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33 - The Republic - Plato · The Philosophy Insights Collection

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Book nine, Part one. Last of all comes the tyrannical man, about
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whom we have once more to ask, how is he formed out of the
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democratical and how does he live in happiness or in misery? Yes, he
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said, he is the only one remaining. There is, However, I
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said, a previous question which remains unanswered. What question? I do not
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think that we have adequately determined the nature and number of the appetites, And
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until this is accomplished, the inquiry will always be confused. Well, he
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said, it is not too late to supply the omission. Very true,
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I said, and observe the point which I want to understand. Certain of
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the unnecessary pleasures and appetites I conceive to be unlawful. Everyone appears to have
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them. But in some persons they are controlled by the laws and by reason,
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and the better desires prevail over them. Either they are wholly banished,
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or they become few and weak, while in the case of others, they
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are stronger, and there are more of them. Which appetites do you mean?
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I mean those which are awake. When the reasoning and human and ruling
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power is asleep, then the wild beast within us gorged with meat, or
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drink, starts up, and, having shaken off sleep, goes forth to
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satisfy his desires. And there is no conceivable folly or crime, not accepting
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incest or any other unnatural union, or parricide, or the eating of forbidden
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food, which at such a time, when he has parted company with all
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shame and sense, a man may not be ready to commit. Most true,
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he said, But when a man's pulse is healthy and temperate, and
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when before going to sleep, he has awakened his rational powers and fed them
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on noble thoughts and enquiries, collecting himself in meditation, after having first indulged
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his appetites, neither too much nor too little, but just enough to lay
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them to sleep, and prevent them and their enjoyments and pains from interfering with
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the higher principle, which he leaves in the solitude of pure abstraction, free
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to contemplate and aspire to the knowledge of the unknown, whether in past,
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present, or future. When again he has allayed the passionate element, if
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he has a quarrel against any one, I say, when after pacifying the
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two irrational principles, he rouses up the third, which is reason, before
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he takes his rest. Then, as you know, he attains truth most
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nearly and is least likely to be the sport of fantastic and lawless visions.
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I quite agree in saying this, I have been running into a digression.
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But the point which I desire to note is that in all of us,
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even in good men, there is a lawless, wild beast nature which peers
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out in sleep. Pray, consider whether I am right, and you agree
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with me? Yes, I agree. And now remember the character which we
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attributed to the democratic man. He was supposed, from his youth upwards to
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have been trained under a miserly parent, who encouraged the saving appetites in him,
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but discountenanced the unnecessary, which aim only at amusement and ornament. True,
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and then he got into the company of a more refined, licentious sort
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of people, and, taking to all their wanton ways, rushed into the
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opposite extreme from an abhorrence of his father's meanness, at last, being a
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better man than his corruptors, he was drawn in both directions until he halted
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midway and led a life not of vulgar and slavish passion, but of what
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he deemed moderate indulgence in various pleasures. After this manner, the democrat was
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generated out of the oligarch. Yes, he said, not was our view
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of him, and is so still. And now, I said, years
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will have passed away, and you must conceive this man such as he is.
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To have a son who is brought up in his father's principles, I
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can imagine him. Then you must further imagine the same thing to happen to
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the son which has already happened to the father. He is drawn into a
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perfectly lawless life, which by his seducers is termed perfect liberty, and his
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father and friends take part with his moderate desires, and the opposite party assist
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the opposite ones. As soon as these dire magicians and tyrant makers find that
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they are losing their hold on him, they contrive to implant in him a
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master passion to be lord over his idle and spendthrift lusts, a sort of
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monstrous wing drone. That is the only image which will adequately describe him.
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Yes, he said, that is the only adequate image of him. And
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when his other lusts amid clouds of incense and perfumes, and garlands and wines
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and all the pleasures of a dissolute life. Now let loose come buzz around
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him, nourishing to the utmost the sting of desire which they implant in his
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drone like nature. Then at last this lord of the soul, having madness
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for the captain of his guard, breaks out into a frenzy. And if
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he finds in himself any good opinions or appetites in process of formation, and
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there is in him any sense of shame remaining to these better principles, he
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puts an end and casts them forth, until he has purged away temperance and
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brought in madness to the full. Yes, he said, that is the
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way in which the tyrannical man is generated. And is not this the reason
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why of old love has been called a tyrant? I should not wonder further,
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I said, has not a drunken man also the spirit of a tyrant?
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He has? And you know that a man who is deranged and not
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right in his mind will fancy that he is able to rule not only over
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men, but also over the gods. That he will. And the tyrannical
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man, in the true sense of the word, comes into being when,
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either under the influence of nature or habit or both. He becomes drunken,
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lustful, passionate. O, my friend, is not that so? Assuredly?
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Such is the man, and such is his origin? And next,
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how does he live? Suppose, as people facetiously say, you were to
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tell me, I imagine I said, at the next step in his progress,
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that there will be feasts and carousals, and revelings and courtesans and all
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that sort of thing. Love is the lord of the house within him and
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orders all the concerns of his soul. That is certain. Yes, And
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every day and every night desires grow up many and formidable, and their demands
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are many. They are, indeed, he said, His revenues, if
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he has any, are soon spent. True, then comes debt and the
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cutting down of his property. Of course, when he has nothing left.
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Must not his desires crowding in the nest like young ravens be crying aloud for
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food. And he goaded on by them, and especially by Love himself,
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who is in a manner. The captain of them is in a frenzy,
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and would fain discover whom he can defraud or despoil of his property in order
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that he may gratify them. Yes, that is sure, to be the
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case. He must have money, no matter how, if he is to
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escape horrid pains and pangs, he must. And as in himself, there
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was a succession of pleasures, and the new got the better of the old
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and took away their rights. So he, being younger, will claim to
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have more than his father and his mother. And if he has spent his
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own share of the property, he will take a slice of theirs, No
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doubt he will. And if his parents will not give way, then he
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will try, first of all to cheat and deceive them, very true.
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And if he fails, then he will use force and plunder them. Yes,
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probably. And if the old man and woman fight for their own what,
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then, my friend, will the creature feel any compunction at tyrannizing over
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them? Nay, he said, I should not feel at all comfortable about
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his parents. But oh, heavens adeimantus, on account of some new fangled
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love of a harlot who is anything but a necessary connection. Can you believe
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that he would strike the mother, who is his ancient friend and necessary to
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his very existence, and would place her under the authority of the other when
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she is brought under the same roof with her, Or that under like circumstances,
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he would do the same to his withered old father first, and most
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indispensable of friends, for the sake of some newly found blooming youth, who
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is the reverse of indispensable. Yes, indeed, he said, I believe
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that he would. Truly, Then I said, a tyrannical son is a
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blessing to his father and mother. He is, indeed, he replied.
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He first takes their property, and when that fails and pleasures are beginning to
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swarm in the hive of his soul, then he breaks into a house or
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steals the garments of some knightly wayfarer. Next he proceeds to clear temple.
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Meanwhile, the old opinions which he had when a child, and which gave
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judgment about good and evil, are overthrown by those others which have just been
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emancipated, and are now the body guard of Love and share his empire.
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These, in his democratic days, when he was still subject to the laws
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and to his father, were only let loose in the dreams of sleep.
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But now that he is under the dominion of love, he becomes always and
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in waking reality what he was then very rarely and in a dream only he
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will commit the foulest murder, or eat forbidden food, or be guilty of
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any other horrid act. Love is his tyrant, and lives lordly in him
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and lawlessly, and being himself a king, leads him on as a tyrant
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leads a state to the performance of any reckless deed by which he can maintain
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himself and the rabble of his associates, whether those whom evil communicates have brought
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in from without, or those whom he himself has allowed to break loose within
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him by reason of a similar evil nature in himself, have we not here
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a picture of his way of life? Yes, indeed, he said.
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And if there are only a few of them in the state, and the
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rest of the people are well disposed, they go away and become the bodyguard
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or mercenary soldiers of some other tyrant, who may probably want them for a
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war. And if there is no war, they stay at home and do
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many little pieces of mischief in the city. What sort of mischief? For
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example, they are thieves, burglars, cut purses, foot pads, robbers
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of temples, man stealers of the community. Or if they are able to
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speak, they turn informers and bear false witnes and take bribes a small catalog
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of evils, even if the perpetrators of them are few in number, yes,
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I said, but small and great are comparative terms. And all these
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things, in the misery and evil which they inflict upon a state, do
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not come within a thousand miles of the tyrant. When this noxious class and
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their followers grow numerous and become conscious of their strength, assisted by the infatuation
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of the people, they choose from among themselves the one who has most of
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the tyrant in his own soul, and him they create their tyrant, yes,
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he said, and he will be the most fit to be a tyrant
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if the people yield well and good. But if they resist him, as
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he began by beating his own father and mother. So now if he has
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the power, he beats them and will keep his dear old fatherland or motherland.
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As the Cretans say in subjection to his young retainers, whom he has
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introduced to be their rulers and masters, this is the end of his passions
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and desires. Exactly when such men are only private individuals, and before they
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get power, this is their character. They associate entirely with their own flatterers
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or ready tools, or if they want anything from anybody, they in their
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turn are equally ready to bow down before them. They profess every sort of
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affection for them, but when they have gained their point, they know them
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no more. Yes, truly, they are always either the masters or servants,
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and never the friends of anybody. The tyrant never tastes of true freedom
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or friendship. Certainly not, and may not we rightly call such men treacherous,
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no question. Also they are utterly unjust. If we were right in
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our notion of justice, yes, he said, and we were perfectly right.
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Let us then sum up in a word, I said, the character
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of the worst man. He is the waking reality of what we dreamed most
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true. And this is he who, being by nature most of a timearrant,
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bears rule. And the longer he lives, the more of a tyrant
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he becomes. That is certain, said Glaucon, taking his turn to answer.
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And will not he who has been shown to be the wickedest be also
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the most miserable, And he who has tyrannized longest and most most continually and
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truly miserable, Although this may not be the opinion of men in general.
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Yes, he said, inevitably, And must not the tyrannical man be like
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the tyrannical state, and the democratical man like the democratical state, and the
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same of the others. Certainly, and as state is to state in virtue
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and happiness, so is man in relation to man. To be sure,
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then, comparing our original city, which was under a king, and the
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city which is under a tyrant, how do they stand as to virtue?
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They are the opposite extremes, he said, for one is the very best
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and the other is the very worst. There can be no mistake, I
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said, as to which is which. And therefore I will at once enquire
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whether you would arrive at a similar decision about their relative happiness and misery.
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And here we must not allow ourselves to be panic stricken at the apparition of
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the tyrant, who is only a unit, and may perhaps have a few
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retainers about him. But let us go, as we ought, into every
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corner of the city and look all about, and then we will give our
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opinion a fair invitation, he replied. And I see, as every one
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must, that a tyranny is the wretchedest form of government, and the rule
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of a king the happiest and in estimating the men too. May I not
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fairly make a like request that I should have a judge whose mind can enter
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into and see through human nature. He must not be like a child who
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looks at the outside and is dazzled at the pompous aspect which the tyrannical nature
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assumes to the beholder. But let him be one who has a clear insight.
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May I suppose that the judgment is given in the hearing of us all
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by one who is able to judge, and has dwelt in the same place
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with him, and been present at his daily life, and known him in
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his family relations, where he may be seen stripped of his tragedy attire.
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And again in the hour of public danger, he shall tell us about the
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happiness and misery of the tyrant when compared with other men. That, again,
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he said, is a very fair proposal. Shall I assume that we
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ourselves are able and experienced judges, and have before now met with such a
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person. We shall then have some one who will answer our enquiries by all
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means. Let me ask you not to forget the parallel of the individual and
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the state. Bearing this in mind and glancing in turn from one to the
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other of them, Will you tell me their respective conditions? What do you
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mean, he asked, beginning with the state, I replied, would you
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say that a city which is governed by a tyrant is free or enslaved?
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No city, he said, can be more completely enslaved. And yet,
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as you see, there are free men as well as masters in such a
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state, Yes, he said, I see that there are a few.
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But the people, speaking generally, and the best of them are miserably degraded
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and enslaved. Then if the man is like the state, I said,
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must not the same rule prevail. His soul is full of meanness and vulgarity,
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The best elements in him are enslaved, and there is a small ruling
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part which is also the worst and maddest. Inevitably, and would you say
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that the soul of such a one is the soul of a freeman or of
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a slave. He has the soul of a slave, in my opinion.
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And the state which is enslaved under a tyrant is utterly incapable of acting voluntarily,
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utterly incapable. And also the soul which is under a tyrant, I
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am speaking of the soul taken as a whole is least capable of doing what
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she desires. There is a gadfly which goads her, and she is full
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of trouble and remorse, certainly, And is the city which is under a
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tyrant rich or poor poor? And the tyrannical soul must be always poor and
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insatiable? True? And must not such a state and such a man be
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always full of fear? Yes, Indeed, is there any state in which
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you will find more of lamentation and sorrow and groaning and pain? Certainly not.
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And is there any man in whom you will find more of this sort
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of misery than in the tyrannical man, who is in a fury of passions
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and desires impossible. Reflecting upon these and similar evils, you held the tyrannical
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state to be the most miserable of states. And I was right, he
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said, certainly, I said, And when you see the same evils in
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the tyrannical man, what do you say of him? I say that he
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is by far the most miserable of all men. There, I said,
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I think that you are beginning to go wrong. What do you mean?
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I do not think that he has as yet reached the utmost extreme of misery.
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Then, who is more miserable one of whom I am about to speak?
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Who is that? He who is of a tyrannical nature, and,
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instead of leading a private life, has been cursed with the further misfortune of
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being a public tyrant. From what has been said, I gather that you
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are right, Yes, I replied, but in this high argument you should
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be a little more certain and should not conjecture only, for of all questions,
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this respecting good and evil is the greatest, very true, he said.
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End of Book nine, Part one,