Page 84!

"In any event, arete is incandescent whenever manifest in a man's love for a boy. In its Kantian, unattached isolation, the Greeks would scarcely have appreciated the quality at all. The last and ultimate image of arete Greece offers us is a field strewn with the corpses of young Thebans after the battle of Chaeronea. The corpses were found lying in pairs: they were all couples, lovers, who had gone into battle together against the Macedonians. It was to be Greece's last stand."

Now, some of these words are either new or too big for my peewee brain. So here are my notes of definitions, synonyms, and bits of history that helped me read between the lines.

arete: being the best you can be, excellence (this is also defined, in a few lines previous to this passage, as virtue)
incandescent: passionate
*love: the Greeks have five different words for love: agape, eros, philia, and storge; all used for variant degrees of affection*
Kantian: reason, rationality? Based on Kant's work! Intriguing stuff, but I found it difficult to read
Thebans: people of Thebes, fought in Chaeronea against the Macedonians--Sacred Band of Thebes were said to have fought in this battle, speculations of homosexuality from other sources other than mentioned in Calasso's passage
Battle of Chaeronea: fought in 338 BC, between Macedonia (lead by Phillip II) and allied Greek city-states. Macedonia = victors 

So, if I were to rewrite the beginning of this this passage, my own, dumbed down version would go something like this:

In any event, excellence is passionate whenever displayed in a man's love for a boy. In its own reason, the Greeks would have just barely appreciated the quality at all. The last and ultimate image of excellence Greece offers us is a field strewn with the corpses of young Thebans after the Battle of Chaeronea.

*The fact that English has stuffed all kinds of feelings of affection into one measly word astounds me. As mentioned, Greek has five different words, but Hebrew has seven. In the last 24 hours, I myself have exhausted the word "love," making claims such as, "I love coffee." and, "Love you, mom." Certainly, I don't love my mother in the same way I love coffee--no matter crappy my morning turns out--so why do I, why do we, do this? Is there no other term pertaining to my endearment of caffeinated deliciousness? Sure there is. I'm just lazy, as are you, and overgeneralize language. 

I'm uncertain as to why this passage stuck out to me, and I'm not sure I really have a point for analyzing it, other than I find Greek Love, the cultural acceptance and almost reverence, interesting. (And the use of language is also intriguing!) 

The Sacred Band of Thebes

Here's some Wiki-links for related reading:
Kant
Battle of Chaeronea
Sacred Band of Thebes
Greek Love
Greek words for Love