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).
(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.
Jen I basically drew the same conclusions you did in regards to acceptable forms of pride and difference in consequences for pride. However, I was particularly intrigued by the nature of the gods in Greek writings verses how God is portrayed in LDS writing. I just don’t know how anybody could lead a peaceful life knowing that you can offend deity and not only would they not bless you, but they would curse you. It seems strange to me that Greeks would believe in gods that were equally as petty as humans, but then again I’m sure the Greeks would find it odd that our God is so forgiving of our follies and rebellion. Thanks for sharing your insight!
ReplyDeleteYour conclusion paragraph raised the strong point that although pride is seen in both Greek culture and our modern day, its results are a bit different. This is a great observation! In the Mormon culture, I have yet to hear of Poseidon sending on of our members on a 10-year long journey.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the exact results of pride have changed, the eventual unhappiness has been a never changing consequence of pride in both cultures. Great blog post!