Hubris

This word came popping up when I told people I was writing songs

about mythical characters.

Not knowing the content of the concept I went on the net to find out:

Excessive, overbearing pride or presumption.

Wanton violence.

Aristotle defined hubris as follows:

to cause shame to the victim not in order that anything may happen to you,

nor because anything has happened to you, but merely for your own gratification.

Hubris is not the requital of past injuries; this is revenge.

As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: men think that by ill-treating

others they make their own superiority the greater.

In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance; it is

often associated with a lack of knowledge, interest in, and exploration of

history, combined with a lack of humility. An accusation of hubris often implies

that suffering or punishment will follow, similar to the occasional pairing of

hubris and Nemesis in the Greek world. The proverb "pride goes before a fall"

is thought to sum up the modern definition of hubris.

An abbreviation of Proverbs 16:18:

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

Be that as it may, I just went on writing songs about cool dudes and spicy

chicks living that literally breathtaking adventure we call life.

Finishing off with a question: Can a wolf be anything but a wolf?

Wim Oudijk

The Hague, December 2006

Play: “Aphrodite did”

Play: “Medusa”

1 The Leprechaun

2 Khaos

3 Sphinx

4 The Oracle

5 Medusa

6 Tantalus

7 Atlas/Arnie Shrugs

8 Aphrodite Did

9 Sysiphus

10 The High And The Mighty

11 Zeus The Man

12 Observations