An aretalogy ( el, Αρεταλογία), from ἀρετή (aretḗ, “virtue”) + -

logy ''-logy'' is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in ('). The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French '' -logie'', which was in turn inherited from the Latin ''-logia ...

,or aretology (from ancient Greek aretê, "excellence, virtue") in the strictest sense is a narrative about a divine figure's miraculous deeds where a deity's attributes are listed, in the form of poem or text, in the first person. The equivalent term in Sanskrit is ''ātmastuti''. There is no evidence that these narratives constituted a clearly defined genre but there exists a body of literature that contained praise for divine miracles. These literary works were usually associated with eastern cults.

Usage

Often each line starts with the standard "I am …". Usually, aretalogies are self praising. They are found in the sacred texts of later

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

and in

Greco Greco may refer to: People * Greco (surname), a list of people with this surname * a masculine variant of Greca (given name), an Italian feminine given name * Greco Mafia clan, one of the most influential Mafia clans in Sicily and Calabria Wine ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

times. Aretalogies of

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

would be recited every day by an aretalogist who would have to memorise a huge list of attributes which they would have to recite (Priests and priestesses of Isis had equal rank in the temple). The aretalogies of ancient Egypt provide some the most complete information extant about their deities. Aretalogies are found as early as the Coffin Texts. In a Ptolemeic aretalogy,

says about herself: In the Greco-Roman world, aretologies represent a religious branch of rhetoric and are a prose development of the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

as praise poetry.

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represe ...

, and

Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian deity. The cult of Serapis was promoted during the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his r ...

are among the deities with surviving aretologies in the form of inscriptions and papyri. The earliest records of divine acts emerged from cultic hymns for these deities, were inscribed in stones, and displayed in temples. The Greek ''aretologos'' (ἀρετολόγος, "virtue-speaker") was a temple official who recounted aretologies and may have also interpreted dreams. By extension, an aretology is also a "catalogue of virtues" belonging to a person; for example,

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

's list and description of the virtues of Pompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great") in the speech '' Pro Lege Manilia''. Aretology became part of the Christian rhetorical tradition of hagiography. In an even more expanded sense, aretology is

moral philosophy Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ...

which deals with

virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standards ...

, its nature, and the means of arriving at it. It is the title of an ethical tract by

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...

published in the 1640s.John T. Harwood, ''The Early Essays and Ethics of Robert Boyle'' (Southern Illinois University Press, 1991), p. xvii. Other scholars also consider literature that involve the praise of wisdom as aretology.

References

External links

{{wiktionary, aretology, aretalogy
Detailed look at Aretology
from the Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy Virtue Rhetoric Ancient Greek religion Ancient Roman religion Ancient Semitic religions Hellenistic religion Ptolemaic Kingdom

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See also

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External links