Philotimo – The Virtue of Greeks

 

 

Philotimo is an ancient Greek word, which since the time of the Greek philosophers, has remained untranslatable.

 This doesn’t mean that the word can’t be explained or that the feeling of it, the essence of it can’t be described.

 Philotimo is a noun and translates literally as:

 “Lover of honour”

Broken into two parts it is:

“Philos” – that which is loved or important, or from a friend and “Timi”- Honour.

Φιλότιμο

Philotimo is a combination of honor, integrity, duty, pride, dignity and courage.

 

 

 In ancient Greece the worst thing that could happen to a man, was to lose his honesty, his honor, his philotimo.

  Any man accused of this, was judged by his fellow Athenians, if voted as dishonorable, he was thrown out of Athens, out of society and lost all his civil rights.

 It was far worse, than being accused of theft, or murder!

 Today, in Greece, if someone acts inappropriately, they are likely to be asked;

 “How could you act that way, Have you lost your philotimo?”

 Philotomo was used profusely in Hellenistic literature.

  In early writings, it was actually given a negative sense, by the philosopher, Plato, in his work, ‘The Republic’.

 

 

Plato used the word philotimo ironically, insinuating, that the love of honor and pride, or distinction vigor, strength and ambition, was akin to being prodigal, lavish and conceited.

Since the emergence of Christianity, philotimo has been known as a good, positive word, which appears at least three times in the New Testament, written by Apostle Paul, a native Greek speaker, well educated in Greek literature.

 

 

 The most prominent of Greek philosophers, have written about philotimo;

Socrates

“If a man lacked most virtues but had unconditional courage, he will be saved”

Aristotle

“You will never do anything in this world without courage.It is the greatest thing next to honour”

Plato

“All the gold which is under or upon the Earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue

Thales

“Philotimo is part of the essence of being Greek. “Philotimo to the Greek is like breathing. A Greek is not a Greek without it. He might as well not be alive.”

I think maybe the quotation from philosopher Thales of Miletus, (a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus, in Asia Minor and one of the Seven Sages of Greece), best describes, what philotimo means.

 

 

Philotimo is not only a trait to be admired, it is expected, it is an ideal, a concept, a lifestyle, philotimo is pride in oneself, family and the community.

 Philotimo is respecting others, helping others, not because there might be something in it for you, but because you have a duty to do the right thing.

 It is philotimo, which kept the close-knit Greek community, strong for thousands of years.

 During WWII, strong bonds were formed, which still exist.

 Locals risked their own lives, without expecting anything in return, sheltering Australian and British soldiers, in Nazi-occupied Crete.

 

 

Here are my thoughts on philotimo:

 

It is the pride of the Greek man, I do think that this is more of a male trait, the pride in his country, the love for his country, the pride in himself, his hospitality, to help people, to open his house to people.

He will fight to the death for his family, for Greece.

 

 

I remember touring Crete with my Father, on a quiet country road, an elderly gentleman, waved us down with his walking stick.

 We stopped the car, he approached and asked the time, yes, he stopped us just to ask the time, but then he told us he lived nearby, would we like to come and have lunch with him and his family.

Sadly, we had to decline this impromptu invitation, from this wonderful Cretan character, we were on a tight schedule, but had we accepted, he would have made us feel like members of his family.

 It was his duty, his honor to do this.

 This is philotimo.

A word from Crete: Kopiaste, is known all over Greece.

 It means sit down, when said by the Greeks it means, welcome, come in, join us, have something to eat!

 I was a stranger here in Greece forty years ago but I was accepted, I was looked after.

 After being here for only a few months, my husband: MGG (My Greek God),went to do his national service.

 I was a bit worried about being on my own, with not much understanding of the Greek language.

  I shouldn’t have worried, I never had a minute to myself, I was invited out for meals, for coffee, into people’s homes.

Any of them that had relatives or friends over from America, Canada and Australia, came to find me, so that I could meet them, speak my own language, they didn’t want me to feel alone.

 Yes, they did it for me but mostly, I think they did it for my husband; they were showing their philotimo to him, as his friends and family, it was their duty.

 

 

The great Greek actress, Melina Mercuri said about Greeks:

 ‘Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing. In South America they throw flowers to you. In Greece Greeks throw themselves.’

 

 

 So, what is philotimo?

 Philotimo is Greekness, Greekness is unique and it’s what makes a Greek a Greek!