ μάχεσθαι καὶ νόον” 15.642; so of the gods, “τῶν περ καὶ μείζων ἀ. τιμή τε βίη τε” 9.498; also of women, Od.2.206; ἀ. εἵνεκα for valour, Hdt.8.92: pl., ἀ. ἀπεδείκνυντο displayed brave deeds, Id.1.176, 9.40.
b. later, of the gods, chiefly in pl., glorious deeds, wonders, miracles, SIG1172, Str.17.1.17; “ζῶσαι ἀ.” IG14.966, cf. 1 Ep.Pet.2.9: also in sg., “ὄψιν ἰδοῦσα ἀρετὴν τῆς θεοῦ” IG2.1426b, cf. Isyll. 62, BSA21.169,180.
2. generally, excellence, “ἡ ἀ. τελείωσίς τις” Arist. Metaph.1021b20, cf.EN1106a15, etc.; of persons, “ἄνδρα πὺξ ἀρετὰν εὑρόντα” Pi.O.7.89, cf. P.4.187, B.9.13, etc.; “τὸ φρονεῖν ἀ. μεγίστη” Heraclit. 112: in pl., forms of excellence, “μυρίαι ἀνδρῶν ἀ.” B.13.8, cf. Gorg. Fr.8, etc.; “δικαστοῦ αὕτη ἀ.” Pl.Ap.18a; esp. moral virtue, Democr. 179, 263, al., Gorg.Fr.6; opp. κακία, X.Mem.2.1.21, cf.Pl.R.500d, Lg. 963a, 963c sq., D.60.17, Arist.EN1102a6, Pol.1295a37, etc.; good nature, kindness, etc., E.Fr.163.
b. of animals, things, as land, Hdt.4.198, 7.5, Th.1.2; ἡ ἐν ἀρετῇ κειμένη γῆ productive land, PTeb.5.165 (ii B. C.); “ἵππου” Hdt.3.88; κυνῶν, ἵππων, Pl.R.335b; σκεύους ib.601d; [ἀστακοῦ] Archestr.Fr.24; “ἀ. βίου” Pl.R.618c; “πολιτείας” Lg.886b, etc.
3. prosperity, Od.13.45.
II. ἀ. εἴς τινα active merit, good service done him, “ἐς τοὺς Ἕλληνας” Th.3.58, cf. 2.40; “ἀ. περί τινα” X. An.1.4.8; “ἀνταποδοῦναι ἀ.” Th.4.19; “ἀρετὰς παρασχέσθαι ὑπέρ τινος” D.19.312; ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα, freq. in honorary Inscrr., IG22.107.14, etc.
III. reward of excellence, distinction, fame, “πλούτῳ δ᾽ ἀρετὴ καὶ κῦδος ὀπηδεῖ” Hes.Op.313, cf. Sapph.80, Pi.N.5.53, al.; “ἀθάνατος ἀ.” S.Ph.1420, Pl.Smp.208d; “ἃ ἆθλα τοῦ πολέμου τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐστίν, ἐλευθερία καὶ ἀ.” Lycurg.49; of God, “δόξα καὶ ἀ.” 2 Ep.Pet.1.3: in pl., glories, Thgn.30, Pi.N.10.2, al.; “πλοῦτος ἀρεταῖς δεδαιδαλμένος” Id.O. 2.53; “γενναίων ἀ. πόνων” E.HF357 (lyr.), cf. Lys.2.26; “προγόνων ἀ.” Pl.R.618b; in LXX freq. of the praises of God, Is.42.8, al.
IV. Ἀρετή personified, Prodic.1, Arist.Fr.675, Callix.2, CIG2786, SIG 985.10, etc.
V. ἡ ἀ. σου as a title, Your worship, PLips.13 ii 20, etc.
VI. an engine of war, Ath.Mech.38.11.
VII. a plaster, Androm. ap. Gal.13.531.
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

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hide References (41 total)
  • Cross-references in notes to this page (1):
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (40):
    • Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 1106a.15
    • Bacchylides, Epinicians, 9.13
    • Bacchylides, Epinicians, 13.8
    • Demosthenes, On the False Embassy, 312
    • Demosthenes, Funeral Speech, 17
    • Euripides, Heracles, 357
    • Herodotus, Histories, 9.40
    • Herodotus, Histories, 1.176
    • Herodotus, Histories, 3.88
    • Herodotus, Histories, 4.198
    • Herodotus, Histories, 7.5
    • Herodotus, Histories, 8.92
    • Hesiod, Works and Days, 313
    • Homer, Iliad, 9.498
    • Homer, Iliad, 15.642
    • Homer, Odyssey, 13.45
    • Homer, Odyssey, 2.206
    • Lycurgus, Against Leocrates, 49
    • Lysias, Funeral Oration, 26
    • New Testament, 2 Peter, 1.3
    • Plato, Laws, 886b
    • Plato, Laws, 963a
    • Plato, Laws, 963c
    • Plato, Republic, 335b
    • Plato, Republic, 500d
    • Plato, Republic, 601d
    • Plato, Republic, 618b
    • Plato, Republic, 618c
    • Plato, Apology, 18a
    • Plato, Symposium, 208d
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 1420
    • Strabo, Geography, 17.1.17
    • Thucydides, Histories, 1.2
    • Thucydides, Histories, 4.19
    • Xenophon, Anabasis, 1.4.8
    • Xenophon, Memorabilia, 2.1.21
    • Homer, Iliad, 20.411
    • Thucydides, Histories, 2.40
    • Thucydides, Histories, 3.58
    • New Testament, 1 Peter, 2.9
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