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Pride has had a curious and conflicted history in Western societies and their source cultures in Northern Africa and the Near East. It has been considered a worthwhile emotion and attribute, usually if not displayed in excess, but at the same or different times a deadly sin, a bar to eternal life and shamefully immodest. Noble or ignoble, it nevertheless has been a potent force in human affairs since the beginnings of recorded history, and probably before that.
Pride, or more specifically proud, comes from the Latin prodesse, “to be good or beneficial” (for the self). The dictionary that informs us of its etymology also informs us of its conflicted history. It is defined as a sense of one's worth, a reasonable or justifiable feeling of one's position, but also as an inordinate self-esteem or unreasonable conceit or superiority.
Although each ancient civilization is unique, each shares the common cultural experience of pride and shame. Standards or “shoulds” might vary, but evaluation of the self by standards resulting in pride or shame is invariable. When the society changed, standards might have changed, but assigning the self a score, measured by these norms, remained a constant.
Despite the variety of standards, there are a few that are universal or at least ubiquitous. For example, height is a prized attribute. High is worthy and low less worthy. Thus the king's throne and the judge's bench are higher than other seats. Male physical height is admired and the short male is often ridiculed or teased. This standard obtains even in our era: Impractical people are shortsighted, the unfortunates get the short end of the stick, cowboys ride tall in the saddle, and leading men in Hollywood, if not tall, dark, and handsome, are at least never short.
The tenacious and pervasive hold of pride has been with us since the