Kalos Kagathos

Kalos Kai Agathos (appearing more frequently in the apocopated form kalos kagathos) is, in a strict sense, “beautiful and good,” but a better rendering would be “fine and noble,” or “superior and excellent,” or even “the best that a man can be.” The phrase was used to refer to an ideal of life and behavior that every Greek cherished for himself, even if he could not embody it totally. The more elements of the ideal were realized in an individual, the more fully human that person was. If he had few or none of the elements, his life was essentially subhuman and not worth living.