Fear Of Pride In Ancient Literature

In the most prominent stories of ancient Greece, much of which acts as the cornerstone of Western literature, the heroes battle monsters, sorcerers and even gods themselves. However, the most climatic part of most stories occurred when the heroes were forced to suffer from their own hubris. Overs and over again, from Icarus to Arachne to Niobe and Cassiopeia and on, their pride lead to their own demise.
All around the world, the fear of one’s pride being one’s ultimate downfall has prompted warnings such as Francis Bacon's “Virtue is like a rich stone, best in plain sight.” Bacon warns against pride by advising other to practice humility at all times. By vomiting one’s virtue to a precious jewel, Bacon says that flaunting it makes one a target. Just as thieves target the wealthy, people will take advantage of those who are too prideful. …show more content…
Inspired by both the Bible and Classical literature, the piece follows the downfall of Lucifer, the angels who followed him, and Adam and Eve. Lucifer believe that his exceptional beauty earned him God’s favoritism. His pride, stemming from his vanity, made him feel the desire to not be controlled, not even by God himself. Pride then lead him to round up an army of “lesser” angels and wage a war against God, eventually casting him and his followers out of heaven. This same pride also kept Lucifer from seeking forgiveness even though it was readily available to him. Similarly, Eve pride gets her and Adam cast out of the Garden of Eden. Much like Lucifer, her first prideful transgression stemmed from her vanity. Because of her pride and greed, she eats the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge expelling her and her husband from the