Being good at being a man

In order to be "good at being a man" (kal'andras), one must know "how to wield a knife; dance the acrobatic steps of the leader of the line (brostaris); respond in elegant, assonant verse to a singer's mockery; eat meat conspicuously whenever he gets the chance; keep his word but get some profit from it at the same time; and stand up to anyone who dares to insult him."

Michael Herzfeld, The Poetics of Manhood: Contest and Identity in a Cretan Mountain Village, 1985, p. 124, apud Richard P. Martin, The Language of Heroes: Speech and Performance in the Iliad, Cornell University Press, 1989, p. 91.