Hubris Has Always Offended the Gods

SEE HERE "Whom the gods destroy they first make mad." is a variant of an ancient proverb erroneously attributed to Euripides. The madness that George Will addresses here is the notion that government is the solution to all our problems. Indeed, the truth is closer to Ronald Reagan's saying, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem." The ancient Greeks seemed to better understand hubris than we do today. Hubris is a kind of blindness induced by pride and arrogance that you can do no wrong and that all must fall before you. The government often acts that way.