J E Lendon on Honor

This is from J E Lendon's study of Roman texts, titled Empire of Honour.  Although the focus is on Roman culture, the instances and stories of honor are comparable to other Mediterranean cultures.

Let me remind you that honor is about prestige, respect, reputation--all done through public acts, all done with the perception of others in mind.

A short and sweet story I like is about Cato the Younger (p.59).  There is a Latin word for honor that has an "utterly compulsive force" and it is maiestas (majesty).  Cato left the theatre in the middle of a performance (i.e., dishonoring the performers) and due to his maiestas everyone got up and left with him.

Honor is an intensely public concern that, to some degree, conflicts with our relatively new concern with "authenticity."  We value, or at least we claim to value honesty, truth and genuine speech.  We look down upon those whom we think do acts simply to please others.  Our ideal is the person who prays in private and the moral opposite is the person who prays in public but not in private.  When we study honor-shame cultures and texts that originate from them we must take care to recognize our own ideals and how they interfere with understanding the texts.  It does not mean we have to adopt their values or abandon ours; it means we cannot assume everyone is like us.