The Suppliants By Euripides

IS. In The Suppliants, Euripides wrote, “The people cannot form proper judgements and therefore cannot rightly direct a state”. However, people do have the ability to rule the state, without having to meet any arbitrary requirements to be fit to rule. While the term ‘proper judgement’ is highly subjective, the notion that only a few have the ability to rule is paternalistic.

Euripides is living in the midst of democracy in Athens, therefore his quote is a critique of what is happening around him. In his quote, he is taking an anti-democratic stance towards the question of who is fit to rule. Euripides believes only one or few people should rule a state, as not all are qualified or have the ‘proper judgement’ to do so.

IS. Firstly, the term

Ancient Athens was, at first, rule aristocratically and this benefited a small group of elites. However, there began a major demand for political equality by the wealthy merchants and working class; therefore the aristocrats were forced to compromise or face a major civil war. The aristocrats gave political power to the people of Athens and this restored the power balance within the state. These events lead to the birth of democracy. In Manin’s The Principles of Representative Government, he discusses the creation of the assembly where people would come to vote on local political issues (Manin 11). Along with the assembly, they created mechanisms to avoid demagogues (ostracism and ‘graphe para nomo’) and a lottery system to choose political figures so there is equality among all citizens. Athens functioned and flourished on two core beliefs in the polis: “1. We all have an understanding of what is happening around us and fix it. 2. No one person can take away our right to govern” (Breaugh). Everyone has the ability to rule and must rule, was an essential part of the polis. Additionally, every citizen was equal to one another, within the polis. In the lecture, Breaugh mentioned, “the community would help to define you as a citizen, and the citizen helps define the community” (Breaugh). Political participation was believed to be a vital part of every man’s self-development and, most importantly,

Although not any philosopher can be a ruler, it is only through extensive education of the arts and logic can they have what Euripides would refer to as ‘proper judgment’. While these rulers would have extensive knowledge on arts and logic, they would not have learned anything about the interests of the Athenian citizens. The philosopher-rulers would be an elite minority group that has lived a different life from the rest of the citizens, therefore they would have no knowledge of the issues and interests of the population they would be representing. In Plato’s ideal state, he places someone he deems fit to rule, and the state becomes authoritarian. The ruler becomes a benevolent dictator, while the citizens have no rights, only duties. He creates a creation myth in order to keep people within their class and to express some people are inherently inferior to