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Hubris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hubris (/hjubrs/, also hybris, from ancient Greek )

describes a personality quality of extreme or foolish pride or
dangerous overconfidence.[1] 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
unintentionally suffer 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. Contrary to common expectations, hubris is not
illustration for John Milton's
necessarily associated with high self-esteem but with highly
Paradise Lost by Gustave Dor
fluctuating or variable self-esteem, and a gap between inflated
(1866).The spiritual descent of
self perception and a more modest reality.
Lucifer into Satan is one of the
Hubris is generally considered a sin in world religions. C. S. most famous examples of hubris.
Lewis writes, 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."[2]

Contents
1 Ancient Greek origin
2 Modern usage
3 See also
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links

Ancient Greek origin

In ancient Greek, hubris referred to actions that shamed and humiliated the victim for the pleasure

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or gratification of the abuser.[3] The term had a strong sexual connotation, and the shame reflected
on 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][8][9]

Crucial to this definition are the ancient Greek concepts of honour (, tim) and shame (,
aids). 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".

In Greek mythology, when a figure's hubris offends the pagan gods of ancient Greece, it is usually
punished; examples of such hubristic, sinful humans include Icarus, Phaethon, Arachne,
Salmoneus, Niobe, Cassiopeia, and Tereus.

Modern usage
In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride combined with arrogance.[10] Hubris is
often associated with a lack of humility. Sometimes a person's hubris is also associated with a lack
of knowledge.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

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blinds," as it often causes a committer of hubris to act in foolish ways that belie common sense.[11]
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 Paradise Lost: John Milton's
depiction of Lucifer, who attempts to force the other angels to worship him, is cast down to 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 by creating
life through technological means, but eventually regrets this previous desire. 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. Chinua Achebe's novel Things
Fall Apart has been called a modern Greek tragedy, and the main character Okonkwo is a classic
tragic hero whose hubris leads to his downfall. Another example is the character Walter White from
the TV show Breaking Bad, whose entry into the criminal world gradually caused him to eradicate
all moral boundaries (except for the will to protect his family) and perform heinous crimes in order
to empower his ever growing meth empire. The characters Pride and Father in the popular manga
Fullmetal Alchemist were inspired by the sin of hubris.

One notable example is the Battle of Little Big Horn, as General George Armstrong Custer was
apocryphally reputed to have said there: "Where did all those damned Indians come from?"[12]

In business word many cases of social scandals were explained by managerial hubris . [13] More
recently, in his two-volume biography of Adolf Hitler, historian Ian Kershaw uses both 'hubris' and
'nemesis' as titles. The first volume, Hubris,[14] describes Hitler's early life and rise to political
power. The second, Nemesis,[15] gives details of Hitler's role in the Second World War, and
concludes with his fall and suicide in 1945.

See also
DunningKruger effect
Icarus complex
Narcissism
Nemesis
Schadenfreude
Seven deadly sins

References
1. "Definition of HUBRIS". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22.

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2. 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.
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". Encyclopdia Britannica. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
7. Aristotle, Rhetoric 1378b (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper
/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0060%3Abekker+page%3D1378b).
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. Picone, P. M., Dagnino, G. B., & Min, A. (2014). ". The origin of failure: A multidisciplinary appraisal
of the hubris hypothesis and proposed research agenda". The Academy of Management Perspectives. 28
(4): 447468.
11. "The 1920 Farrow's Bank Failure: A Case of Managerial Hubris". Durham University. Retrieved
October 1, 2014.
12. 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.
(http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=208x15414)
13. Dagnino G. B., Min, A., & Picone, P. M. (2013). The hubris hypothesis of corporate social
irresponsibility: evidence from the Parmalat case. In Integrity in Organizations (pp. 576-601). Palgrave
Macmillan UK.
14. Kershaw, Ian (1998). Hitler 18891936: Hubris. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
ISBN 978-0-393-04671-7. OCLC 50149322.
15. Kershaw, Ian (2000). Hitler 19361945: Nemesis. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
ISBN 978-0-393-04994-7. OCLC 45234118.

Further reading
Cairns, Douglas L. (1996). "Hybris, Dishonour, and Thinking Big". Journal of Hellenic
Studies. 116: 132. doi:10.2307/631953.
Fisher, Nick (1992). Hybris: a study in the values of honour and shame in Ancient Greece.
Warminster, UK: Aris & Phillips. A book-length discussion of the meaning and implications
of hybristic behavior in ancient Greece.
MacDowell, Douglas (1976). "Hybris in Athens". Greece and Rome. 23 (1): 1431.
doi:10.1017/S0017383500018210.
Michael DeWilde, The Psychological and Spiritual Roots of a Universal Affliction
(http://www.ceibs.edu/ecclar/images/2012/05
/17/2E5C935A56FE146931747EF237297347.pdf)
Hubris (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/274625/hubris) on 2012's Encyclopdia

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Britannica
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm,
Hugh, ed. (1911). "article name needed". Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press.

External links
Media related to Hubris at Wikimedia Commons Look up hubris in
The dictionary definition of hubris at Wiktionary Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.

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