Philia
The broad Greek concept of love between friends, family, and fellow citizens — the affection that holds communities together.
The Meaning of Philia
Philia encompassed a wider range of affection than the English word friendship. It included the love between parents and children, the bond between comrades in arms, the loyalty between host and guest, and the civic affection that bound citizens of the same polis. Aristotle devoted two entire books of the Nicomachean Ethics to philia, more than to any other single topic, arguing it is the essential glue of human communities. He distinguished three types: friendships of utility (business partners), friendships of pleasure (drinking companions), and perfect friendship based on mutual recognition of virtue — where each person loves the other for who they truly are. Only the third type is stable and genuine. Achilles and Patroclus exemplify philia at its most intense — Patroclus's death drives Achilles to a grief so consuming that it restructures the entire Iliad. Without philia, Aristotle claimed, no city could survive.
Fun Fact
Aristotle spent more pages on friendship than on justice — he considered philia more fundamental to civilization.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Philotes
⚡ godAffection, friendship, sexual love
The daimon of affection and intimate connection between individuals, both platonic and romantic
Agape
💭 conceptlove, selflessness
Selfless, unconditional love — the highest form of love in Greek philosophical and theological thought.
Homonoia
💭 conceptpolitics, philosophy
Concord or like-mindedness — the civic ideal of citizens sharing common purposes and values, the condition necessary for a functioning community.
Epicureanism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A Hellenistic school teaching that pleasure through modesty, knowledge, and friendship is the highest good
Symposium
💭 conceptPlato's dialogue on the nature of love
Plato's Symposium was a philosophical dialogue set at a drinking party where guests give speeches about Eros — including Aristophanes' myth that humans were once doubled beings split in two.
Proxenia
💭 conceptdiplomacy, hospitality
The ancient Greek institution of citizen-ambassadors, where a citizen of one city voluntarily represented the interests of another, serving as an early form of consular diplomacy.
Philosophy
💭 conceptLanguage and thought
An English word for the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, and ethics, derived from the Greek philosophia meaning love of wisdom
Eudaimonia
💭 conceptThe Greek ideal of a well-lived life
The supreme good in Greek ethics — not happiness in the modern sense, but the flourishing that comes from living well and doing well.
Eleos
💭 conceptEthics and Emotion
The Greek concept of mercy and compassion, personified as a god and central to Athenian civic identity.
Pathos
💭 conceptRhetoric and Emotion
The Greek rhetorical appeal to emotion, one of Aristotle's three modes of persuasion.
Golden Age
💭 conceptLanguage and history
A proverbial expression for a past period of peace, prosperity, and happiness, derived from Hesiod's account of the first and best age of humanity under the rule of Kronos
Goddess of Love
💭 conceptLove, beauty, desire, fertility
Aphrodite governs romantic love and physical beauty, wielding an influence that even Zeus cannot resist.