Menu Search

The Guardian view on arrogance: the Greeks had a word for it

“The lead piping came for the Tories, first on election night and, since then, in their slow, shocked and wholly inadequate reaction to the catastrophe at Grenfell Tower.”

The Guardian (UK) Editorial, 16 June 2017
Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters

“The original meaning of hubris went far beyond the pride that goes before a fall: it was a deliberate, excessive and brutal act. Remind you of any government?…

“… I rather fancy it’s Shakespeare – or some equally brainy lad – who says it’s always just when a chappie is feeling particularly top-hole … that Fate sneaks up behind him with a bit of lead piping.” So says the immortal Bertie Wooster in the PG Wodehouse story Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest, and it is fairly certain that the hapless hero… is reaching for the word “hubris”, a word inherited from those brainy lads, the Greeks.

“…Wooster’s definition of hubris is perfectly good as far as our limited modern usage of the word goes. The lead piping came for the Tories, first in the shape of an exit poll on election night and, since then, perhaps in their slow, shocked and wholly inadequate reaction to the catastrophe at Grenfell Tower.

“But hubris… began with a rather different meaning. For the Greeks, it did not simply signal that pride goes before a fall but … an act intentionally designed to dishonour its victim. Hubris was expressly calculated to cause shame to the weak…

“…It is not just the immediate ministerial reactions to the Grenfell Tower that give the appearance of insulting contempt. Hubris in this wider sense has seemed to many to sum up the arrogance of the Tory party in its seven years in power.”

Access the editorial here: The Guardian view on arrogance

Leave a comment

Back to the top
We aim to have healthy debate. But we won't accept comments that are unsubstantiated, unnecessarily abusive or may expose the Trust in any way. All contributions are moderated before being published.

Comments are closed.