Greek Words: Hubris
The first in a series in which Leo examines the modern use and abuses of certain words from the Greek lexicon.
The Oxford English dictionary tells us:
/hyoobriss/
• noun excessive pride or self-confidence.
— ORIGIN Greek, originally denoting presumption towards or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis.
This is a fairly accurate definition of hubris, but, like all dictionary entries, it misses several dimensions of a very deep and universal concept. Broadly speaking, the word tends to be translated as “insult”, and it is not, as implied above, restricted to offences against the gods. The English word, however, that most closely corresponds to hubris is, I would argue, arrogance (or, as the OED suggests, self-confidence). In order to explain why, I shall expound upon one of the most famous examples of it in literature: Oedipus.
As one of the best-known plot-lines in history, many of you will be familiar with Oedipus the King, who killed his father and married his mother. Despite the fact that he did all of this unwittingly - the whole point of the story is that he was unaware of what he was doing - he suffers terribly. This seems unjust, and many commentators dismiss such a judgment as imposing modern values on an ancient story.
The answer, however, is that he is not being punished for what he did, but why he did it. He acted out of hubris.
Having heard the oracle that warned him of his fate, one would have thought the answer was simple: don’t kill anyone old enough to be your father, and don’t marry anyone old enough to be your mother.
Oedipus, however, makes the critical mistake of thinking he is in charge of his destiny. He runs away from the people he believes to be his parents, and as a result feels that he has outwitted the fates - such is his arrogance that he actually commits the murder of his father on the very journey on which he has just left his would-be parents.
That is hubris - the mistaken belief that we, as mortals, can manipulate fate. Oedipus was at his most hubristic when he thought that he had cleverly avoided the Fate which he had been informed awaited him, and consequently he has culpability for his actions. Therefore we can see that hubris is the arrogance that comes from the delusion that one is in control, while forgetting that everyone is subject to the Fates.
This is not merely an ancient idea. We may not believe in Fate with a capital ‘F’ anymore, but we all recognise the fact that there are forces beyond human control. What the story of Oedipus and the Greek concept of hubris teach us is this: that when we think that we know where we are, where we are going and where we have come from, what will happen and what is happening, who and what we are, that is when we are at our most vulnerable.
