Aidos

Aidos (Greek: Αἰδώς, pronounced [ai̯dɔ̌ːs]) was the Greek goddess of shame, modesty, respect, and humility. Aidos, as a quality, was that feeling of reverence or shame which restrains men from wrong. It also encompassed the emotion that a rich person might feel in the presence of the impoverished, that their disparity of wealth, whether a matter of luck or merit, was ultimately undeserved. Ancient and Christian humility share common themes: they both reject egotism, self-centeredness, arrogance, and excessive pride; they also recognize human limitations. Aristotle defined it as a middle ground between vanity and cowardice.

"As we become more accomplished in something, we tend to take pride in our advances and see our growing mastery, particularly when accompanied by the pleasure or approval of others, as a spur to further improvements. A pianist likes to show off her skill in playing a Beethoven sonata; an apprentice cabinetmaker feels quiet satisfaction in the work of his hands; a dancer delights in knowing the pleasure her movements bring to another. But humility is, by definition, a virtue that systematically denies us these satisfactions. It is the virtue in which we should never take pride, whether that pride is generated entirely by ourselves or fed by the approval of others."[1]

The problem of humility is in the self-satisfaction of providing ourselves with credit for any improvement or accomplishment with which we gain, may have provided to others too, when pursuing the virtue of humility we are likely to recognize improvements, that is the result of becoming more humble. Humility is resistant to self-evaluation and self-appreciation, undertaking either is like undoing whole effort.[1]

Mythology

She was the last goddess to leave the earth after the Golden Age. She was a close companion of the goddess of vengeance Nemesis.[2] One source calls her daughter of Prometheus.[3] Mythologically, she is often considered to be more of a personification than a physical deity.

There are references to her in various early Greek plays, such as Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides, and Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.

There were altars to Aidos in Athens[4] and in Sparta.[5]

Some sources mention Aeschyne (Ancient Greek: Αἰσχύνη) as a personification of shame and reverence;[6][7] this figure appears to be equivalent to Aidos.

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In the Athenian market-place among the objects not generally known is an altar to Mercy, of all divinities the most useful in the life of mortals and in the vicissitudes of fortune, but honored by the Athenians alone among the Greeks. And they are conspicuous not only for their humanity but also for their devotion to religion. They have an altar to Shamefastness (Aidos), one to Rumour and one to Effort. It is quite obvious that those who excel in piety are correspondingly rewarded by good fortune.

...

The image of Modesty, some thirty stades distant from the city, they say was dedicated by Icarius, the following being the reason for making it. When Icarius gave Penelope in marriage to Odysseus, he tried to make Odysseus himself settle in Lacedaemon, but failing in the attempt, he next besought his daughter to remain behind, and when she was setting forth to Ithaca he followed the chariot, begging her to stay.

Odysseus endured it for a time, but at last he bade Penelope either to accompany him willingly, or else, if she preferred her father, to go back to Lacedaemon. They say that she made no reply, but covered her face with a veil in reply to the question, so that Icarios, realizing that she wished to depart with Odysseus, let her go, and dedicated an image of Modesty; for Penelope, they say, had reached this point of the road when she veiled herself. Pausanias, Description of Greece

See also
Look up Aidos in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Eleos: Goddess of pity, mercy, clemency, and compassion.

Epiphron: God of prudence.
Sophrosyne: Goddess of moderation and temperance.

Notes

McClay, Wilfred M. "Humility: Vice or Virtue". InCharacter.org. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
Hesiod, Works and Days, 170 ff
Pindar,Olympian Ode 7. 44 ff
Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1. 17. 1
Pausanias, Description of Greece, 3. 20. 10–11
Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 409 ff

Aesop, Fables 528

Bibliography

Douglas L. Cairns, Aidos: The Psychology and Ethics of Honour and Shame in Ancient Greek Literature, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992.

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