Hubris In Oedipus At Colonus

"Hubris calls for nemesis, and in one form or another it 's going to get it, not as a punishment from outside but as the completion of a pattern already started," Mary Midgley, a British philosopher (Brainy Quotes). The cycle of hubris has been the same since the time of Homer and Thucydides. It starts with an important figure, either political or mythological, elevating themselves to the level of the Greek gods. Because of this excess pride, the gods then level this figure back to earth with tragedy more often than not. The literary works of that time can be used to show how hubris was a daily part of living in the Greek world. Hubris in ancient times was of great concern for the Greeks so much it that affected their mentality on society, politics

A second reinforcement of hubris by Sophocles is in Oedipus at Colonus. It is at the segment in the play when Oedipus is under host of Theseus, King of Athens, and King Creon of Thebes comes to take Oedipus for himself. Creon only wants Oedipus back from banishment because wherever Oedipus dies, there will be prosperity. However, Oedipus will not honor the city where his sons banished him from when he is not guilty. King Theseus accuses Creon of hubris and says, "I know / How guest to host ought to comport himself. / But you disgrace a state, that deserved better --- / Your own ---- by your own act;" (The Theban Plays, 89). Theseus is acknowledging that it is a religious act to provide refuge for those in need. The god of all gods, Zeus, has the epithet God of Guests which shows the importance of refuge. For Creon to take Oedipus and go against this religious act is hubris to the tenth degree. There is no more direct correlation of defiance to take a person that is under refuge not just of Theseus but of the gods and uproot him. Overall, religion and hubris go hand in hand with the notion that in the ancient Greek world, religion was performing sacrifices in the correct way, so the gods would bless in the here