Hubris as "Cosmic Relief'

I am reading about the Greek concept of "hubris" in Luc Ferry's The Wisdom of the Myths. On page 211 of this book, Ferry describes how, unlike the Christian concept of sin which is often focused on personal faults, hubris is more concerned with meting out punishments to ensure that a cosmic order and harmony is preserved. Presumably, if the punishment does not sufficiently fit the crime, disorder would naturally result. As Ferry remarks, many of the Greek myths center around characters such as Prometheus who, through the mistake of overconfidence or pride, overstep their place in the universe. The result is the wrath and eventual brutal punishments from the gods.
   I tend to think of hubris as "cosmic relief" from a psychological point of view. After all, can you imagine a universe that has no limits whatsoever, and a person can simply become whoever they wanted to be? Not only would such a universe be a bit boring, but it would also lead to a lot of anxiety, because one is no longer limited in their actions. It would be something like having this huge blank canvas that continually allows you to write over it, but then erases it almost instantly afterward, leaving no traces: almost like a giant Etch-a-Sketch toy. With hubris,on the other hand,one is reminded that there are limits to what a person can do, and overstepping one's boundaries does lead to felt harms and emotional distress. However, this does not mean that one is eternally damned! That would be a little bit overboard. It means that some kinds of regret might be healthy ways of recognizing that actions do have consequences, and there are always things we can learn from in mistaken actions. I take it that none of the stories in Greek myths are ever literally real, but instead, they suggest metaphorical relationships.

Ferry, Luc ( 2014 ) The Wisdom of the Myths: How Greek Mythology Can Change Your Life. New York: Harper