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Apollodorus & Greek Myth — Assignment Sheet Culture & Values

Hubris signifies excessive pride or self-confidence in an individual. It is a character of arrogance or confidence, resulting in an individual believing that they might do no wrong. The devastating pride triggered by hubris usually is deliberated as a flaw in character. Excessive pride can be something a personality feels internally, but it typically transforms into the personality’s actions. A contemporary real-life example of hubris is a politician who thinks he is to best win the general election and decides to skin campaigning. On the other hand, hamartia is a mythical device that mirrors a personality’s fatal or tragic flaw or blunder in judgment that eventually leads to their downfall. It is a perception that is closely related to and the name tragic flaw since they all culminate in the downfall of a character in a tragedy (Arana & Luis, 4). In literature, hubris usually is closely related to hamartia, which signifies the tragic flaw that results in the protagonist’s reversal of fate. It relates in a way that hubris is one of the most common tragic flaws. The extreme arrogance or pride of hubris normally consumes a personality, blinding them to think and leads their eventual downfall.

In ancient Greece, hubris denoted defiance of the divine or gods orders. This perception appears mostly in Ancient Greek dramas ad myths with personalities more subtly of openly disobeying the divine order and getting punished for it. In ancient Greece, hubris signified the divinities’ disobedience, particularly not to the punishment of that disobedience (Gregory, 11). The punishment has its name, nemesis, which is also the name of the Goddess who is in charge of doing all punishments. In Greek, hubris is especially the great ambition or pride that offends the gods and results in the downfall. It was a character seen in the heroes of classical Greek tragedy, including Achilles and Oedipus. The Greeks did not consider that their gods and goddesses were all-powerful. They believed that they did have special powers though they were merely just as flawed humans (Arana & Luis, 15). The gods and goddesses married humans, had kids, argued with each other, and fought wars. The ancient Greeks also believed in prophecy and fate.

An example of Greek mythology is the tragic fable of Niobe. It is the tale where the penalty for hubris far surpasses the wrongdoing. According to Homer the Iliad, Niobe (the queen of Thebes) had six daughters and sons. She stupidly brags about this to the deity Leto who had simply two youngsters: Apollo and Artemis. Upon hearing Niobe’s pride, Apollo murdered all of Niobe’s sons, and Artemi murdered all of Niobe’s daughters. The penalty for Niobe’s arrogance and her disrespect for the deities’ power to mortals left her crippled. She never stopped weeping. Later, she was even turned to rock. In several Greek myths, hubris usually is seen as an instance of hamartia or a tragic flaw that results in the protagonist’s failure. These myths function as a warning story against mortality impiety towards the divinities. Hubris typically makes the protagonists more relevant to an audience. Although it’s the main fault, it contributes to complexity and depth to personalities that can or else be seen as faultless heroes.

Works Cited

Arana Alencastre, Jean Luis. “Hubris in Ancient Greece: On Evil in Homer, Plato and Aristotle.” (2019).

Nagy, Gregory. “Thinking comparatively about Greek mythology XVIII, a post-Mycenaean view of Hēraklēs as founder of the Olympics.” Classical Inquiries (2019).