Hubris
conceptὝβρις
The cardinal sin of Greek ethics
Hubris was the gravest moral offence — arrogance of overstepping human boundaries or defying the gods.
The Myth
Arachne challenged Athena and became a spider. Niobe boasted and lost all her children. Xerxes whipped the sea. Aristotle defined hubris as causing shame purely for the perpetrator's pleasure. It was a prosecutable crime in Athens.
Parents
Personified by Hesiod
Children
None recorded
Symbols
broken boundarythunderboltdivine punishment
Fun Fact
Hubris was a prosecutable crime in Athenian law — punishable by death.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth: