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Aristotle · Great Ethics §1.29.1-1.29.2

Sense of Shame as a Mean Between Shamelessness and Shyness

Passage 31 of 71 · Greek

Summary

This chunk defines the "sense of shame" as a mean between shamelessness and extreme shyness, contrasting the extreme behaviors of the shameless and the shy, and describing the proper conduct of a modest person.

§1.29.1αἰδὼς δʼ ἐστὶ μεσότης ἀναισχυντίας καὶ καταπλήξεως, ἔστιν δὲ περὶ πράξεις καὶ λόγους.
A sense of shame is a mean between shamelessness and extreme shyness, and it is concerned with actions and words.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀναίσχυντός ἐστιν ὁ ἐν παντὶ καὶ πρὸς πάντας λέγων καὶ πράττων ἃ ἔτυχεν, ὁ δὲ καταπεπληγμένος ὁ ἐναντίος τούτῳ, ὁ πάντα καὶ [πρὸς] πάντας εὐλαβούμενος καὶ πρᾶξαι καὶ εἰπεῖν (ἄπρακτος γὰρ ὁ τοιοῦτος, ὁ πάντα καταπληττόμενος)· §1.29.2ἡ δὲ αἰδὼς καὶ ὁ αἰδήμων μεσότης τις τούτων.
For the shameless man is one who says and does whatever happens on every occasion and to everyone, while the shy man is the opposite of this, one who is cautious about both acting and speaking in everything and [towards] everyone (for such a person, who is intimidated by everything, is inactive); on the other hand, shame and the shame-respecting man are a sort of mean between these.
οὔτε γὰρ ἅπαντα καὶ πάντως, ὡς ὁ ἀναίσχυντος, καὶ ἐρεῖ καὶ πράξει, οὔτε ὡς ὁ καταπλήξ, ἐν παντὶ καὶ πάντως εὐλαβηθήσεται, ἀλλὰ πράξει καὶ ἐρεῖ ἐν οἷς δεῖ καὶ ἃ δεῖ καὶ ὅτε δεῖ.
For he will neither speak and act in all things and in every way, like the shameless man, nor will he be cautious in everything and in every way, like the shy man, but he will act and speak in those circumstances where he ought, and what he ought, and when he ought.

Notes

  1. p.36ἃ ἔτυχεν — An idiomatic phrase combining the relative pronoun ἃ (neuter plural accusative, serving as the object of λέγων καὶ πράττων) without an antecedent and the third-person singular aorist of τυγχάνω, meaning "whatever happens to be the case" or "random things."
  2. 5εὐλαβούμενος — The participle εὐλαβούμενος ("being cautious / fearing") governs the two following complementary infinitives πρᾶξαι καὶ εἰπεῖν ("to act and to speak"), forming the construction "being cautious about both acting and speaking."
  3. 10ἐν οἷς δεῖ καὶ ἃ δεῖ καὶ ὅτε δεῖ — The impersonal verb δεῖ ("it is necessary / one ought") is repeated three times, and in each case the subject infinitives πρᾶξαι καὶ εἰπεῖν (to act and to speak), corresponding to the main verbs πράξει καὶ ἐρεῖ, are omitted. The relative words οἷς, ἃ, and the adverb ὅτε restrict the circumstances, things, and times for acting and speaking.

Cite this passage

Aristotle, Great Ethics §1.29.1-1.29.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg022.humanitext-grc1:1.29.1-1.29.2

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