In Greek mythology hubris is often met with divine retribution meted out by Nemesis. This is what happened to Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, or Achilles after dragging Hector’s body behind his chariot.

The Lance Armstrong story is basically Greek mythology on the modern stage. From time immemorial humans have shown a deep and mysterious need to see heroes fall, and Lance is just one more example. Whether Lance did it or not is immaterial. His life fits the narrative and tearing him down fulfills something deep and strange in our collective psyche. It was always going to happen.

The real shame of the hubris mythology is that it nets a hero’s life to zero. In the case of Lance Armstrong, this outcome saddens me deeply. Somehow I can’t accept that Lance’s work for cancer treatment and awareness can be occluded by the doping scandal.

I would wager that  the thousands of cancer patients who have benefited from his work still think of Lance as a hero.