For most people in the ancient world, death did not come with the cremation or burial of the body. It came when your name was spoken for the last time. When your glory (κλέος) disappeared, so did you. Perhaps this is why deed (ἔργον)—one's deeds—became such a central value in Greek thought.

This raises an interesting question.

Ancient literature often portrays beauty as dangerous. Exceptional beauty attracts the attention of the gods, invites envy, and frequently leads to misfortune. Heroes are remembered for what they do, not for how they look.

But perhaps we should read this the other way around.

Maybe ancient authors warned so often against beauty because people already cared about it so deeply. If physical appearance had truly been unimportant, there would have been little reason to keep reminding people that deeds matter more.

Perhaps the persistent praise of deed (ἔργον) is itself an indirect admission of the power that beauty (κάλλος) held over society.

Haven't we, in many ways, inherited the same tension today?

εἰπεῖν τις δύναται σκῆνος λιπόσαρκον ἀθρήσας, εἴπερ Ὕλας ἢ Θερσίτης ἦν, ὦ παροδεῖτα;

“Looking on a fleshless corpse, who can say passer-by, whether it was Hylas (the beautiful companion of Heracles) or Thersites (the famously ugly Greek warrior)?”

Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum (post-1808#) XI.14, 4.