Hubris

Hubris is one of my favorite words. Not only do I like the sound and appreciate the power of its meaning, but my first encounter with the word marked an important turning point in my life. I learned the word during my first semester of college taking a classical literature course. Having had virtually no exposure to literature in high school, this was quite a challenge for me. We were reading Homer and hubris was one of the major themes we were discussing. I struggled with the subtlety of the term, not quite understanding why arrogance would not suffice. I invested an inordinate amount of time in this course trying to keep up. Eventually I came to understand the word, grew to appreciate Greek literature, got an A in the course, and realized that I could actually succeed in college -- something that was not obvious to me upon my arrival at U of M.

Since that time hubris has remained one of my favorite words, though it's not one that you can use often in casual conversation. The Wikipedia page for the word has a nice definition by Aristotle: "As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: men think that by ill-treating others they make their own superiority the greater."

Hubris was considered a crime in ancient Greece. Sometimes I think it's unfortunate that that's no longer the case today.