Pride and humility

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My son Dewi wanted to put up some shelves one night and the screws we had weren't very good so we tried some others. I said to Dewi I think they are a bit proud, meaning the heads were sticking out rather. He hadn't heard the word used like that. I learned it from my dad. Pride is sticking your head out, I guess. If we want to maintain unity as Christians, we need to learn to keep low. Are you humble? It's a tough one. If you say “yes” you are probably not. Somebody once said that humility is something you should always pray for but that you can never give thanks for having received!

Hubris - Two ancient examples

The ancient Greeks spoke often of hubris, the word they used for pride or self-confidence. They had many stories of how hubris would lead to a character's nemesis, his downfall.

Achilles

Perhaps you know the story of Achilles in Homer's Iliad about the Trojan War. Achilles is Greece's best warrior. He kills many of Troy's greatest warriors. However, as the battle rages ons, at a certain point Achilles stops fighting. Achilles captures a beautiful princess named Briseis and falls in love with her but the Greek leader Agamemnon is angry and takes Briseis from him. Achilles is depressed and refuses to fight.

With Achilles not fighting, the Greeks began to lose the battle. The greatest warrior of Troy was Hector. He confronts Patroculus who everyone thinks Achilles because he has borrowed Achilles' armour. With the help of the god Apollo, Hector kills Patroclus and takes Achilles' armour. Achilles then rejoins the battle in order to avenge his friend's death. He meets Hector on the battlefield and, after a long fight, defeats him. Achilles continues fighting but the Greek god Apollo knows his weakness, his heel. When Paris of Troy shoots an arrow at Achilles, Apollo guide it so that it strikes Achilles on the heel. He dies from the wound. It is his pride that has been his undoing.

This is Peter's problem too. He thinks he is invincible and indispensable but like Achilles he is not.

Icarus

Perhaps you know the story of Icarus the son of Daedelus.

Ancient Crete was ruled over by the Minoans. Daedalus was the man who designed the magnificent Palace of Knossos on the island. It remains have survived to this day.

King Minos and Daedalus had a good relationship at first but they fell out at some point. The Labyrinth was said to be a maze built by Daedalus to trap the mythical monster the Minotaur and to imprison others who would then be killed by the monster. At some point Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his young son Icarus there.

Daedalus soon planned a way for he and his son to escape. He figured that escape on foot or by sea could not work so it had to be by air. He created gigantic wings, using branches from an osier tree kept together with wax. He taught Icarus how to fly but warned him to keep away from the sun because the heat would make the wax melt, destroying the wings.

The two managed to escape the Labyrinth and flew into the sky. However, the young and self-confident Icarus flew too near the sun and despite his father's warnings the wax melted and he plummeted into the Icarian Sea.

Another of Aesop's fables against pride and self-confidence

Another of Aesop's fables tells of a milkmaid who had been out to milk the cows and was returning from the field with the shining milk pail balanced nicely on her head. As she walked along, her pretty head was busy with plans for the days to come. 

"This good, rich milk," she mused, "will give me plenty of cream to churn. The butter I make I'll take to market, and with the money I get for it I'll buy a lot of eggs for hatching. How nice it will be when they are all hatched and the yard is full of fine young chicks. Then when May day comes I'll sell them, and with the money I'll buy a lovely new dress to wear to the fair. All the young men will look at me. They'll come and try to court me - but I'll very quickly send them about their business!" 

As she thought of how she would settle that matter, she tossed her head scornfully, and down fell the pail of milk to the ground. And all the milk flowed out, and with it vanished butter and eggs and chicks and new dress and all the milkmaid's pride.

This is Peter again isn't it? He can picture himself speaking up fearlessly for Jesus and not being at all afraid to testify. He can even imagine dying for Jesus if necessary. In reality his pride is his undoing. The other disciples are no better.

Two Aesop's fables against self-confidence

Among Aesop's famous fables is the story of the hare and the tortoise. There is some argument about what it teaches but certainly the hare's misplaced self-confidence is part of his problem. There are various versions but most begin with the hare mocking the tortoise's feet, prompting the tortoise to challenge the hare to a race. The hare says, 'Those are just words. Race against me, and you'll see!'. He then asks who will mark out the track and serve as umpire and the tortoise suggests the fox as being honest and intelligent. When the time for the race has been decided on, the tortoise does not delay, but immediately takes off down the race course. The hare, however, lays down to take a nap, confident in the speed of his feet. Then, when the hare eventually makes his way to the finish line, he finds the tortoise has already won. 

A lesser known fable makes the same point, among others - that of the fox and the cat. A fox was boasting to a cat of its clever devices for escaping its enemies. "I have a whole bag of tricks," he said, "which contains a hundred ways of escaping my enemies." "I have only one," said the cat. "But I can generally manage with that." Just at that moment they heard the cry of a pack of hounds coming towards them, and the cat immediately scampered up a tree and hid herself in the boughs. "This is my plan," said the cat. "What are you going to do?" The fox thought first of one way, then of another, and while he was debating, the hounds came nearer and nearer, and at last the fox in his confusion was caught up by the hounds and soon killed by the huntsmen.