Hubris

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See also: Pride
For the Richard Beirach album, see Hubris (album).
Illustration for John Milton's Paradise Lost by Gustave Doré (1866).The spiritual descent of Lucifer into Satan is one of the most famous examples of hubris.

Hubris (/ˈhjuːbrɪs/ from ancient Greek ὕβρις) describes a personality quality of extreme or foolish pride or dangerous overconfidence,[1] often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance.[2] In its ancient Greek context, it typically describes behavior that defies the norms of behavior or challenges the gods, and which in turn brings about the downfall, or nemesis, of the perpetrator of hubris.

The adjectival form of the noun hubris is "hubristic". Hubris is usually perceived as a characteristic of an individual rather than a group, although the group the offender belongs to may suffer collateral consequences from the wrongful act. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments or capabilities.

Ancient Greek origin[edit]

In ancient Greek, hubris referred to actions that shamed and humiliated the victim for the pleasure or gratification of the abuser.[3] The term had a strong sexual connotation, and the shame reflected upon the perpetrator as well.[4]

Violations of the law against hubris included what might today be termed assault and battery; sexual crimes; or the theft of public or sacred property. Two well-known cases are found in the speeches of Demosthenes, a prominent statesman and orator in ancient Greece. These two examples occurred when first Midias punched Demosthenes in the face in the theatre (Against Midias), and second when (in Against Conon) a defendant allegedly assaulted a man and crowed over the victim. Yet another example of hubris appears in Aeschines' Against Timarchus, where the defendant, Timarchus, is accused of breaking the law of hubris by submitting himself to prostitution and anal intercourse. Aeschines brought this suit against Timarchus to bar him from the rights of political office and his case succeeded.[5]

In ancient Athens, hubris was defined as the use of violence to shame the victim (this sense of hubris could also characterize rape[6]). Aristotle defined hubris as shaming the victim, not because of anything that happened to the committer or might happen to the committer, but merely for that committer's own gratification:

to cause shame to the victim, not in order that anything may happen to you, nor because anything has happened to you, but merely for your own gratification. Hubris is not the requital of past injuries; this is revenge. As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: naive men think that by ill-treating others they make their own superiority the greater.[7][not in citation given][8][9]

Crucial to this definition are the ancient Greek concepts of honour (τιμή, timē) and shame (αἰδώς, aidōs). The concept of honour included not only the exaltation of the one receiving honour, but also the shaming of the one overcome by the act of hubris. This concept of honour is akin to a zero-sum game. Rush Rehm simplifies this definition of hubris to the contemporary concept of "insolence, contempt, and excessive violence".[citation needed]

In Greek mythology, when a figure's hubris offends the gods of ancient Greece, it is usually punished; examples of such hubristic, sinful humans include Icarus, Phaethon, Arachne, Salmoneus, Niobe, Cassiopeia, and Tereus. The goddess Hybris has been described as having "insolent encroachment upon the rights of others".[10]

Homer used the term Ancient Greek: ὕβρις (insolence) several times in the Odyssey.[11]

Modern usage[edit]

In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride combined with arrogance.[2] Hubris is often associated with a lack of humility. Sometimes a person's hubris is also associated with ignorance. The accusation of hubris often implies that suffering or punishment will follow, similar to the occasional pairing of hubris and nemesis in Greek mythology. The proverb "pride goeth (goes) before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" (from the biblical Book of Proverbs, 16:18) is thought to sum up the modern use of hubris. Hubris is also referred to as "pride that blinds" because it often causes a committer of hubris to act in foolish ways that belie common sense.[12] In other words, the modern definition may be thought of as, "that pride that goes just before the fall."

Examples of hubris are often found in literature, most famously in John Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Lucifer attempts to compel the other angels to worship him, is cast into hell by God and the innocent angels, and proclaims: "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." Victor in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein manifests hubris in his attempt to become a great scientist; he creates life through technological means, but comes to regret his project. Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus portrays the eponymous character as a scholar whose arrogance and pride compel him to sign a deal with the Devil, and retain his haughtiness until his death and damnation, despite the fact that he could easily have repented had he chosen to do so.

An example in pop culture is the comic book hero Doctor Strange, wherein highly talented and arrogant neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange is involved in a vehicular accident. Unlike the Greek figures Salmoneus, Icarus and Phaethon, he survives, though his hands, and thus his career as a neurosurgeon, are shattered. After western medicine fails to help him, he seeks healing in the mystic arts, and though he never fully recovers, he becomes a powerful sorcerer.

A historical example of hubris was furnished by General George Armstrong Custer in the decisions that culminated in the Battle of Little Big Horn; Custer is apocryphally quoted as having exclaimed: "Where did all those damned Indians come from?"[13]

C. S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity that pride is the "anti-God" state, the position in which the ego and the self are directly opposed to God: "Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind."[14]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Definition of HUBRIS". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22. 
  2. ^ a b Picone, P. M., Dagnino, G. B., & Minà, A. (2014). ". The origin of failure: A multidisciplinary appraisal of the hubris hypothesis and proposed research agenda". The Academy of Management Perspectives. 28 (4): 447–68. 
  3. ^ David Cohen, "Law, society and homosexuality or hermaphrodity in Classical Athens" in Studies in ancient Greek and Roman society By Robin Osborne; p. 64
  4. ^ Cartledge; Paul Millett (2003). Nomos: Essays in Athenian Law, Politics and Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-521-52209-0. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 
  5. ^ Aeschines "Against Timarchus" from Thomas K. Hubbard's Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents
  6. ^ "Hubris". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 21 April 2016. 
  7. ^ Aristotle, Rhetoric 1378b.
  8. ^ Cohen, David (1995). Law, Violence, and Community in Classical Athens. Cambridge University Press. p. 145. ISBN 0521388376. Retrieved March 6, 2016. 
  9. ^ Ludwig, Paul W. (2002). Eros and Polis: Desire and Community in Greek Political Theory. Cambridge University Press. p. 178. ISBN 1139434179. Retrieved March 6, 2016. 
  10. ^ Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Themis". Encyclopædia Britannica. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 758. 
  11. ^ Wikisource Monro, David Binning; Allen, Thomas William (1911). "Homer". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
  12. ^ "The 1920 Farrow's Bank Failure: A Case of Managerial Hubris". Durham University. Retrieved October 1, 2014. 
  13. ^ Morson, Gary Saul (June 28, 2011). The Words of Others: From Quotations to Culture. New Haven. Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 176. ISBN 9780300167474. Retrieved March 5, 2016.  “Proving that it is better to be mustered out of the militia than it is to be custered out of the cavalry.”
  14. ^ Lewis, C.S. (2001). Mere Christianity : a revised and amplified edition, with a new introduction, of the three books, Broadcast talks, Christian behaviour, and Beyond personality. San Francisco: Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-065292-0. 

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

  • Media related to Hubris at Wikimedia Commons
  • The dictionary definition of hubris at Wiktionary


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