Blog 1 - Pride

Pride is just as prevalent in our culture today as it was in ancient Greece. I will be comparing the meaning of pride and how it varies between Latter-Day Saint culture and ancient Greek culture. I will address this by first defining pride in each culture, reviewing similarities, and addressing the consequences of pride in both cultures.

Building from the wise words of President Benson, Elder Dieter Uchtdorf in his talk "Pride and the Priesthood" clearly encompasses the meaning of pride in today’s day and age. He describes pride as a “sin of comparison”. He goes on to explain that this feeling “breeds hatred and hostility” adding to “self-elevation [and] self-glorification” (Uchtdorf, 2018). This exact definition of pride can be found in Greek tradition as well. The word pride stems from the Greek word hubris which means excessive pride against the gods. An example of this concept can be found in the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops. In that story, Odysseus and his men are desperate for help after traveling on the sea. They land on the island of the cyclopes and seek refuge there. After Odysseus pleads for refuge, the cyclops rejects his offering despite potential wrath from the gods for the broken law of hospitality. The cyclops replied by saying:  

“You’re dumb, stranger, or from far away,

If you ask me to fear the gods. Cyclops

Don’t care about Zeus or his aegis

Or the blessed gods, since we are much stronger” 
            (Homer, Lombardo and Murnaghan, 2009).

In this passage, we can see the cyclops exhibiting exorbitant amounts of arrogance not only disregarding the laws set in place by the gods, but also claiming that he is stronger than the gods. Arrogance is an exemplifying attitude of pride in Greek culture. 

When studying the Iliad, we discussed the prevalence of pride in Greek culture. Every individual wanted to have pride and honor, and it sometimes became a conflict of interest. One of these situations occurred when Agamemnon attempts to persuade Achilles to join him in battle. In class we talked about how Agamemnon should have apologized in person to Achilles, but this would have resulted in the loss of his pride. The opposite would have happened if Achilles had joined Agamemnon (Homer, Lombardo and Murnaghan, 2009). As you can see, this resulted in a battle of pride and a no-win situation. While reviewing this story in class we discussed how being proud wasn’t necessarily bad. It becomes bad if your pride is excessive and you put your will against God’s will and the greater good. Elder Uchtdorf makes this distinction emphasizing that being prideful is when you put yourself before others, but you can be proud of certain things if you praise them without comparison. 

            The consequences for pride may have been more extreme for the Greeks then it is for us. Elder Uchtdorf emphasizes that pride is a “cancer” and “gateway sin” (Uchtdorf, 2018). Pride is the foundation and justification for all other sins. When living a prideful life, there are significant spiritual ramifications. As a “gateway sin”, pride could lead to a degenerate society and culture. Although pride causes many spiritual problems, we don’t have physical punishments for pride like Greeks did. In The Portable Greek Historians, we read about the pride and honor Croesus sought when urging to be named happiest of all mortals. Because he exhibited excessive amounts of pride, the gods sent him a “dream in the night, which foreshadowed him truly the evils that were about to befall him in the person of his son” (Finley, 1977). During Greek times, the gods didn’t hold back their punishment. This usually resulted in the death or destruction of one’s relations or property.

Today, we experience significant spiritual consequences for having too much pride in our hearts. Elder Uchtdorf encouraged us to lose this mentality and to focus on charity and the pure love of Christ. Despite suffering spiritual hardship, we are typically not physically punished like the Greeks were. It was made clear in the Greek culture that if you were going to exhibit excess pride, there would be ramifications and the gods would not show mercy. 

Works Cited

• Uchtdorf, D. (2018). Pride and the Priesthood - Dieter F. Uchtdorf. [online] Lds.org. Available at: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/pride-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng [Accessed 15 May 2018].  
• Homer, Lombardo, S. and Murnaghan, S. (2009). The Essential Homer. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., pp.306.     
• Homer, Lombardo, S. and Murnaghan, S. (2009). The Essential Homer. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., pp.298-314. 
  
• Finley, M. (1977). The Greek historians. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books, pp.44-45.