"excellence", without any qualifiers, already means "of any kind". If it's not of any kind, that needs to be specified.
Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
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Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#12Xenia plays a very important role in both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The idea of obligations running in both directions makes it a much richer concept than simple “hospitality.”
That sounds very interesting. What were these obligations?
Pretty good summary here: https://ancient-literature.com/xenia-in-the-odyssey/
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#13I've always liked "akrasia"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrasia
> Weakness of will to act against one's own better judgement.
It's everywhere in modern society, and I'd love to see it called out more.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#14https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnothi_seauton_(disambiguation... was one i thought would be on there.
More directly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself
And generally speaking most of the Delphic maxims still have their validity despite the thousands of years that separate them from us: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_maxims
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#15I have been several times confused by the word "arete" - because in French (arête) it's a kind of rock formation and has been taken up by the rock climbing community, and in Greek (ἀρετή) it's "excellence." There's a coffee shop near me, attached to and co-operated by a climbing gear store, called arête. The proximity to the climbing store suggests one interpretation, but it is an excellent coffee shop.
I was named after the rock formation, but sometimes I am excellent too :)
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#16I have been several times confused by the word "arete" - because in French (arête) it's a kind of rock formation and has been taken up by the rock climbing community, and in Greek (ἀρετή) it's "excellence." There's a coffee shop near me, attached to and co-operated by a climbing gear store, called arête. The proximity to the climbing store suggests one interpretation, but it is an excellent coffee shop.
arêter is a common verb in French that means to stop. It is a cognate of to arrest.
The ê before the t is evidence betraying the disappearance of a historic s, which is still present in English cognates:
hôpital -> hospital
forêt -> forest
The word arête means edge, similar to bord.
Not every bord is an arête; only some protruding ridge or sharp edge. It seems to be used for geological ridges, like mountain crests and such, but evidently it can also refer to the blade of a knife or sharp too or such.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#17Tried a couple terms mentioned in the document w/ Bing GPT chat, and it gives really good answer, almost identical to this web page.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#18One of my favorite moments at Oracle was when we were on a business trip and had to get ready at 6:00 am (don't ask why). I said, "Ah, the rosy-fingered dawn!" and one guy actually got the reference.
============= This is Latin, not Greek, but ===========
Supposedly "Cicero" was pronounced "KICK-er-oo"
I don't care. I'm going to keep saying SISS-er-oh.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#19Not a term, but I’ve always found the fact that AG had two terms that map to nothing, e.g. my two favorite sayings: “toi sophoi xenon ouden” (the wise man is foreign to nothing) and “meden agan” (nothing in excess), one of the three Delphic Maxims: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_maxims
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#20[flagged]
Well, apart from the indigenous people, the colonists (who took the land by force) and the slaves who were brought here against their will, the vast majority of the population of the United States were able to come here due to the liberal immigration policies of the US, which can be seen as xenia.
Is there a Greek work for wanting to slam the door on others after your family made it through?
(I expect this thread is getting off-topic, though.)