Throughout Greek mythology and culture, hubristic ideals were used to teach lessons about pride. To have hubris means to have excessive pride, and in Greek mythology it is almost always directed towards a god or deity. These types of myths were used to show the major disadvantages to being hubristic, so that people will learn from those mistakes. Some major examples of what can occur if one was hubristic in Greek mythology can be seen in the examples of Odysseus vs. Prometheus, Achilles vs. Hector, and Arachne vs. Athena.
The first myth to be examined that prominently displays hubris is that of Odysseus. On his way back from the Trojan War, he and his men end up on an island inhabited by cyclopes. He enters the cave of Prometheus, a cyclops …show more content…
The first occurrence of excessive pride happens when the Greeks pillaged a town and both Agamemnon and Achilles receive a woman as their prize. Agamemnon was forced to return the woman that he had taken, Chryseis, because she was a priestess of Apollo. Because of this, he demanded that Achilles’ woman, Briseis, was given to him. Achilles refused this and because of his excessive pride, this led to a lot of fighting between him and Agamemnon. Due to this, Achilles refused to let the Myrmidons, his people, fight in the war, and the Trojans started to win. Another place where we see Hubris is when, after killing Achilles’ cousin Patroclus, Hector agrees to fight Achilles. Even though his father, Priam, begs his son Hector to stay safe inside the walls of Troy, Hector goes out anyway. He had too much pride to act like a coward and stay inside the walls, so he fought and was killed by Achilles. Finally, Achilles also committed an act of Hubris by tying up Hector to the back of his chariot and dragging him around, desecrating his body. This angered the gods greatly as it was a heinous act of rage which was completely uncalled for, especially when Hector was a respectable opponent and hero. This, and the killing of Hector, ultimately led to his downfall. He was shot by an arrow in the heel, the one place he could be killed, during the ransacking of Troy. This displays another reason for Greeks not to be
The first myth to be examined that prominently displays hubris is that of Odysseus. On his way back from the Trojan War, he and his men end up on an island inhabited by cyclopes. He enters the cave of Prometheus, a cyclops …show more content…
The first occurrence of excessive pride happens when the Greeks pillaged a town and both Agamemnon and Achilles receive a woman as their prize. Agamemnon was forced to return the woman that he had taken, Chryseis, because she was a priestess of Apollo. Because of this, he demanded that Achilles’ woman, Briseis, was given to him. Achilles refused this and because of his excessive pride, this led to a lot of fighting between him and Agamemnon. Due to this, Achilles refused to let the Myrmidons, his people, fight in the war, and the Trojans started to win. Another place where we see Hubris is when, after killing Achilles’ cousin Patroclus, Hector agrees to fight Achilles. Even though his father, Priam, begs his son Hector to stay safe inside the walls of Troy, Hector goes out anyway. He had too much pride to act like a coward and stay inside the walls, so he fought and was killed by Achilles. Finally, Achilles also committed an act of Hubris by tying up Hector to the back of his chariot and dragging him around, desecrating his body. This angered the gods greatly as it was a heinous act of rage which was completely uncalled for, especially when Hector was a respectable opponent and hero. This, and the killing of Hector, ultimately led to his downfall. He was shot by an arrow in the heel, the one place he could be killed, during the ransacking of Troy. This displays another reason for Greeks not to be