The ancient Greek notion of "golden mean" may be contrasted to the word "arete," which denotes excellence demonstrated in completing any endeavor. In ancient Greece, the Olympians who won first place did not receive gold medals; instead, they were awarded olive laurels and silver medals. The notion of "Golden Mean," however, survives in our modern Olympic games where a first place winner is awarded a gold medal. In this context, "Golden Mean" refers to "moral virtue" but in the context of competitive activities, including warfare, waging war, hand-to-hand combat.On a higher philosophical plane than the Golden Mean, "arete" actually denotes "virtue"'; therefore, I contend that moral virtue follows the ideal of ARETE as the highest form of moral virtue. Ancient Greeks placed ARETE above the GOLDEN MEAN. Linguistically and scientifically, the "mean" is not the top but the middle.The historical fact that Greeks honored the Olympian who won a competition with a laurel made of olive branches, a symbol of peace, strongly suggests that the Greeks believed that moral virtue follows ARETE, and not the Golden Mean.
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