Arete is a principle for life where you focus on the quality of everything you do and experience. In everything you do, you should strive to do it at the highest quality possible. Top achieve arete, you have to prevail from an agon, which is a struggle or contest. Greatness can't be achieved without going through hardship, and that is the message arete and agon portray. While arete obviously involves the self, is being the best human you can be selfish or does it go beyond yourself? Is the reward for achieving arete only enjoyed by the individual, and is pursuing quality the same as pursuing pleasure?

To achieve arete one must focus on their own life. Sometimes you can't think about others interests, only your own, to truly achieve greatness. In that sense, being the best human you can possibly be is selfish, although not completely negatively so. Sometimes, the only way to achieve success is to do things yourself and for yourself. When you only think of yourself it's selfish but it's what you have to do to achieve arete. To get through an agon alone is a large feat, but it will ultimately lead you to arete.

Being the best human you can be, or arete, goes beyond ones self. To become a great quality person or create quality things, you will benefit others. For example, you may build a way to filter unsanitary water, and while that is a remarkable invention, it still can help millions of people. The quality work you make goes beyond yourself, and achieving arete benefits others. The reward of arete can be enjoyed by anyone. Pursuing quality is synonymous with pursuing  pleasure because everyone wants to be pleased with their work or they wouldn't have a reason to do it.

Arete can be achieved by one's self but the rewards can be benefited by many. Greatness can't be achieved without going through agon and I think the most noble way to go through agon is alone. This will ensure that you get to arete. Even though achieving arete and being the best human possible is in some ways selfish, it does go beyond oneself if they let it.