Anaretalogy (Greek:Αρεταλογία), from ἀρετή (aretḗ, “virtue”) + -logy,or aretology[1][2] (from ancient Greekaretê, "excellence, virtue") in the strictest sense is a narrative about a divine figure's miraculous deeds[3] where adeity's attributes are listed, in the form of poem or text, in the first person. The equivalent term in Sanskrit isātmastuti.[4] There is no evidence that these narratives constituted a clearly defined genre but there exists a body of literature that contained praise for divine miracles.[5] These literary works were usually associated with easterncults.[5]
Often each line starts with the standard "I am …". Usually, aretalogies are self praising. They are found in the sacred texts of laterEgypt,Mesopotamia and inGreco-Roman times. Aretalogies ofIsis would be recited every day by an aretalogist who would have to memorise a huge list of attributes which they would have to recite (Priests and priestesses of Isis had equal rank in the temple). The aretalogies of ancient Egypt provide some the most complete information extant about their deities.[6] Aretalogies are found as early as theCoffin Texts. In aPtolemaic aretalogy,Isis says about herself:
I am Isis, ruler of every land.
I was taught by Hermes (Thoth) and with Hermes devised letters, both hieroglyphic and demotic, that all might not be written with the same.
I gave laws to mankind and ordained what no one can change.[7]
In theGreco-Roman world, aretologies represent a religious branch ofrhetoric and are a prose development of thehymn as praise poetry.Asclepius,Isis, andSerapis are among the deities with surviving aretologies in the form ofinscriptions andpapyri.[8] The earliest records of divine acts emerged from cultic hymns for these deities, were inscribed in stones, and displayed in temples.[1] The Greekaretologos (ἀρετολόγος, "virtue-speaker") was a temple official who recounted aretologies and may have also interpreted dreams.[9]
By extension, an aretology is also a "catalogue of virtues" belonging to a person; for example,Cicero's list and description of the virtues ofPompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great") in the speechPro Lege Manilia.[10] Aretology became part of the Christian rhetorical tradition ofhagiography.[11]
In an even more expanded sense, aretology ismoral philosophy which deals withvirtue, its nature, and the means of arriving at it.[citation needed] It is the title of an ethical tract byRobert Boyle published in the 1640s.[12] Other scholars also consider literature that involve the praise of wisdom as aretology.[2]
