noble culture are closely related with the concept of areté.5 It was the best expression of the then views concerning ←18 | 19→an ideal of a human and a citizen. Its beginnings are associated with the way of life of the chivalry nobility. Areté is a proper expression appertaining to a noble man.6 The Greeks understood it primarily as efficiency, an ability to do something. It was an indispensable condition to occupy the chief position. In the works of Homer, it denoted the heroic valour which combined the moral value with the physical strength. It had a similar meaning as the terms agathos and áristos.7 The indicated expressions refer to people combining the knightly bravado with the aristocratic origin. Areté indicated a man of noble birth who had to obey certain rules of conduct, both in everyday life and in war, non-existent for ordinary men.8 A simple man has no areté. This notion in the aristocratic concept is therefore a natural feature, associated with the excellence of a family (eugeneia) and the possession of an estate (plutos).9 According to the then ethics, man does not become agathos, he is agathos (or is not) by nature.10
Thus, the code of conduct applying to a knightly state, the so-called noble moral code became the foundation of the Greek education. Moreover, the aristocratic ideal included such features as: the harmonious development of the body and soul, mind and heart, the refinement of custom and an impressive way of life. The indicated synthesis of physical and spiritual virtues constituted the essence of the ideal embodied in the phrase: kalos kagathos anér.11 The fullness of ←19 | 20→areté (kalokagathía) is achieved only by man fully aware of his worth. Therefore, the sense of self-worth denotes a higher level of areté.12
It is significant that nobility imposed certain obligations on those who were entitled to it. An educative aspect of nobility was realized in instilling a sense of duty with regard to the ideal by which man was guided. Additionally, the concept of areté was closely connected with reverence expressing itself by evaluating the community to which a given person belonged. The reverence (timé) and publicity (kleos) were the natural consequences of acquiring primacy. The reverence was regarded as an objective social manifestation of the universal appreciation (charis) that man deserved for the performance of excellent deeds, for which no adequate, material award could be found.13 Hence, areté was measured by appreciation that a given person enjoyed among equals.14 It was on that recognition and respect that the social position of nobility was based. The sources of reverence or disgrace were praise and reprimand. They pointed to the existence of objective evaluation criteria in social life. The reverence constituted therefore a natural standard of measuring the level of being near the ideal of areté. It is necessary to add at this point that a characteristic feature, an ethical virtue distinguishing the noble man was the recognition of self-esteem, namely the justified pride. However, it must be underlined that the true self-esteem was regarded as the most difficult feature to achieve by man. The sense of aristocratic pride (aidós) boosted a constant heading in this direction. The opposite action aroused the righteous anger in the environment (nemesis).15 The sense of pride prevented man from performing acts regarded as despicable (aischron) and from doing something that might compromise him in the eyes of his fellow citizens. Thus, the two concepts (aidós and nemesis) were the typical concepts of the aristocratic moral code in Homer. It is worth noting here that there was a change, in the later philosophical thought, based on the fact that man looked for acceptance in his own conscience.16 Over time, people started to consider reverence (timé) as ←20 | 21→a mere reflection of the inner value of an individual person in the opinion of a human community. In Homer’s works, however, man was dependent – as far as self-esteem was concerned – solely on the judgement of the community to which he belonged.17 Due to the fact that he was a member of his state, he measured his areté by an appreciation of others. Homer’s ethics was therefore the ethics of reverence. For the aristocracy of his time, no reverence given by the environment was the greatest tragedy that man could encounter. Praise (epainos) and reprimand (psogos) were the sources of reverence and disgrace.18
The aforementioned characteristics of the early stages of the Greek culture are included in the works of Homer. He is regarded as one of the first and greatest creators who shaped the Greek ideas of humanity.19 His poems are the source of knowledge on the oldest Greek society and its ideals20. He immortalized the world of great demands and proud traditions in them. He presented the principles governing the operation of the high noble culture that expressed universal ideals. Therefore, those epics became the core of ubringing and education of not only the nobility, but with the advent of democracy, of the whole youth – initially in Greece and then in other countries influenced by Hellenism21. The very word areté – virtue, perceived as having the highest quality feature, presented by Homer, is crucial for the understanding of culture. In culture, the central place was occupied by human areté (valour), for the appearance of which education was indispensable.22 It is through education that man gains the skills and qualities necessary to be fully human. Homer, speaking through the mouth of Phoenix – the tutor of Achilles – expresses his opinion on the two most important skills being the goal of education: “to be both a speaker of words and a doer of actions.’23
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We can find a description of an ideal model of heroism and an irreversible destiny of a great warrior in The Iliad. The author presents the figures of heroes, who are typical representatives of knighthood, against the backdrop of the Battle of Troy. They are characterized by a militant temperament and a passionate pursuit of glory. They fight, competing for the wreath of the highest areté.24 A brave man in this poem is at the same time a highborn man. The fight and the victory constitute the proper content of his life, the highest distinction. It is therefore a man of noble birth who, both in everyday life and during the war, is guided by certain rules of conduct which do not apply to a simple man, defined as kakos as opposed to agathos. There is a constant competition for the wrath of areté among people called aristoi.25 The fight is a true test of male virtues. The victory is not only a physical defeat of the opponent but also a condition of winning areté.
On the other hand, a description of the noble culture and custom was included by Homer primarily in the Odyssey. The work is a source of information about the conditions in which the older noble culture was shaped.26 It was the ionic culture. The work presents a description of life of the nobles at their courts and in country estates. The author gives a detailed description of the characteristic features of courtly manners and aristocratic custom during peace. The nobility in the Odyssey is a closed state with a strong consciousness of its privileged position, its refined manners and a mode of action. It is distinguished by a certain uniform lifestyle. The relations among the people from this sphere are characterized by a high degree of sophistication. In addition to the knightly valour, the Odyssey displays an understanding for certain spiritual and social values.
The conditions indispensable for the development of the noble culture are: the sedentariness, the land property and the tradition.27 They facilitate the transmission of a certain lifestyle from an older to a younger generation. Thereby, an aristocratic ideal included the environment’s appreciation and some external goods without which it was impossible to practise certain virtues significant for the man of noble birth. The condition for social recognition was the material independence provided by wealth based on the possession and land cultivation.28
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In addition, it is indispensable to consciously implement specific courtly standards among young people, teaching them the specific internal discipline. The conscious education and the transmission of culture was significant for the nobles. The indicated education relied on the development of human personality through consistent advice and spiritual guidance. Specific demands, which could be fulfilled only under the condition of deliberate care given to certain essential qualities of character, were placed on the entire human person. The conviction of superiority and rights to occupy a leading position instilled the need among the nobles to teach the young representatives of their state the recognized patterns of noble conduct. It is in such circumstances that education served for the first time as the culture transmission – namely, shaping the entire personality of man according to a specific pattern. The presence of such a pattern is a core of the development of every noble culture29