Hubris, meet Nemesis.

Oh, the Greeks and their tragedies.

Oh, there’s nothing the Greek tragedies or the Shakespearian plays have that we don’t have going on in our world today. Plays really simplify things though and streamline personalities to make a point to otherwise school people on how things tend to go. And a caution or three.

Hybris, the Ancient Greek goddess, was a whirlwind of violence and wild action. Daughter of Night, Darkness, Air and Earth she was a hellion. However her namesake, hubris, as illustrated in tragedies, was the seed of the bad behavior. The behaviors are many but let us look at the seed.

We define hubris generally as arrogant but it’s more. It’s the self understanding that one simply cannot do wrong (in a particular situation). Hubris, is a big blind spot to ones own capabilities. It’s not narcissism as a narcissist knows they’re “more than capable” in most situations and a narcissist also lacks empathy as they are completely self absorbed.

Someone displaying hubris may put themselves on the ledge of a window because they know it is the “only way”. In this incomplete and simple analogy, a narcissist will likely not bother to get on the ledge at all, but, if they did they know they would accomplish the task, whatever it is, but why bother since it’s only to be of service to someone else. They will pass with a sniff and a stare that it is beneath them.

So, in today’s news, the hearings, are we watching hubris protecting narcissism? Could be.

Ancient history like all reflection on the past can give us a depth of understanding to life today. Remarkably, things change but underneath it all, change less than we may think. People now seem much as people were.

Hubris in today’s news shows a group surrounding the former president, thinking they can somehow be a protective layer. A buffer zone to the public. Perhaps the rest of the world. Hubris thy name is Barr, but, there are plenty of others.

What is uplifting and even delicious is knowing that Greek tragedies, Shakespearian plays, all generally have three acts. And also informative to know we’re not in the beginning but not at the end of our story. We’re somewhere in the middle of the play still.

Hubris, leads to downfall, also called nemesis, and then the final and cleansing act of catharsis. It is a cycle. It doesn’t vary much. We have something to look forward to.

The sculpture pictured above is a work in progress by the author.