Timē
Honor, worth, or the social recognition owed to a person of standing — the currency of Homeric social life and a central concept in Greek ethics.
The Meaning of Timē
Timē was the honor and recognition that Greek society owed to the person of excellence — the aristocrat, the warrior, the magistrate, the victor. In the Homeric world, timē was almost material: prizes, gifts, the best portions at feasts, the first and most prominent position in the battle line — these were the concrete expressions of a man's timē. Achilles's quarrel with Agamemnon was precisely a quarrel over timē: Agamemnon's seizure of Briseis was an attack on Achilles's honor so grievous that Achilles withdrew from battle entirely, placing his timē above the collective good. The gods also had timē — their prerogatives, spheres of worship, and sacrifices constituted their divine timē, and to withhold proper worship was to attack divine timē, guaranteeing divine punishment. Aristotle analyzed timē in relation to the virtue of proper pride (megalopsychia): the great-souled man claimed exactly the timē he deserved — neither too much (arrogance) nor too little (false modesty). The contrast between timē (external honor) and aretē (internal virtue) was one of the productive tensions of Greek ethics.
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Symbols
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
Heroic Code
💭 conceptEthics
The moral framework governing honour, glory, and conduct among Greek heroes
Arete
💭 conceptExcellence and virtue
Arete was the Greek concept of excellence in all things — not merely moral virtue but the fulfilment of one's highest potential in body, mind, and character.
Dikē
💭 conceptreligion, ethics, law
Justice, right order, or the way things ought to be — both the divine personification of justice and the principle of cosmic and social rightness.
Aidos
💭 conceptShame, modesty, and reverence
Aidos was the Greek concept of shame, reverence, and the inner sense of propriety that restrained people from acting dishonourably — the opposite of hubris.
Divine Justice
💭 conceptEthics
The principle that the gods punish wrongdoing and uphold moral order in the cosmos
Heroic Ideal
💭 conceptEthics
The Greek conception of the exemplary human who transcends ordinary limits through excellence and suffering
Ethos
💭 conceptRhetoric and Character
The Greek concept of moral character as a mode of persuasion, rooted in habit and reputation.
Aristos
💭 conceptsocial structure, ethics
The best — the superlative of agathos (good), identifying those who excel in virtue, birth, or achievement above all others.
Andreia
💭 conceptethics, virtue
Courage or manliness — one of the cardinal virtues in Greek ethics, specifically the virtue that enables facing danger and death without flinching.
Hubris
💭 conceptThe cardinal sin of Greek ethics
Hubris was the gravest moral offence — arrogance of overstepping human boundaries or defying the gods.
Ergon
💭 conceptphilosophy, ethics
Work, function, or characteristic activity — the proper work of a thing that defines its excellence and constitutes its good.
Stoicism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A Hellenistic school teaching virtue, rational self-control, and acceptance of fate as the path to flourishing