Role of Hubris

Hubris is the excessive pride or self-confidence in oneself. Odysseus and Niobe are hubris in their stories because they think they are the most important people. Hubris can be good sometimes, but people who are hubris usually end up harming others and themselves because they begin to think their more important, this type of behavior is used by Odysseus and Niobe in the stories. Some people show a lot of hubris like Odysseus and Niobe because they like to show off what they have and doing that they end up getting harmed and getting others harmed in the process. The three topics that will be discussed in these upcoming passages is that why Odysseus and Niobe are hubris, how hubris plays a large role in Odysseus and Niobe’s life, and lastly how the hubris that Odysseus and Niobe exhibit affects others extremely in some cases.

First off hubris is the excessive pride or self-confidence in oneself. In our stories the two characters who are hubristic are Odysseus and Niobe, there are reasons for why these specific people are hubristic. They each have their own reasons for their excessive self-confidence. Odysseus has hubris because he is denied from his family, and he boasts about it when he says, ‘“I am Laertes’ son, Odysseus. Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war”’ (Homer lines 18-19). This shows how Odysseus thinks he is more important since he is the son of Laertes. In the story of Niobe, she is very boastful because she has 14 spectacular children and she is also the daughter of Tantalus and the wife of King Amphion of Thebes. She brags to Leto about how many marvelous children she has and how Leto only has two children at a ceremony to honor Leto.

Niobe shows hubris when she rants about how more much more valuable she is than Leto when she exclaims, ”Leto is nothing but a feeble creation of mortal minds. She is invisible and impotent, whereas I am the daughter of King Tantalus of Lydia, who was the only mortal ever invited to feast with the immortals on Mount Olympus. My mother, was one of the Pleiades, is the daughter of the great titan, Atlas, now the mightiest mountain, on whose high shoulders the starry heaven rest. Zeus is both my grandfather and my father-in-law.” (“Niobe” pg.132). I chose this passage because it shows what makes Niobe hubris and how she is bragging about her ancestry. Since they are hubris they affect their lives because hubris is a big role in people’s lives.

Next, hubris is a very big role in Odysseus and Niobe’s life because they feel that they are very important and they don’t need anybody else to help them or that they are more important than others. Odysseus shows this when he shouts out at the gods about how he doesn’t need any of the gods after he wins a battle against the Cicones. After all of this, the gods decide to make his trip home extremely difficult. Odysseus shows how his hubris came back to harm him and his men when he sadly says, ”So doom appeared to us, dark world of Zeus for us, our evil days.”(Homer line 55-56). This shows how Zeus was gonna make Odysseus’s way home difficult. Also, Hubris plays a very big role in Niobe’s life because after the death of her sons she was left to sorrow since her husband took his life with a dagger after since he couldn’t believe the losses of his dead sons. Niobe began to taunt Leto, even more, saying she still has more amazing children than her.

Artemis then heard about this and killed all of the daughters of Niobe, now was left alone in sorrow surrounded by all of her dead 14 children and her dead husband. Niobe has now found out the effect of her hubris when the narrator states, ”There Niobe sat, surrounded by death. Her husband, her seven sons, and her seven daughters.”(Homer pg. 135). This shows how her arrogance brought her to this horrid point of life. Odysseus and Niobe also cause a lot of pain to others in the process. Lastly, Odysseus and Niobe having hubris affects others around then, for example, Odysseus shows hubris throughout the first half of the Odyssey because he is very immature and hasn’t had to deal with many struggles. Odysseus ends up harming his men due to his hubris in the Odyssey part I “The Cyclops” Odysseus leads his men into a cave in a bigger island with goats and they find out that the Cyclops, Polyphemus, lives in that cave.

Polyphemus blocks the cave in with a huge boulder. Polyphemus finds Odysseus and his men and he grabs 2 of Odysseus men and smashes their brains into the floor. Odysseus must have realised the type of harm that he is causing to his men due to his hubris when Odysseus states, “Neither reply nor pity came from him, not in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brain out, splattering the floor.”(Homer line 232-235). I chose this passage because it shows the tragedy his men had to view and experience. In the myth of Niobe, her daughters get affected due to her hubris when she is at a ceremony in honor of Leto and she began to be arrogant. Niobe lashed out at Leto because she felt that she had fourteen perfect children and Leto only has two and Niobe thought that she was way better than Leto.

Apollo and Artemis had heard about this insult and now they had come down to Earth to kill the children of Niobe. Apollo killed all seven of Niobe’s sons and Artemis would then kill all seven of Niobe’s daughters in front of their mother’s eyes. Niobe is about to face the wrath of Leto’s children when the author states, “Apollo planned to make his long silver bow sing as he shot the seven sons of Niobe. Artemis would then rain her golden arrows down upon Niobe’s Daughters. Nothing diverted these deathless gods from their divine vengeance.” (“Niobe” pg.133). This shows how Niobe’s words ended up making her sons get murdered but her daughters survived. Conclusively the act of hubris usually ends up harming others and themselves because they begin to think their more important, this type of behavior is very harmful to not just themselves but other people.

In these stories Odysseus harms his men quite frequently or leads them into bad situations like the cave in the Cyclops story and when he shouts at the gods causing the journey to becoming even more difficult since he doesn’t believe that the gods are that powerful. Niobe causes all of her children to be murdered by Apollo and Artemis, this death of all of her children causes her husband to kill himself. I know that Niobe and Odysseus have a lot to brag about but when they brag it irritates other people like in Odysseus case he irritated Zeus and for Niobe, she irritated Apollo and Artemis. If they were never to have excessive self-confidence in the first place they would never have any of these tragic situations happen to them. This is a life lesson to not be overly cocky about something and to not brag about something that other people might not have because people can become mad at you and things might not end up well. Finally, the bigger meaning of this essay is that when you are arrogant or if you have excessive confidence you can end up harming yourself and others.