Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Pistis (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Πίστις) was the personification of good faith, trust and reliability. In Christianity and in the New Testament, ''pistis'' is typically translated as "faith". The word is mentioned together with such other personifications as Elpis (Hope),

sophrosyne Sophrosyne ( el, σωφροσύνη) is an ancient Greek concept of an ideal of excellence of character and soundness of mind, which when combined in one well-balanced individual leads to other qualities, such as temperance, moderation, prudenc ...

(Prudence), and the

Charites In Greek mythology, the Charites ( ), singular ''Charis'', or Graces, were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility. Hesiod names three – Aglaea ("Shining"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Thalia ...

, who were all associated with honesty and harmony among people.

Theognis Theognis of Megara ( grc-gre, Θέογνις ὁ Μεγαρεύς, ''Théognis ho Megareús'') was a Greek lyric poet active in approximately the sixth century BC. The work attributed to him consists of gnomic poetry quite typical of the time, f ...

, Fragment 1. 1135 Her

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 letter ...

equivalent was Fides, a personified concept significant in Roman culture. Additionally, a close linkage between pastis and persuasion developed through the discussion of faith (belief) and was further morphed by an understanding of pistis as a rhetorical technique.

In rhetoric

Thus, pistis in rhetoric are the elements to induce true judgment through

enthymemes An enthymeme ( el, ἐνθύμημα, ''enthýmēma'') is a form of rational appeal, or deductive argument. It is also known as a rhetorical syllogism and is used in oratorical practice. While the syllogism is used in dialectic, or the art of logi ...

, hence to give proof of a statement. There are three modes by which this is employed. The first mode is the "subject matter capable of inducing a state of mind within the audience." The second pistis is the "subject itself considered under an appeal to the intellect or in its logical aspects." The third pistis is the "logical, rational, and intellectual aspect of the issue under discussion." All three modes of pistis occur in logos as it appeals to logical persuasion.

Greek rhetoric and Christianity

Christian concepts of faith (pistis) were borrowed from Greek rhetorical notions of pistis, perhaps making "argument" a better translation than "faith." Christian pistis deems its persuasion in a positive light as the New Testament concepts of pistis require that a listener be knowledgeable of the subject matter at issue and thus able to fully assent. Whereas, the Greeks took the notion of pistis as persuasive discourse that was elliptical and concentrated on the "affect and effect rather than on the representation of the truth." The evolution of pistis in Christianity as a persuasive rhetorical technique starkly contrasts with its meaning used by the Greeks.

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* * * Greek goddesses Personifications in Greek mythology {{Greek-deity-stub Women in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology

In rhetoric

Greek rhetoric and Christianity

See also

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