Virtue index · Classical virtue
Piety (pietas)
Pietas: dutiful reverence toward God, parents, and country, rendering honor to those to whom we owe our being and nurture.
Definitions from the tradition
Cicero, De Inventione II.66; De Re Publica VI.16: Piety is the virtue that admonishes us to do our duty to our country, our parents, and others bound to us by blood; justice and piety toward parents and country are the way to heaven.
Virgil, Aeneid: Aeneas is called pius: he carries his father Anchises from burning Troy, leads his son by the hand, and bears his household gods to a new land.
Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 101; q. 121: Piety, a part of justice, renders duty and worship to parents and country; as a gift of the Holy Spirit it shows filial reverence toward God as Father.
Scripture, Exodus 20:12 (KJV): “Honour thy father and thy mother”
Scripture, James 1:27 (KJV): “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction”
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version as given in the library’s text. Other definitions are summarized, not quoted.
Opposing vices
- Impiety: Contempt for God, parents, or homeland.
- Irreverence: Treating holy or honored things lightly.
Works that show piety (108)
The Epic of GilgameshAnonymous (Babylonian; standard version attributed to Sin-leqi-unninni)Ninsun purifies herself and offers incense to Shamash, praying for her son's safety before the journey to the Cedar Forest.c. 2100-1200 BCPsalm 23Attributed to DavidThe whole psalm is spoken in reverent dependence, ending with the desire to dwell in God's house.c. 1000 BC (traditional); KJV 1611Theogony and Works and DaysHesiodWorks and Days tells men to sacrifice to the gods with clean hands, and blames the silver race for refusing honour to the immortals.c. 700 BCThe Homeric HymnsAnonymous (Homeric)Demeter commands the people of Eleusis to build her temple, and the hymn praises those who keep her rites with awe. Opposing vice: Irreverence.7th–6th century BCThe Theban PlaysSophoclesAntigone buries her brother in obedience to the unwritten laws of heaven, at the cost of her life.c. 429–401 BCEThe Trojan Women and Other PlaysEuripidesHecuba buries Astyanax with what rites she can, using Hector's shield as his coffin, before the women are taken away.415–c. 414 BCMenoPlatoThe dialogue closes by ascribing the virtue of good statesmen to a gift of the gods rather than human contrivance.c. 385 BCELawsPlatoBook X defends the existence and providence of the gods and teaches that they cannot be bribed by offerings.c. 348 BCThe ArgonauticaApollonius of RhodesThe Argonauts found altars and rites along their route, and Jason sacrifices to Hecate exactly as Medea instructs before his ordeal.3rd century BCThe Book of Enoch (1 Enoch)AnonymousEnoch, waking from his dream of destruction in Chapter LXXXIII, rises to pray that a remnant may be left on the earth.c. 300–100 BCThe Republic and The LawsMarcus Tullius CiceroThe second book of the Laws begins the whole code with the duty of approaching the gods in purity and keeping the ancestral rites.c. 54-51 BCThe History of Rome, Books I-VLivy (Titus Livius)Camillus in Book V argues that Rome cannot be moved to Veii because its gods, rites and auspices belong to its own ground.c. 27-9 BCThe AeneidVirgilAeneas, called pius, carries his father from Troy and bears his household gods toward the founding of Rome. Opposing vice: Impiety.c. 29–19 BCEThe Library (Bibliotheca)Apollodorus (attributed)The Library's many stories of those punished for slighting Dionysus or Hera show the honor owed to the gods in Greek belief.1st–2nd century ADDiscourses (selection) and EncheiridionEpictetusThe Encheiridion ends with Cleanthes' prayer to be led by Zeus and Destiny, following willingly.c. 108 CEAlmagestClaudius PtolemyHis preface presents astronomy as contemplation of divine and unchanging things that makes its students love their beauty.c. 150 CECædmon's HymnCædmonHis first song and every later one is praise of God, and Bede says he could compose nothing light or idle.c. 658-680Ecclesiastical History of the English PeopleBedeCaedmon turns every passage of Scripture he is taught into songs of praise and makes a peaceful end among his brethren.731A Treatise on the Smallpox and MeaslesAbu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes)He undertakes the work by God's permission and ends with praise to Him who gave understanding.c. 910Deliverance from Error (The Confessions of al-Ghazali)Abu Hamid al-GhazaliIn Damascus he spends his days in prayer and solitude in the minaret of the great mosque, seeking to purify his heart.c. 1100The AlexiadAnna KomneneAnna writes the whole history to honor her father, and nurses him with her own hands in his last illness.c. 1148Memoirs of Usama ibn MunqidhUsama ibn MunqidhHe ends his memoir by asking pardon if he should waste the little left of his life on anything but obedience to God.c. 1183Magna CartaKing John and the barons of EnglandJohn makes his grant first to God and begins by confirming the freedom of the English church in clause 1.1215The Travels of Marco PoloMarco Polo (with Rustichello da Pisa)The book ends by giving thanks to God for the travellers' safe return so that others might learn what the world contains.c. 1298–1300De Monarchia (with R. W. Church's essay on Dante)Dante Alighieri; R. W. ChurchDante closes by asking Caesar to revere Peter as a first-born son reveres his father, even after defending the emperor's independent authority.c. 1312-1318The Travels of Ibn BattutaIbn BattutaHe sets out to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca and seeks out the shrines and holy men of every city on his way.1355The Canterbury TalesGeoffrey ChaucerThe Parson teaches Christ's lore and follows it himself first, a model of devout service.c. 1387-1400The Fall of Constantinople, 1453: Eyewitness AccountsNicolo Barbaro, George Sphrantzes, Doukas, and othersOn the last night Greeks and Latins together filled Hagia Sophia for the liturgy and prayer, as the witnesses report.1453Le Morte d'ArthurThomas MaloryGalahad asks God to let him die once he has seen the mysteries of the Grail at Sarras.1485 (Caxton; completed c. 1469-70)Discourses on the First Decade of Titus LiviusNiccolò MachiavelliBook I, ch. XI–XII, holds that keeping the rites of religion uncorrupted is the first care of a state that would not decay.c. 1517 (published 1531)Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects (Volume 1)Giorgio VasariVasari credits Giotto's revival of painting to the gift of God, and the lives record works made for churches from Assisi to Saint Peter's.1550; 2nd ed. 1568The Popol Vuh (Lewis Spence's account)Anonymous (K'iche' Maya); Lewis SpenceThe wooden people are destroyed because they do not think on Hurakan, while the first maize people pray to the Creator for the sun. Opposing vice: Irreverence.c. 1554-1558; Spence 1908The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniBenvenuto CelliniWhen the mould of the Perseus is filled, he falls on his knees and gives thanks to God before eating or resting.1558-1563Institutes of the Christian ReligionJohn CalvinCalvin defines the goal of all his teaching as true godliness and opens with the claim that wisdom begins in knowing God.1536; definitive Latin edition 1559Speech to the Troops at TilburyElizabeth IShe places her strength under God and frames the war as defense of my God, my kingdom, and my people.1588Richard IIIWilliam ShakespeareRichmond commends himself to God as his captain before sleeping, in contrast to Richard's counterfeit devotion between two bishops.c. 1592-93 (published 1597)Henry IV, Part 1William ShakespeareRebuked by his father in Act 3, Scene 2, Hal asks pardon and vows to prove at Shrewsbury that he is the king's true son.c. 1596-97 (published 1598)Henry VWilliam ShakespeareHe prays before battle and orders psalms after it.1599King LearWilliam ShakespeareCordelia and Edgar remain faithful to fathers who wronged them. Opposing vice: Impiety.c. 1606New Astronomy and The Harmony of the WorldJohannes KeplerHe closes Book V of the Harmony of the World with a prayer of thanks to the Creator whose order he believed he had uncovered.1609-1619Galileo: The Starry Messenger, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina, and Two New Sciences (First Day)Galileo GalileiHe frames the Letter as service to the Church and declares that his book may be torn and burnt if it contains anything not pious and Catholic.1610-1638The Mayflower CompactThe Mayflower PilgrimsThe agreement opens in the name of God and is made in the presence of God for his glory and the advancement of the Christian faith.1620The Rights of War and Peace (Book I)Hugo GrotiusChapter II tests the lawfulness of war against the whole of Scripture and the early Church before reaching a conclusion.1625A Model of Christian CharityJohn WinthropThe company's whole enterprise is framed as a covenant and commission from God whose articles must be kept, ending with Moses's charge to choose life by cleaving to Him.1630Lex, RexSamuel RutherfordQuestion XLII places every Christian king under Christ, and the whole argument is tested first against Scripture.1644The Lives of Richard Hooker, George Herbert and Robert SandersonIzaak WaltonHerbert reads public prayers twice daily at Bemerton, and his parishioners pause their ploughs at his bell.1665-1678PatriarchaRobert FilmerFilmer grounds obedience to rulers in the commandment to honour one's father and in God's grant of dominion to Adam.c. 1630s (published 1680)OpticksIsaac NewtonQueries 28 and 31 present every true step in natural philosophy as bringing the inquirer nearer to the first cause and to the worship of 'our true Author and Benefactor'.1704A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human KnowledgeGeorge BerkeleyBerkeley ends the treatise in section 156 by declaring that its whole design is to bring readers to a sense of God's presence and their duty.1710Robinson CrusoeDaniel DefoeDeliverances drive him toward prayer and thanksgiving.1719Commentaries on the Laws of EnglandWilliam BlackstoneIntroduction §2 roots every human law in the law of nature dictated by God and in revealed Scripture.1765-1769Give Me Liberty or Give Me DeathPatrick HenryHe counts silence as disloyalty to the Majesty of Heaven and appeals to the God of hosts and a just God who presides over nations.delivered 1775; text published 1817Essays on Education in a RepublicBenjamin RushRush makes the religion of the New Testament the foundation of republican education and defends daily Bible reading in schools.1786-1798The Natural History of SelborneGilbert WhiteHe reads the creatures of Selborne as works of Providence and applies Scripture to them with reverence and humor.1789Reflections on the Revolution in FranceEdmund BurkeHe defends reverence for ancestors and for the established Church as the ground of a commonwealth that remembers it acts in trust from God.1790The Burke-Paine Debate on the French RevolutionEdmund Burke and Thomas PaineBurke treats inherited institutions and the established church as a trust owed to ancestors and descendants alike.1790-1791A Vindication of the Rights of WomanMary WollstonecraftThe whole argument rests on the claim that God gave women reason and immortal souls to grow in virtue toward him.1792The TygerWilliam BlakeEvery question turns toward the immortal hand that made both the Tyger and the Lamb.1794Farewell Address and Selected LettersGeorge WashingtonWashington calls religion and morality indispensable supports of political prosperity.1775-1799Tales from ShakespeareCharles and Mary LambCordelia returns from France to nurse her mad father and pays his physicians with her own gold and jewels.1807Faust, Part OneJohann Wolfgang von GoetheGretchen brings flowers and prayer to the Mater Dolorosa and at the end commits herself to God rather than flee with Faust.1808Household Stories (Grimm's Fairy Tales)Jacob and Wilhelm GrimmAschenputtel visits her mother's grave every day and stays pious and good as her mother asked.1812–1857The Swiss Family RobinsonJohann David WyssThe father begins and ends each venture with prayer and keeps the Sabbath as a day of rest and teaching even in the first weeks.1812IvanhoeWalter ScottRebecca prays and sings the hymn of the Exodus while awaiting judgment, and refuses to abandon the faith of her fathers.1819 (dated 1820)The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.Washington IrvingIn The Widow and Her Son, the old mother keeps coming to the village church to worship even in the depth of her grief.1819-1820The Last of the MohicansJames Fenimore CooperDavid Gamut sings his psalms in the cave, in captivity and at the sick woman's bedside, trusting in God amid every danger.1826Moby-DickHerman MelvilleFather Mapple's sermon calls his hearers to obey God and to preach truth to the face of falsehood.1851Tanglewood TalesNathaniel HawthorneCadmus stays beside his grieving mother Telephassa until she dies on the road and buries her with his own hands.1853The Song of HiawathaHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHiawatha fasts seven days and prays to the Master of Life not for himself but for the good of his people.1855Germ Theory Papers (Pasteur and Lister)Louis Pasteur and Joseph ListerPasteur dedicates his studies to the memory of his father, calling them the fruit of his counsel and example.1857-1880Novum Organon RenovatumWilliam WhewellThe last chapter of Book III follows the idea of causation to a Supreme Cause, recognized as maker and governor of the world.1858Silas MarnerGeorge EliotEppie honors the father who raised her and vows to cleave to him as long as he lives.1861The Gettysburg AddressAbraham LincolnLincoln treats the soldiers' graves as ground already hallowed and resolves that the nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom. Opposing vice: Impiety.1863O Captain! My Captain!Walt WhitmanThe sailor honours his captain as dear father and stays beside his body when everyone else is celebrating.1865Second Inaugural AddressAbraham LincolnThe whole argument rests on submission to God's judgments, which Lincoln calls true and righteous altogether in the words of Psalm 19.1865War and PeaceLeo TolstoyPrincess Mary bears her father's harshness at Bald Hills through prayer and continues to love and serve him until his death.1865-1869God's GrandeurGerard Manley HopkinsThe sonnet's opening claim that the world is charged with God's grandeur calls the reader to reverent attention to the Creator in ordinary things like foil and oil.written 1877; published 1918Reynolds v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesReynolds stood trial twice rather than renounce what he believed to be a duty enjoined on him by God.1879HeidiJohanna SpyriPrayer and trust in God shape Heidi’s courage and the uncle’s thaw.1880 (Stork trans. 1919)The Adventures of PinocchioCarlo CollodiAfter rescuing Geppetto from the Shark, Pinocchio draws a hundred buckets of water every morning to buy milk for his weak father.1881-1883 (Italian; book 1883)Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish PeasantryW. B. Yeats (editor)Jack Dogherty in The Soul Cages releases the drowned souls kept by the merrow so they may go to their rest.1888Rerum NovarumPope Leo XIIISunday rest is defended as owed to God, a right the worker cannot surrender even if he wished.1891Lectures on CalvinismAbraham KuyperKuyper describes religion as existing for God's sake and places the confession of God's sovereignty first in every area of life.1898The Wind in the WillowsKenneth GrahameAwe before the river’s mystery treats creation with reverence.1908The Story of My Boyhood and YouthJohn MuirHe learns from Griswold's lesson under the locust tree to see the Creator's single design in the pea vine and the tree.1913A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames JoyceAfter the retreat Stephen confesses in the Capuchin chapel and orders each day of Chapter IV around prayer and the sacraments.1916The Burgess Bird Book for ChildrenThornton W. BurgessDelight in creatures points toward gratitude for the made world.1919The Waning of the Middle AgesJohan HuizingaThe Devotio Moderna and mystics such as Denis the Carthusian cultivate an inward devotion that Huizinga sets against the elaborate ceremony of the court.1919Meyer v. NebraskaSupreme Court of the United StatesThe case arose from a congregation's effort to teach its children Bible stories in the language of their parents and church.1923Pierce v. Society of SistersSupreme Court of the United StatesThe opinion honors the duty owed by those who nurture a child, the natural bond of family that classical tradition counted under piety.1925Little House in the Big WoodsLaura Ingalls WilderThe family sets Sunday apart from work and play for Bible stories and quiet, and Pa answers Laura's complaint with the story of how Grandpa's family kept the Sabbath.1932Adam of the RoadElizabeth Janet GrayAdam remains loyal to his father after Roger gambles away Bayard, and chooses to follow Roger's trade at the end.1942The Little HouseVirginia Lee BurtonThe builder's great-great-granddaughter honours her ancestor by rescuing the house he built and keeping his rule that it never be sold.1942Order of the Day, 6 June 1944Dwight D. EisenhowerThe order closes by asking all to beseech the blessing of Almighty God on the undertaking.1944The Courage of Sarah NobleAlice DalglieshShe reads the story of Samuel alone at the camp and prays each night in Tall John's house for both families.1954The Eagle of the NinthRosemary SutcliffMarcus risks his life beyond the Wall to recover the eagle his father died beside and to learn the truth about his father's legion.1954Little BearElse Holmelund MinarikLittle Bear trusts and returns to Mother Bear in every story, even ending his moon game by claiming her as his own mother.1957Island of the Blue DolphinsScott O'DellKarana leaps from the ship and swims back to the island rather than leave her little brother Ramo alone.1960Inaugural AddressJohn F. KennedyHe grounds the rights of man in the hand of God and closes by asking His blessing and His help.1961Engel v. VitaleSupreme Court of the United StatesBoth opinions honour prayer: Black calls it a solemn avowal of divine faith, and Stewart defends children's wish to join in it.1962Abington School District v. SchemppSupreme Court of the United StatesClark calls the place of religion in American society an exalted one, entrusted to the home, the church and the individual heart.1963The Fall of Constantinople, 1453Steven RuncimanOn the evening before the final attack, Greeks and Latins, unionists and their opponents, join in the last liturgy in Hagia Sophia.1965Sam the MinutemanNathaniel BenchleySam obeys his father's call in the night and stands with him among the minutemen of their town.1969Wisconsin v. YoderSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Amish fathers accepted criminal fines rather than send their children into an education they believed would draw them from their faith and church.1972The Sign of the BeaverElizabeth George SpeareMatt declines Saknis's offer to join the beaver people because he will not abandon his father's charge and his family's coming.1983Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the IliadRosemary SutcliffPriam risks his life crossing to the Greek camp by night so that his son's body can receive proper burial.1993Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval EmpireJudith HerrinThe chapters on icons and Mount Athos show Byzantine Christians shaping art, worship and whole communities around devotion.2007The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000Chris WickhamCharlemagne and his advisers pursue a program of religious and moral reform across the Frankish realm.2009
In Plutarch’s Lives
Numa Pompilius, Marcus Furius Camillus, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, Nicias, Agesilaus
Quotations
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year”
Frequently cited
“Now shall we praise the Prince of heaven, The might of the Maker and his manifold thought”
Frequently cited
“I wholly applied myself to the study of Scripture; and amidst the observance of monastic rule, and the daily charge of singing in the church, I always took delight in learning, or teaching, or writing.”
“And I beseech Thee, good Jesus, that to whom Thou hast graciously granted sweetly to drink in the words of Thy knowledge, Thou wilt also vouchsafe in Thy loving-kindness that he may one day come to Thee, the Fountain of all wisdom, and appear for ever before Thy face.”
“It calls for wisdom, too, and a reverence for God’s work.”
“Praised be God, and not our strength, for it”
“Dear child, be pious and good, and God will always take care of you, and I will look down upon you from heaven, and will be with you.”
Frequently cited
“We are not our own; therefore, neither is our own reason or will to rule our acts and counsels. We are not our own; therefore, let us not make it our end to seek what may be agreeable to our carnal nature. We are not our own; therefore, as far as possible, let us forget ourselves and the things that are ours. On the other hand, we are God's; let us, therefore, live and die to him (Rom. 14:8).”
Frequently cited
“When Israel, of the Lord beloved, Out of the land of bondage came, Her father’s God before her moved, An awful guide, in smoke and flame.”
Frequently cited
“Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour”
“Now, blessed Lord, would I not longer live, if it might please thee, Lord.”
“How mysterious are the deeds of the Almighty, who afflicts with disease and gives the cure!”
“Then, Meno, the conclusion is that virtue comes to the virtuous by the gift of God.”
“Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead.”
“And though every true Step made in this Philosophy brings us not immediately to the Knowledge of the first Cause, yet it brings us nearer to it, and on that account is to be highly valued.”
Frequently cited
“And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”
“seeing my work finished, I fell upon my knees, and with all my heart gave thanks to God.”
Frequently cited
“it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.”
“But Christe’s lore, and his apostles’ twelve, He taught, and first he follow’d it himselve”
“The deare remembrance of his dying Lord, For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore, And dead as living ever him ador'd”
Frequently cited
“I have often felt a Motion of Love to leave some Hints in Writing of my Experience of the Goodness of God”
“It was a representation of Christ most grievously wounded; and so devotional, that the very sight of it, when I saw it, moved me--so well did it show forth that which He suffered for us.”
“they would let their plough rest when Mr. Herbert's Saint's-bell rung to prayers”
“It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God’s When mercy seasons justice.”
Frequently cited
“my Bible; which was my guide by day, and my pillow by night.”
Frequently cited
“in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess GOD in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.”
Frequently cited
“we may make an oratory of our heart wherein to retire from time to time to converse with Him in meekness, humility and love.”
“Dears, when you say your prayers, I think you might ask God to show His pity upon all prisoners and captives.”
Frequently cited
“With me prayer is an uplifting of the heart; a glance towards heaven; a cry of gratitude and love, uttered equally in sorrow and in joy.”
“We are only too ready, amid the cares and pleasures of this life, to forget the God to whom we owe all things”
“The whole earth is the Lord's, and where, as in his sight, you lead good and useful lives, there is your home”
Frequently cited
“The immutable unwritten laws of Heaven. They were not born today nor yesterday; They die not; and none knoweth whence they sprang”
Frequently cited
“My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew.”
Discussion questions
- What do we owe to those who gave us life and nurture, and can we ever repay it?
- Why is Aeneas called pious? Is his piety admirable even when it costs him?
- How do love of God, family, and country fit together?
- Where in your reading does piety come into conflict with another duty?
Other virtues: Prudence · Justice · Fortitude · Temperance · Faith · Hope · Charity · Honor · Industry · Humility · Magnanimity · Friendship