Of Arete, Football, and Monks

The ancient Greeks had a word for ‘excellence’ that was very special to them: arete (said ah-ree-tee). One fellow, Dr. Mike Greenberg, describes it in these words:

The idea of arete in Greek philosophy is one that is difficult to translate for modern audiences. In simple terms, it could be translated as excellence or superior virtue… For mankind, arete was the pinnacle of virtue and achievement. Whether it was strength in battle or loyalty to one’s spouse, arete was associated with being at one’s best. But someone would not be a person of arete just through a few favorable actions. True arete came from a lifetime of excellence in all areas of life… A single act of virtue was not enough to be a person of excellence, but rather a lifetime of achievement was needed. In early Greek philosophy particularly, only the most truly exceptional people were described as having arete. These people were thought to have reached their full potential. Their bodies, minds, and souls were as close to perfect as was possible. The idea of excellence also depended on who or what it was being applied to. The heroes were men of arete for their courage, strength, and devotion to the gods, while Penelope was a woman of arete for her unwavering devotion to Odysseus… In all these cases, arete was achieved by fulfilling a purpose and ideal not just once, but over the course of a lifetime.

Dixie has always been a place with a special reverence for the classical inheritance of the ancient Greeks and Romans. It is no great surprise, then, that such a fiery passion for football has grown up here in the South. It represents, in part, our own desire for arete, for excellence – in the conditioning and shaping of the body, in valor, in skillful coaching, in overcoming adversity; in cheering, in loyalty, in mascots, in the gameday cooking; and so on.

Southern arete on the football field is unmistakable:

There can be little doubt that college football in the 21st century has belonged to the West Division of the SEC.

The Deep South’s corner of the college football world has had a hand in a staggering 10 of the 23 national titles given out since 2000—six for Alabama, three for LSU and one for Auburn. Each of the division’s other four members—Arkansas, Mississippi State, Mississippi and Texas A&M—has appeared in at least one New Year’s Six-equivalent bowl game as well.

That’s what makes the statistic shared by Josh Dubow of the Associated Press on Saturday evening so staggering: 2023 is the first year since 2002 in which every SEC West team has incurred a loss before October.

The division’s final remaining unbeaten team, the No. 15 Rebels, lost 24-10 to the No. 13 Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon.

In 2002, the SEC West’s head coaches included Nick Saban at LSU, future U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville at Auburn and Dennis Franchione at Alabama. The Razorbacks won the division, but lost 30-3 to Georgia in the conference championship game.

But as we are seeing with the rising rates of criminality among athletes, from high school on up, athletic training does not impart everything necessary for a virtuous life, which is the only kind of life worth living:

With football action officially back, the NFL would love nothing more than to sweep all the off-field issues of its players under the rug and lure the focus of fans back to the gridiron. And frankly, after an offseason full of mind-numbing Deflategate coverage, so would we.

However, if there was one thing Deflategate accomplished, it was drawing the media’s attention away from the all the real legal troubles NFL players ran into. And boy, was there a lot of that.

In 2015 alone, there have been 31 NFL players arrested, including six instances of domestic violence, five DUIs, three guns/weapons charges, and one shocking case of animal abuse, which featured former Falcons linebacker Prince Shembo killing his ex-girlfriend’s five-pound dog out of “self-defense.” Atlanta released Shembo once the story broke, but now that he’s taken a plea deal, the Falcons are considering bringing him back. Keep in mind that when Shembo was a student at Notre Dame, he also allegedly sexually assaulted a student at nearby St. Mary’s College who killed herself two weeks after the incident.

So, forgive us if we think that crime in the NFL hasn’t quite gotten the coverage it’s deserved this year.

According to the USA Today database used to create our interactive NFL Arrests topic, 132 NFL players have been arrested multiple times since 2000. Aldon Smith became the latest player to add to his criminal record in late August, when he was arrested on his third DUI charge.

While some of these are more serious than others, it’s still difficult to comprehend why these millionaires would compromise their lucrative careers by breaking the law multiple times. Then again, while the NFL is worried about how inflated its balls are, many of these players go unpunished by the league for their transgressions.

There is something more that is needed to bring people to their fullest potential, to the highest arete, the highest excellence. We find that intangible factor in religion, particularly Christianity, and most particularly in the monks and nuns who have given up everything earthly for the sake of union with God. Their striving for this spiritual arete is even more arduous than the football player’s weekly practice routine. A recent Greek saint of the Orthodox Church, St. Joseph the Hesychast, who reposed in 1959, offers a wonderful example:

Being persistent in the exploit of searching and suffering to achieve a greater prayer in the constant uttering of the name of God i.e. the Jesus Prayer: God Jesus Christ have mercy on me, with all-night vigils and strict fasting, elder Joseph acquired the gift of pure heart and the continuous prayer of the mind in the heart very early.

One day, being in a state of an especially intense prayer and cry, but also in a spiritual sadness for the fact that he could not find a place for his exploit, he experienced the revelation of God’s grace. In one moment he looked towards the little church of the Mother of God, and there he saw a bright ray of light coming out of the church right above him in the form of a rainbow. In those moments he was totally changed, forgetting about himself. He was filled with light inside his heart and everywhere around him. He was not feeling his body. Then the Jesus Prayer started to flow out of his heart with no effort. It was a grace from God. From then on, the Jesus Prayer stayed in his heart forever, but with not as strong effect as the one at the first moment.

Later, when he took the yoke of the holy obedience, having the experience and the flame of the prayer, he never reduced his exploit. Every night, after sunset, he used to go to a lonely place, and sit on a wooden chair, uttering the Jesus Prayer continually for six hours, locking his mind in his heart. He measured the time of the prayer with an alarm clock, which he used to put away from him in order not to disturb his prayer, setting it to go off after six hours. One night, abiding in prayer he was illuminated by the uncreated Light from God which spread itself so much that it illuminated the whole place, similar to the Tabor Light, where Saint Peter told God “it is good for us to be here”. Later, when he came to his senses, he noticed that the alarm clock had been ringing for a long time, without him hearing it. After this contemplation, the grace of the prayer inside him multiplied itself.

 . . .

They used to spend the winter period in their cell, in prayer and fast, and during the summer father Joseph, together with his co-struggler father Arsenios, lived roving life, having nothing earthly with them, as God said:  take nothing, neither a stick nor shoes… and they used to go from one place to another searching advice from the holy fathers, zealots. When they walked, they impeccably held themselves to the silent way of life, threading in a certain distance one from the other in order not to disturb the beloved silence. They ate stale bread only. Father Joseph used to eat 75 grams of stale bread, and always after the ninth Byzantine hour. Every Saturday and Sunday they used to attend the Holy Liturgy in the monasteries where they received the usual meals like all the others. They spent eight years in this exploit.

Later on, they decided to retreat again in “Saint Vasilius” and to spend most of their time in their cells, enjoying the reciting of the Jesus Prayer.

There they built a small church dedicated to the Birth of Saint John the Forerunner, and started to make small wooden crosses as an everyday monastic craftwork. Father Arsenios used to make the rough part, making the form of the cross, and father Joseph used to carve the Crucifixion on the one side and the image of the Mother of God on the other side.

There they live an almost prison life. It was the first time for father Joseph to experience a physical struggle which usually happens to the beginners, and he spent eight years in that difficult struggle.

 . . .

In search of a more lonely and peaceful life, in January 1938 they moved to some caves near the skete Small Saint Anna. There they fenced the yard space, made three cells from trees and mud, which were 1.80 metres long and 1.50 metres wide, in which they had nothing more than most needed things. In one of the caves they built a small church dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner, where they had a Liturgy once or twice a week in order to receive the Holy Communion.

Their typikon was as it follows: they worked until noon, then they retracted into solitude and instead of an evening service they recited their prayer on a [prayer rope] and did some reading. After that they used to gather for a meal and with the blessing from father Joseph they retracted again for some rest. After their rest they used to have praying vigil until midnight, everyone in his cell. If it was the day for a Liturgy, they had one after midnight, and if there was not a Liturgy the young monks used to read something or they visited the elder in order to confess or they continued with the Jesus Prayer. After that they had some rest again. When father Charalampus became a hieromonk, they used to have Liturgy every day, and they used to receive the life-giving and salvational [Mysteries] as our most essential Bread every day.

The South should continue to pursue excellence in football, for all the reasons mentioned above, and for others as well, such as cultivating a sense of local identity. But she must not be content with that. She must strive for the higher arete, the spiritual excellence sought for by the monks and nuns, for without it she will sink into carnal animality. Their peerless example of living the Holy Gospel in its fullness is irreplaceable.

It is essential for Dixie’s well-being, then, to focus not simply on bettering education, lowering crime, and improving the economy, as Jeff Landry and many other Southern leaders want to do. She must also increase the number of monasteries and convents amongst her people, that they all might have the benefit of the example and counsel of the monastics. This should be one of the highest priorities for her leaders, whether they are in private or in public life. For as St. John Climacus (6^th-7^th century) says in his famous work The Ladder of Divine Ascent, “Christ, the light of the Angels; Angels, the light of monastics; the monastic way of life, the light of all men” (Metropolitan Cyprian, The Monastic Life, 2nd ed., translated by Archbishop Chrysostomos and Bishop Auxentios, Etna, Cal., Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 2001, p. 18).

-By Walt Garlington