Justice In The Odyssey

In the dialogue-driven The Republic, the element of justice being self-moderated and internally constructed has conflicted with ideas and concepts manufactured by emotion, such as poetry and music. Mainly, in chapters three and ten, the protagonist goes in great dialectical lengths to contend that these products of art consequently drives humans to acts of iniquity such as unnecessary pleasures. In the heights of the Peloponnesian war, such sentiment of lust and emotion grew strong after the publication of Homer’s Greek epics, The Odyssey and Iliad, which dramatized a discreet understanding and image of Greece, much to Plato’s dismay. There wasn’t much conflict Plato had with the fictitious association of Homer’s canon, which he himself have

Likewise, Socrates denoted, “"With one tongue, [all poets] chant that moderation and justice are fair, but hard and full of drudgery, while intemperance and injustice are sweet and easy to acquire, and shameful only by opinion and law." (364a). Plato reinforce the contrast the power of poetry and truth-influenced writing. In Socrates’ perspective, poetry forestalls the moral expectations of order and justice that he enumerates. He denotes those who adhere to poetic concepts for understanding are inevitable tragedies, as poetry is an imitation of the true being. Imitation devastates the human psyche by fixing the mindset on what is believed to be the truth rather than the actual truth itself. If one base their fundamentals by imitation, they are oblivious to the differences between justices and injustices. Such can be affirmed by Socrates’ example of an uneducated man, feeble enough to follow what is taught to him, which can possibly be malevolent. Succeedingly, Plato furthers in his criticism by orating, “Then this will also be true of a tragedian, if indeed he is an imitator. He is by nature third from the king and the truth, as are all other imitators”. By designating imitation as a tragedy,

Referencing his idealized evolution of government, he chronologically initiates in the following order: aristocracy, where high class societies hold hereditary offices; timocracy, those who loved to be honored; oligarchy, ruled by a coterie of those who know confidential political intel; democracy ruled by the people; tyranny, the absolute agency of all citizens in the city government. Succeedingly, the moral philosopher stressed aristocratic government as the most preferential due to the preservation of guardianship, critical law, and self-sufficiency. Socrates fear that all of those elements of aristocracy may possibly be devastated by the power of poetry. Furthermore, his entropic association with democracy lines up with the fear of emotional sentiment and individualism that may sprout from poetry and Homeric language. Plato suggests that the authority of poetry in directing one’s thought could disobey the truth of forms, thus shifting its perception of morality and justice. Moreover, the protagonist of the philosophical manifesto notes how dangerous art could be through the power of influence and individual consciousness that may fade from the ideal conception of a Socratic society. Homeric language became extremely popular, contributing the