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American Hubris
It won’t end well…
In Ancient Greek, the term hubris (ὕβρις) was used to describe a form of arrogance or overweening pride that — at least in the world of the Greek myths — invariably preceded downfall. Hubris in this original sense is not simple pride, but rather a type of unbounded self-confidence that acknowledges no limits, trampling taboos without any regard for the consequences. Hubris also had a legal meaning in Greek society, meaning something like outrageous or violent behaviour that humiliates another, especially when motivated by contempt rather than personal gain — like assaulting someone just for the thrill of domination. Perhaps this is already ringing a bell.
For the Greeks, hubris was personified in figures like Pentheus, Prometheus and Icarus, tragic figures who all met their doom after trespassing against the gods. Pentheus, the king of Thebes, refused to acknowledge that Dionysus, the god of festivities, wine and states of rapture and abandon, was a legitimate deity and ended up being torn limb from limb by the maenads, Dionysus’s ecstatic followers. Prometheus famously stole fire from the gods for the use of humans, and was punished by having his liver pecked out by an eagle every day for eternity. And Icarus, who fashioned wings out of wax and feathers, ignored warnings not to fly too high, and fell to his death in the sea after his wings melted when he…
