THE NATURAL DESIRE FOR THE SUPREMACY OF ONE
“The frogs, grieved at having no established Ruler, sent ambassadors to Jupiter entreating for a King. Perceiving their simplicity, he cast down a huge log into the lake. The Frogs were terrified at the splash occasioned by its fall and hid themselves in the depths of the pool. But as soon as they realized that the huge log was motionless, they swam again to the top of the water, dismissed their fears, climbed up, and began squatting on it in contempt. After some time they began to think themselves ill-treated in the appointment of so inert a Ruler, and sent a second deputation to Jupiter to pray that he would set over them another sovereign. He then gave them an Eel to govern them. When the Frogs discovered his easy good nature, they sent yet a third time to Jupiter to beg him to choose for them still another King. Jupiter, displeased with all their complaints, sent a Heron, who preyed upon the Frogs day by day till there were none left to croak upon the lake.”
Aesop’s fable tells of a problem that has existed throughout history, the need for supremacy. Someone always has to be the best, the leader, the ultimate judge, and without this ranking, the people are never satisfied. There is a need for humans to classify others into the general categories of inferior and superior and the ultimate superior is necessary. This tendency has led many nations to create a form of rule with only one leader which although can at times be beneficial is always a waiting disaster. This has been a tendency through out history that has led to the downfall of many civilizations and is also a basis in religion and can be seen in many aspects of today’s society.
Before civilization began, humans existed as nomadic wonderers. People looked nothing like the people of today and they spent their existence surviving. Not only did they look different, they lived differently as well. Very little would be recognizable to the people of today and their way of life was altogether different than the human way of life today. However, supremacy still existed in these nomadic tribes. Evidences have been found, showing there to be a chief or key person who looked over the tribe and served as the ruler. This shows that from the beginning of time people have had this desire to rule or be ruled over.
In the ancient myths from the Aegean seas, much political theory is derived. Lessons on the dangers associated with monarchical political forms are brought to light. The connection between gender and power along with violence, war and necessity raise questions to enact a democracy and depersonalize the government.
Western thought and culture grew out of Greek ideals. Since “there is nothing new under the sun,” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) many of the ideals expressed by Homer, Sophocles, and Hesiod ring true for Westerners today. Part of the myth of a tragic hero includes a leadership position of some sort: often noble birth, kingship, or military leadership. Tragic plays like Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and the Iliad served as worship, entertainment, examples of virtue, and cautionary tales. Modern Americans can look back at such works and apply the ideas to selecting and serving as leaders on a national, community, or family level. Some of desirable qualities illustrated in Archaic and Classical Greek works include self-control, fairness, respect for moral law, service to one’s community, courage, and honor.
Both the first civilizations and Ancient Greece were marked by great leaders, though one society gave its citizens more jurisdiction over their own lives than the other. The people of the first civilizations had more power than those of Ancient Greece as shown by their powerful kings in The Epic of Gilgamesh and their leader’s ability to listen in The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, versus the supreme rule of the king in Plato’s The Republic.
The First Civilizations of the world were the stepping-stone into modern society, and the original basis as to what our modern society has become. Reading through the assigned text in Ways of the World: A Brief Global History by Robert W. Strayer, in the chapter titled “First Civilizations: Cities, States, and Unequal Societies”, the reader is introduced into what evolved into the world in which we currently live in. (Please note that the writer will be referring to text from Strayer’s 2011 edition of the text, in comparison to the modern version.) The entire chapter discusses the way that the civilizations emerged, as well as how equality was eventually diminished from the society, Mesoamerica, and the six civilizations themselves: Olmec, Norte Chico, Nile Valley, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, and China. The chapter begins with asking, the general questions: “Who? What? When? Where? Why?” Giving a brief history, the first civilizations began to rise in the time period of 3500 B.C.E. and 3000 B.C.E. in the three most geographically historic regions in the world: The Middle East, Sumer, and Egypt. These places consisted of cities, political systems, and were responsible for economic input and output.
Conditionally being free within society from oppressive limitations, or the right to pursue after whatever makes one subjectively happy is human instinct. Equality, Liberty, and alongside the pursuit of happiness goes among with visualizing a place in which the economy, social conditions, and government, are perfect is the interpretation of an immaculate culture. As ideas are formed absorbing conciseness from one person to another, so did the start of forming a society. Slowly human culture began arriving to decisions establishing in one place developing their own food, fabricating a system of letters, and constructing permanent homes creating the first civilizations. The multitude of people living with each other in a more or less ordered
First Civilization Study Questions Part II: The Erosion of Equality and The Rise of the State
Now that groups were steadily together, they began to expand their knowledge, their tool making abilities had increased, they learned to make huts, and did so because they believed they were easier to defend. Others would not try and take over this hut, not because it belonged to the one who built it, but either because it served no use to them, they were weaker, they could build it themselves, or most likely, they knew that they would have to fight with the family if they did attempt to take it. Instead, this person was likely to become a neighbor, rather then an enemy for the sheer motive of convenience. Essentially, the fact that others stood by as one did something for oneself, mimicked it rather than tearing it down, allowed for the ideas of property, and ownership. Property, as it grew large in its ideology would become too big for those who would eventually try to tear it down, this would lead to laws and groups who would enforce it as being a valid concept. Thus Ownership, Property, and Law are the basis for the outbreak and ever present inequality in our lives.
In all of these stories, mankind is created by a more powerful being. This represents the belief that...
Another ancient civilization was the Romans. They started out as a monarchy government by having one ruler. Eventually an idea of republicanism overthrew the monarchy. The Romans thought that this would keep any one person from gaining too much power. The most powerful governing body was the senate. The senators elected two consuls each year. The consul’s jobs were to supervise the business of government and command the armies. They could only se...
...s are a paradigm case of those in control. The essence of ruling is, therefore, to be unjust and that is why a tyrant is a perfect ruler. He always knows what is to his advantage and how to acquire it. Thrasymachus’ view of justice is appealing but therein lies a moral danger and this is refuted by Socrates.
After discovering how beneficial this dominance could be it caused major conflict. It is human nature to want to enhance your security and wealth. Societies that were able to farm were able to become grow and sustain their settlements.
There are always people who, in a group, come out with better qualities to be a leader than others. The strongest people however, become the greater influences which the others decide to follow. However, sometimes the strongest person is not the best choice. Authors often show how humans select this stronger person to give an understanding of the different powers that people can posses over others.
Many societal ills in a given culture can be attributed to the pride that develops in leaders and the aggressive effect this nature has on the need for personal gain. In his work The Republic, Plato spends a great deal of time outlining his vision of a society in which man's arrogant and competitive nature is unable to root itself into the government of the city, thus creating a completely just and good society. Nevertheless, even Plato realized that because of the inevitable influence of man's lust for power, no society could retain a perfectly just government forever. As man's greed overcomes the integrity of the "healthy city", oppression will take root. The inherent arrogance grows until the leader becomes an embodiment of injustice, what Plato calls in The Republic a tyrant. The rule of a tyrant can directly affect the lives and well-bring of every man under the unjust leader, as is demonstrated by Agamemnon in The Iliad. Homer's masterpiece is a perfect example of how egotism and a need for power over another can compromise the well being of an entire army. Agamemnon's reactions to the events and people who surround him in The Iliad prove that he possesses many of the characteristics of the tyrannical leader Plato describes in The Republic.
Likewise, Plato’s philosopher king also uses the same concept but calls it “Justice” or “Good.” Similarly, to Machiavelli, who needs his Prince to have virtù to lead the people, Plato necessitates that his king use philosophical knowledge and emphasize justice to guide the unenlightened masses towards a just and stable society as well. When Socrates discusses the allegory of the cave, he remarks how when rulers must descend “to the general underground abode” where the masses “reside,” the ruler “will see a thousand times better than [the inhabitants of the cave]…because [the ruler has] seen the truth about things admirable and just and good” (Plato 520c). Plato believes that by seeing beyond the cave, and understanding the situation he exists in, the leader will have the appropriate ability to bring foresight and intelligence when making difficult decisions. While Plato’s and Machiavelli’s means of educating, changing and legitimizing political communities differ, the two philosophers share the same goal of using the benevolent dictators’ attained knowledge to lead the masses and their governments to prosperity and good fortune.
How does one rule a country? Politics has been the basis of power for more than a thousand years now. Traces of political movements have been discovered in different parts of the world; from the birth place of civilization found in the Middle East; the Mesopotamian, from the Western region of the world; England and even South America, and from the Dynasties of China and lands of Japan, politics was already in play during these times. As time passed by, politics evolved from Monarchies to Democracies, and power has been openly up for grabs during the development of politics. Everyone wants power and everyone would do almost anything to get it, and everyone