Philoi

Philoi(Ancient Greek:φίλοι;plural of φίλοςphilos"friend" ) is a word that roughly translates to "friend." This type of friendship is based on the characteristicallyGreekvalue forreciprocityas opposed to a friendship that exists as an end to itself.

Characteristics

Reciprocity

There is no exact translation forphiloiother than the word "friend" (separate fromxenos,or "guest-friend," often used to describe a stranger one is kind or respectful to). The meaning of the wordphiloiis deeply rooted in the concept of reciprocity; encompassing the exchange of favors and support, in addition to a profound sense of duty to each other.Philoitypically encompassed family members foremost, with the addition of friends or members of society with whom obligations, loyalty or other established ties existed.

Greek value-system

Within the Greek value-system there was an explicit distinction between friend (philoi) and the enemy (echthroi), and further, a prevalent and constant awareness of both how to treat and one can expect to be treated by each. In fact, every member of society could be classified into three distinct groups:philoi,people one owed obligations to and from whom favors were returned,echthroi,those to whom one was hostile and from whom they expected hostility, andmedetoeroi,outsiders who fall under neither category and to whom no one owed anything.Such classifications are rooted in a fundamental belief in the principle of reciprocity, which continually reinforced that the man's duty was to aid his friends and to inflict damage onto his enemies. Further, there was great pride associated with not only helpingphiloibut also in harming one'sechthroi,and the importance of fulfilling these two duties to upload an overarching, strict friend-enemy dichotomy is manifested in a variety of other aspects in Greek life, including literature, theatre and in court.

Philoiin court

The importance of thephiloi’s role, in particular within a larger cultural system that polarizes thephiloiandechthroi,is evident in trial processes in Ancient Greekcourts.Trials sought to establish a winning and losing party instead of necessarily achieving a balanced, even-handed verdict.Contributing to this was the importance of witnesses in theAtheniancourts despite never beingcross-examined.Witnesses were oftentimes chosen not by who would be the most impartial, but instead closephiloiof those involved. Thus, the average Athenian man's dependence on hisphiloipermeated even trial proceedings and outcomes, and as described byIsaeusinOn the Estate of Pyrrhos,"You all know that when we are acting without concealment and need witnesses, we normally make use of our close relatives and intimate friends as witnesses of such actions."

Women

With the exception offestivals,women had limited roles outside of the home and therefore had finite opportunities to cultivate reciprocal relationships with theirphiloiandechthroiin the same way men in Greece did. As a result, the woman'sphiloiconsisted solely of those in her own home.

In literature

The practice of reciprocal obligation amongstphiloiand overarching strict friend-enemy dichotomy characteristic of Greek value-systems manifest themselves in Homeric heroes such asAgamemnonandAchillesinHomer’sIliad.The prevalence of warfare in which heroes compete against each other to prove their superiority evidences this dichotomy; that there must be two explicit opposing sides, and both parties must act in accordance to their duty to harm one another, typically in a public display.

In philosophy

This definition ofphiloiis cemented in and often discussed in various philosophical works from this time too, and in particular those ofAristotle.InNicomachean Ethics,Aristotle writes that “to be friends, then, they must be mutually recognized as bearing goodwill and wishing well to each other,”indicating that aphiloiis characterized by not necessarily fondness for someone, but a concern for one another that is assuredly reciprocated. He explains that people inherently are fond of those who treat them well or who they believe have the intention, and further, that people usually love those who hate the same people they do, hence the need forphiloion your side, as opposed to theechthroi’s side, who will defend you. Aristotle writes that “friendship is likened to one's love for oneself”but thatphiloinonetheless exist “for the sake of some use to be made of him,"so they appear to serve both self-serving and altruistic intentions.

Macedonia

In ancientMacedonia,philoiwas a title to the royal friends, advisors of the king (basileus). They were the personal choice of the king and they might have come from anywhere in the Greek world. The title became common among the Hellenistic kingdoms after Alexander the Great's empire was partitioned (diadochi). In theSeleucid Empirea number of ranks can be traced;Protoi Philoi, First FriendsandTimomenoi Philoi, Honoured Friendsorganized in various orders. In inscriptions the phrasethe King, his Friends and the armysignifies their important role. Still, "friend" appeared to be the lowest rank of nobility in the Seleucid andPtolemaicaristocracies; while an important honor, it could be handed out more freely to the king's supporters, including non-Greeks unlikely to be given a higher rank.

References

Sources

• The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 8: Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 B.C.,2nd ed., ed. byF. W. Walbank(1989), p. 417,ISBN978-052-1234-48-1
• The Greek World After Alexander, 323-30 B.C.by Graham Shipley (2000), p. 76,ISBN0-415-04618-1
• Nicomachean Ethics,by Aristotle and W. D. Ross (2005), Digireads.com Publishing,ISBN978-1420926002
• The Iliad,by Homer and Martin Mueller (2009), Bristol Classical Press, 1.275-284,ISBN978-1853997150
• Loeb, James, and Jeffrey Henderson. “ISAEUS, 3. On the Estate of Pyrrhus.”Loeb Classical Library,p. 87, 26 Mar. 2018, www.loebclassics.com/view/isaeus-iii_estate_pyrrhus/1927/pb_LCL202.71.xml.
• Osborne, Robin.The World of Athens: An Introduction to Classical Athenian Culture.Cambridge University Press, 1984.