we happy ones," with which old-time Greek aristocrats sometimes described themselves[1]—having in mind, perhaps, language used by Theognis, who speaks of the "nobles" constantly as "the good," and of the common maw as the "bad" or "base." One thinks too of καλοκάγαθός with which the aristocratic ideal was summed up, though Nietzsche does not refer to it. Leopold Schmidt, it may be added, thinks that xxx referred to personal bravery and other characteristics, such as may be supposed to have belonged pre-eminently to early aristocracies:[2] and of one thing we may, I suppose, be sure, namely, that it did not stand for the qualities, kindly, benevolent, sympathetic, with which we pre-eminently identify "good" today. Turning to the Latin word, bonus, Nietzsche conjectures that it goes back to an older duonus (like bellum from duellum), signifying a man in dissension, a warrior: accordingly "we see what in old Rome a man's 'goodness' amounted to."[3] The old-time superior classes also designated themselves by other terms—perhaps oftenest, after their superiority in power, as "the mighty," "the lords," "the commanders," or, after the most visible sign of their superiority, as "the rich," "the possessors" (this the meaning of arya, with equivalents in Eranian and Slavic), or, after a typical trait of character, as "the truthful." The last term was particularly in use among the Greek nobility: in contrast with the weaker man given to lying and dissimulation, they called themselves ἐσθλοί—at least Theognis liked to describe them in this way;[4] and it is interesting to note that in Hindu "good" is equivalent to "true," "bad" to "untrue."[5]
Taking up now the words contrasted with ἀγαθός and bonus, Nietzsche points out that in both κακός and δειλός fear or cowardice is emphasized.[6] Dewey and Tufts note that "base"
- ↑ Genealogy etc., I, § 10; cf. § 7 as to "good," "superior," "powerful, "beautiful," "happy," "loved of the Gods."
- ↑ Ethik der alten Griechen, I, 289.
- ↑ Genealogy etc., I, § 5. The prevailing etymologies of bonus are quite different (see Wundt, op. cit., I, 27).
- ↑ Genealogy etc., I, § 5; Cf., however, Nietzsche's reflections on the Greek aristocrats in Dawn of Day, § 199.
- ↑ So Wundt, op. cit., I, 27, citing Abel Bergaigne, Religion védique d'après les hymnes du Rig-Veda, I, 179.
- ↑ Genealogy etc., I, § 5; Cf., as to other terms for the common, heavy-laden, unhappy man, § 10.
