''Nemesis'' (Greek: ''νέμεσις'') is a philosophical term first created by

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

in his ''

Nicomachean Ethics The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; , ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics: the science of the good for human life, that which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. () It consists of ten sections, referred to as books, and is closely ...

''. The term means one who feels pain caused by others' undeserved success. It is part of a trio of terms, with ''epikhairekakia'' (ἐπιχαιρεκακία ) meaning one who takes pleasure in others' pain, similar to

Schadenfreude Schadenfreude (; ; "harm-joy") is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, pain, suffering, or humiliation of another. It is a loanword from German. Schadenfreude ...

, and '' phthonos'' (φθόνος) meaning one who feels pain caused by any pleasure, deserved or not, similar to

envy Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. Envy can also refer to the wish for another person to lack something one already ...

. It is the opposite of pity, as pity is pain at undeserved ''mis''fortune.

References

External links

* Philosophy of Aristotle Concepts in ancient Greek ethics {{philo-stub