Spiritual, Moral and Heroic Virtue: Aristotelian character in the Arthurian and Grail narratives

Recent moral and social theory--especially that of a more communitarian and/or virtue-ethical character--has greatly stressed the positive potential of great cultural narratives for moral and spiritual formation and education. On this view, there is much to be learned about human nature and character, and about the human struggle between good and evil, from the great myths and legends of cultural inheritance. From this viewpoint, it is also significant that Aristotelian ethics, which has been a prime inspiration for such emphases on the moral significance of narrative, is also the source of a much neglected account of the psychological structure and dynamics of virtuous character. The present paper attempts to show how this Aristotelian analyses of character might be employed for a greater appreciation of the moral and spiritual significance of one of the most powerful and compelling myths of western Christian culture.