A Greek word (air-a-tay) meaning both excellence and virtue; two sides of the same coin as far as the Greeks of the Classical period were concerned. There was virtue in anything excellent and excellence in anything virtuous. The modern world seems to have lost consciousness of the connection. Shouldn’t we get back to recognizing the immutable pairing of excellence and virtue? Yes, I thought, we should. Then I thought, how might that be done? Perhaps by way of example. Perhaps by small, regular exposure to the exemplars provided by the Great Works of Art & Literature. Perhaps by way of an alluring Sampler of Greatness.
What form would such a Sampler take?
I knew that many folks thought of Classical Literature & Art as stuffy, boring, and hard to understand. Why not a magazine that would provide a tempting peek without any commitment to any greater effort than a peek. Maybe a coffee-table sort of magazine, with lots of beautiful pictures and chapter length excerpts from the Great Works - small easy to digest portions - a little taste that might encourage ordering the full meal.
I thought it should be a quarterly magazine. Because there are only four issues per year, quarterlies get more respect than weeklies or monthly magazines. Often, they are sophisticated luxurious productions. They usually cost more than other magazines. Few mind. It’s expected.
I thought each excerpt should be illustrated by Great Art, or photographed artifact, from the period in which the author had written. Each excerpt would be followed by a brief gloss on the importance of the work, when and where it was written, and whatever impact it had, at the time - and since. The excerpts would be contributed by recognized scholars. Illustrations would carry lengthy captions allowing those who only scanned the text, at least an overview.
1. Excerpts from classic literature. 2. Illustrative art (contemporaneous with the period of the writing). 3. Scholarly explication of both the writing and art. Three easy ways to explore and understand the entwinement of virtue and excellence - arete.
I designed sample page spreads to show how a typical issue of the quarterly might look. Then I considered what it might be named. My first thought was, PROMETHEIUS. I called an old friend, who was now managing editor at Open Court Publishing Company in La Salle, Illinois. His name was Sherwood J. B. Sugden. I had met, and worked with Sherwood at the Educational Research Council in Cleveland, Ohio. I knew him to be a scholar as well as an enthusiastic promoter of Classical learning.
“Prometheius”, he sputtered. “Have you forgotten your Aeschylus? He went on to explain that Prometheius had been misappropriated by modern-day Leftists who cheered his audacious theft of fire from Olympus - only to give it to the hapless mortals below; all in open defiance of the will of the gods. (The gods punished Prometheius by chaining him to a mountain crag, where his liver was eternally eaten by eagles). No matter the damage, the Left approves any defiance of gods, especially of the God.
“Ok. Ok”, I just thought bringing fire from on high to those below was a pretty good analogy for the quarterly I was proposing. Indigent snorting followed. Alright, “I’ll try to come up with something more acceptable”.
I came up with: ARETE.
Sherwood approved.
Now, I had a name to go with my concept and design. What more was needed to move from proposal to publication? It seemed to me that a persuasive marketing plan should be the next step. A plan that that would explain why a quarterly magazine such as Arete would be well received - and remunerative. I wrote the plan outlining: typical cost of production; likely subscribers; alternate funding from generous corporations (the same sort who support everything from art museums to PBS Broadcasting). Of course, the supporters of ARETE would be tastefully acknowledged in the front matter
of each issue.
Next, I should try to get some help from academics and business people who would be willing to invest time and expertise in the project: a Board of Directors. I could use the Marketing Plan, along with a personal letter to recruit ten or twelve such authoritive eminences. If I could only persuade a few, they might convince friends of equal prominence.
I sent out letters and the Marketing Plan complete with sample layouts of typical cover and page spread mock-ups.
I was surprised by the responses. Some few were curtly dismisive. These few were all from institutial organizations.
My impression was that the person I wrote to, never saw the material. The refusals were all signed by the assistant to. . .
the secretary of. . . and so on.
Isolation of the guy at the top is a common problem. It’s all done to save the important time of these very busy people. Seems like a good idea, but much is lost. Too bad.
The other responses were supportive. Many were several pages long. I took this to indicate serious consideration. Jamie James, author of The Music of the Spheres, generiously offered a page and a half of advice and commentary. The historian, Daniel Boorstein, author of, The Discoverers & The Creators, sent a hand-written letter. Both of these men, because of extended commitments, hadn’t space in their schedules to serve on the board of my proposed quarterly. They wished me well, offered advice and encoragement, . . . but, no, they must decline. Daniel Boorstien, at age eighty-five, was trying to complete his next book while he still had the time.
If they were just being polite, they certainly did it eloquently.
Eight or nine of the people I wrote to responded positivly, four or five didn’t. No one signed-on. I was getting tired. Also, it was getting expensive; this was before email. Reproducing the Marketing Plan with full-color layout samples and binder cost about twelve dollors, each. I was working at my design business, and trying to sell ARETE in my spare time. It was too much.
I gave up.
I didn’t give up on the idea.
I gave up trying to sell the idea.
Someday, years from now - maybe decades, or even centuries from now - someone will read about this idea for a quarterly publication of Great Art & Literature and bring it to fulfillment. It’s an idea that is not bound to any particular time or place. It could be used in any age to promote, the excellence and virtue that is arete.
Hope springs eternal.
Note: I worked on the ARTE Project in fits and starts from 1984 to 1992. Proposed layouts of Cover & page spreads attached.
