In archaic periods, of course, the virtue that renders one worthy of honour is not the abstract idea of moral perfection as measured by the commandments of a supreme heavenly power. The idea of virtue, as the word for it in the Germanic languages shows, is still, in its current connotation, inextricably bound up with the idiosyncrasy of a thing. Tugend in German (deugd in Dutch) corresponds directly to the verb taugen (deugen), meaning to be fit to be apt for something, to be the true and genuine thing in one’s kind. Such is the sense of the Greek areteh and the Middle High German tugende. Everything has its areteh that is specific of it, proper to its kind. A horse, a dog, the eye, the axe, the bow – each has its proper virtue. Strength and health are the virtues of the body; wit and sagacity those of the mind. Etymologically, areteh is connected with aristos: the best, the most excellent.
The virtue of a person of quality consists in the set of properties which make one fit to fight and command. Among these, liberality, wisdom, and justice occupy a high place. It is perfectly natural that with many peoples the word for virtue derives from the idea of manliness or ‘virility’, as for instance the Latin virtus, which retained its meaning of ‘courage’ for a very long time – until, in fact, Christian thought became dominant. The same is true of the Arabic muru’a, comprising like the Greek areteh, the whole semantic complex of strength, valour wealth, right, good management, morality, urbanity, fine manners, magnanimity, liberality, and moral perfection. In every archaic community that is healthy, being based on the tribal life of warriors and nobles there will blossom an ideal of chivalry and chivalrous conduct, whether it be in Greece, Arabia, Japan or medieval Christendom. And this virile ideal of virtue will always be bound up with the conviction that honour, to be valid, must be publicly acknowledged and forcibly maintained if need be.