Authority versus Truth in Sophocle's Antigone and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

2450 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Antigone role of women and male authority

“Authority cannot afford to connive at disobedience” writes Sophocles in Antigone. This is also a central concern to Aristotle who establishes the importance of ‘Authority’ in the opening lines of his treatise Poltics:

“Since we see that every city-state is a sort of community and that every community is established for the sake of some good…it is clear that every community aims at some good, and the community which has the most authority of all and includes all the others aims highest, that is, at the good with the most authority. This is what is called the city-state or political community.” [I.1.1252a1–7](added emphasis)

He further states that the city-state comes into being for the sake of life but exists for the sake of the good life. The idea that good life or happiness is the proper end of the city-state recurs throughout the Politics (Book III & VII)

The existence of the city-state (polis) requires an efficient ruler. A community of any sort can possess order only if it has a ruling element or authority. This ruling principle is defined by the constitution, which sets criteria for political offices, particularly the sovereign office. Aristotle defines the constitution as “a certain ordering of the inhabitants of the city-state” (III.1.1274b32-41). It is not a written document, but an immanent organizing principle, analogous to the soul of an organism. Hence, the constitution is also “the way of life” of the citizens (IV.11.1295a40-b1, VII.8.1328b1-2). Here the citizens are that minority of the resident population who possess full political rights (III.1.1275b17–20). Once the constitution is in place, the politician needs to take the appropriate measures to maintain it, to introduce reforms when he finds them necessary,...

... middle of paper ...

...ilosophy Ed.Edward N. Zalta. Spring 2013. Web. 06 Nov. 2013

Loewenberg, J. "The Comic Spirit." The North American Review April 225.842 (1928): 485-91. Print.

Miller, Fred. "Aristotle's Political Theory". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Fall 2012. Web 06 Nov 2013.

Robinson, Andrew. "In Theory Bakhtin: Carnival against Capital, Carnival against Power." Ceasefire Magazine RSS. 9 Sept. 2011. Web. 07 Nov. 2013

Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will. Ed. Keir Elam. London: Arden Shakespeare, 2008. Print.

Sophocles. "King Oedipus." The Theban Plays. Trans. E.F. Watling. Baltimore: Penguin, 1947. Print.

Welsford, Enid. The Fool; His Social and Literary History. Gloucester, MA: P. Smith, 1966. Print.

Wiles, David. Shakespeare's Clown Actor and Text in the Elizabethan Playhouse. Cambridge [etc.: Cambridge UP, 1987. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Justice and Moderation of the Soul in The Republic, by Plato

    3023 Words  | 7 Pages

    In his philosophical text, The Republic, Plato argues that justice can only be realized by the moderation of the soul, which he claims reflects as the moderation of the city. He engages in a debate, via the persona of Socrates, with Ademantus and Gaucon on the benefit, or lack thereof, for the man who leads a just life. I shall argue that this analogy reflecting the governing of forces in the soul and in city serves as a sufficient device in proving that justice is beneficial to those who believe in, and practice it. I shall further argue that Plato establishes that the metaphorical bridge between the city and soul analogy and reality is the leader, and that in the city governed by justice the philosopher is king.

    Read More

  • Resistance to Civil Government: Thoreau

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...gining a State at least which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow-men.” This shows that he has hope for what could be in the future. It may not happen soon, but it is possible. Another statement from the text; “A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State, which also I have imagined, but not yet anywhere seen.” This means that for a better state and government there must be a failed and flawed one for a better one to come along. Our civil disobedience is not only a right, but a duty, in opposing injustice.

    Read More

  • Examining Viola's Character in Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    "William Shakespeare, William. "Twelfth Night." Norton's Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York City: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010.

    Read More

  • Martin Luther King Jr. versus Henry David Thoreau

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    "I please myself with imagining a State at least which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow-men. A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State…"

    Read More

  • Tyranny In Plato's The Republic

    424 Words  | 1 Pages

    However that was not the only thing that could be seen clearly through this conversation he wrote. Also in bedded in this dialogue was Socrates teachings. Plato expresses Socrates habits of searching “every corner of the city,” to find answers to his unending questions. The Republic allows the reader to see how Plato was able to use his knowledge to extend the discussion of Western Political Thought. As tradition follows, Plato’s student Aristotle also learned and developed what his tutor taught him. Aristotle was the third of the most infamous philosophers who _____. His ideas were captured in a collection of essays titled Politics. However, this time he would even question the original Greek belief that Democracy was the best way to govern correctly and fairly. Just as Plato believed Aristotle knew that tyranny ruled through, “private interest” as he

    Read More

  • Plato vs. Machiavelli

    1692 Words  | 4 Pages

    A longstanding debate in human history is what to do with power and what is the best way to rule. Who should have power, how should one rule, and what its purpose should government serve have always been questions at the fore in civilization, and more than once have sparked controversy and conflict. The essential elements of rule have placed the human need for order and structure against the human desire for freedom, and compromising between the two has never been easy. It is a question that is still considered and argued to this day. However, the argument has not rested solely with military powers or politicians, but philosophers as well. Two prominent voices in this debate are Plato and Machiavelli, both of whom had very different ideas of government's role in the lives of its people. For Plato, the essential service of government is to allow its citizens to live in their proper places and to do the things that they are best at. In short, Plato's government reinforces the need for order while giving the illusion of freedom. On the other hand, Machiavelli proposes that government's primary concern is to remain intact, thereby preserving stability for the people who live under it. The feature that both philosophers share is that they attempt to compromise between stability and freedom, and in the process admit that neither can be totally had.

    Read More

  • Utopia and Il Muqaddimah

    597 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... an entire community can fall apart, by doing his job the ruler ensures his success, “this can be improved only through the equitable treatment of people with property and regard for them, so that their hopes rise, and they have the incentive to start making their capitol bear fruit and grow. This, in turn, increases the ruler’s revenues in taxes” (Khaldun 1734). A ruler must know that subjects have an important role and he does as well; however, he must never confuse this role because it leads to his downfall as well as those who look up to him.

    Read More

  • The Chains of Social Hierarchy and Gender Roles

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joseph, Bertram. Rev. of The Twelfth Night of Shakespeare’s Audience, by John W. Draper. Review of English Studies 3.10 (1952): 170-71. Print.

    Read More

  • philospher king

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    It can now be ascertained that the “ Allegory of the Cave” justifies why the philosopher king has a sense of obligation to rule over the city-state because he travels through a journey in which he is able to perceive all forms of good and gives up his self interest for the preservation of the city-state. We see that with the form of good anchored in his soul, he has a true sense of justice and feels the need to rule out necessity. Secondly, after descending into the cave, the philosopher comes to the understanding that he in-fact binds the city together and with the philosopher king at the forefront, the city can continue on a path of ascension that correlates with the form of the good.

    Read More

  • Socrates Was NOT Guilty

    1660 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ur trials and manage the city in other ways, has in fact come to an agreement with us to obey our instructions (63e). If the decisions of the city’s governing agents are not thoroughly respected as just and cohesive parts of society, the very structure by which the society stands is subject to collapse.

    Read More

  • The Fool as a Playwright in Twelfth Night

    2845 Words  | 6 Pages

    Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.

    Read More

  • Malvolio: The Perfect Outcast In William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

    1669 Words  | 4 Pages

    William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139.

    Read More

  • Political Authority in Sophocles' Antigone

    414 Words  | 1 Pages

    Socrates asks how can an organization, that by its very nature must act immorally (eg. Allow injustice) have moral authority? Since a political community must require its citizens to accept, unquestioningly, (at least at times) its basic assumptions and must demand obedience to its laws for the community to continue to survive and prosper, it must stifle individual humans in their pursuit of knowledge.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Thrasymachus' Argument in The Republic

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    "'Don't you know that some cities are ruled by tyranny, some by a democracy, and some by an aristocracy?'

    Read More

  • Political Philosophy

    1755 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aristotle’s emphasis is on the city-state, or the political world as a natural occurrence. He says “every city-state exists by nature, since the first communities do.” (Aristotle 3). Aristotle continually reiterates the notion that the creation of a community comes from necessity; individuals aim at the highest good of all, happiness, through their own rationality, and the only way to achieve happiness is through the creation of the city-state. Aristotle follows the creation of a household and a village to the creation of the city-state in which citizens are able to come together to aim at the “good which has the most authority of all,” (Aristotle 1) happiness. In turn, this necessity for the formation of a city state comes from the idea of man as a rational being. “It is also clear why a human being is more of a political animal than a bee or any other gregarious animal… no animal has speech except for a human being.” (Aristotle 4). For Aristotle, human beings are political animals because of their ability to speak, their ability to communicate pleasures and desires, and their ability to reason. Aristotle’s state com...

    Read More

More about Authority versus Truth in Sophocle's Antigone and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

Open Document