Plato's Well-Ordered Soul

For Plato, the only way to achieve the good life of true happiness is through a well-ordered soul, which fulfills its created purposes. When a person carries out the purposes for which they were created, they will be truly happy. In Aeschylus, we see the characters’ happiness quickly deteriorate and spiral into tragedy. Agamemnon’s idea of happiness is built on the foundation of victory in war. For Clytemnestra, a good life is one that is founded on power. Orestes’ happiness rests on taking revenge for his father’s life. All of their foundations crumble, because they are fragile, changeable foundations. Thus their illusions of happiness, as Plato would call them, cannot be sustained. These are the very kinds of foundations that Plato

This idea is first introduced in the first book. Plato explains to Thrasymachus that any particular thing only works well when it is carrying out the function for which it is suited. While a dagger or carving knife could prune a vine, one “could do a finer job with a pruning knife designed for the purpose.” (30) Plato goes on to say that each thing that has a particular function, has a virtue. “If they lacked their peculiar virtue and had the vice instead,” (30) they would not perform their function well. Plato then argues that there are some functions that only the soul can perform. Like the things mentioned previously, the soul has virtue, and it cannot perform its function well if “it is deprived of its own peculiar virtue.” (31) The soul’s virtue is justice, therefore, its vice is injustice. The conclusion Plato comes to is that “a just man will live well,” and “anyone who lives well is blessed and happy.”

People want something; they believe it will make them happy, and when they get it they are usually disappointed. Not only are they disappointed, but they continue to want more and more of power, love, or possessions without ever truly obtaining their true goal: to live a good life and be happy. The thing they desire usually stems from pain, grief, or a void they are trying to fill. Plato denies the idea that happiness is the relief of pain, but it is a very plausible concept for Aeschylus. Many of the examples of longing for happiness that we see in the Oresteia are a result of some kind of pain. Usually, death spurs on a desire for revenge, and the characters believe that they will not be happy until revenge takes place. This is their idea of justice, and as long as this is the definition of justice, happiness will never truly be obtained. For Plato, the just man has his rationalism, spiritedness, and appetitive desires well balanced and in order within his soul. He is not ruled by one or the other as the characters in the Oresteia are. Also, unlike Aeschylus’ characters, the just man in the just city is not concerned with a good life only for himself, but for the entire community. He will not kill another person to obtain his happiness. An action like this would be motivated by erotic energy, and therefore unjust, and not directed toward the good. A man who is ruled by erotic energy is,