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{{Hedonism}}{{Short description|Greek goddess of sensuality and pleasure}}
{{Greek myth (personified)}}

'''Hedone''' ({{langx|grc|ἡδονή|hēdonē}}) is the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] word meaning "[[pleasure]]". It was an important concept in [[Ancient Greek philosophy]], especially in the [[Epicureanism|Epicurean school]]. It is also the root of the English word "[[wikt:hedonism|hedonism]]".

In [[Greek mythology]], Hedone is personified as a goddess of pleasure, enjoyment, and delight, as the daughter born from the union of [[Eros]] (personification of love) and [[Psyche (mythology)|Psyche]] (personification of the soul).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Eros: from Hesiod's Theogony to late antiquity|last1=Stampolidis|first1=Nicholas|last2=Tassoulas|first2=Yorgos|publisher=Museum of Cycladic Art|year=2009|isbn=9789607064868|pages=48}}</ref> She was associated more specifically with sensual pleasure. Her opposites were the [[Algos|Algea]], personifications of pain.{{cn|date=April 2025}} Her equivalent in [[Roman mythology]] is [[Voluptas]]. There is no evidence that she was ever the object of cult worship.

== Aristotle's Hēdonē==
Aristotle identified it as one of the two elements or components of ''pathe'', with the other being ''lype'' or pain.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Virtuous Life in Greek Ethics|last=Reis|first=Burkhard|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|isbn=9780521859370|location=Cambridge|pages=195}}</ref> Aristotle described ''pathe'' in these words: "Let the emotions be all those things on account of which people change their minds and differ in regard to their judgments, and upon which attend pain and pleasure."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ancient Anger: Perspectives from Homer to Galen|last1=Braund|first1=Susanna|author-link=Susanna Braund |last2=Most|first2=Glenn|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2004|isbn=9780521826259|location=Cambridge|pages=100}}</ref>

''Hēdonē,'' is part of Aristotle's account of virtue, such that 'pleasure' (along with pain) is said to reveal a person's character.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Heidegger and the Greeks: Interpretive Essays|last1=Hyland|first1=Drew A.|last2=Manoussakis|first2=John Panteleimon|date=2006|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0253348021|location=Bloomington|pages=143}}</ref> It is good if it is a consequence of a virtuous life – as opposed to the position [[Aristippus]], who holds that hēdonē is "wholly good".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume|last1=Kittel|first1=Gerhard|last2=Friedrich|first2=Gerhard|last3=Bromiley|first3=Geoffrey|publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|year=1985|isbn=0802824048|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|pages=304}}</ref> An example is the concept of proper pleasure or ''oikeia hedone'', which Aristotle discusses in /Poetics/ and considers a process of restoration.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Tragic Pathos: Pity and Fear in Greek Philosophy and Tragedy|last=Munteanu|first=Dana LaCourse|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521765107|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=103}}</ref> [[Martin Heidegger]] interprets Aristotelian hēdonē: that pleasure is a movement of the soul and that tranquility arises from it.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Interpreting Heidegger: Critical Essays|last=Dahlstrom|first=Daniel O.|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521764940|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=164}}</ref>

== In Epicureanism ==
In the philosophy of [[Epicurus]], ''hēdonē'' is described as a pleasure that may or may not derive from actions that are virtuous, whereas another form of pleasure, ''terpsis'', is always virtuous.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Warren|first1=James|title=Epicurus and Democritean ethics : an archaeology of ataraxia|date=2002|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-81369-3|pages=49–51|edition=1. publ.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEDmn2zK1ZMC|access-date=6 July 2015}}</ref> Another Epicurean reading, which distinguished ''hēdonē'' from ''terpsis,'' referred to it as a feeling of pleasure that is episodic and might or might not be beneficial.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Epicurus and Democritean Ethics: An Archaeology of Ataraxia|last=Warren|first=James|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|isbn=0521813697|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=50}}</ref> According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Epicurus uses ''hēdonē'' in reference to only physical pleasures.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Konstan|first1=David|title=Epicurus|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epicurus/|publisher=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2014 Edition)|access-date=6 July 2015}}</ref>

== Stoicism ==
The [[Stoicism|Stoics]] held a negative view of ''hēdonē,'' arguing that it is not in accordance with nature and reason.<ref name=":0" /> This can be understood within the philosophy's position that emotions are by definition excessive or are excessive impulses that exceed the measure of natural reason and – as in other forms of excess – leads to other evils of irrationality.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy behind the Military Mind|last=Sherman|first=Nancy|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2007|isbn=9780195315912|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/stoicwarriorsanc0000sher/page/81 81]|url=https://archive.org/details/stoicwarriorsanc0000sher/page/81}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Hedonism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|Hedone}}
*{{Commonscatinline}}

{{Epicureanism}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

[[Category:Hedonism]]
[[Category:Epicureanism]]
[[Category:Concepts in ancient Greek ethics]]
[[Category:Personifications in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Greek love and lust goddesses]]