Aeschylus, Sophocles, Plato And Dante

In The Oresteia by Aeschylus the definition of dike is the relationship between individuals. Justice becomes an issue of to what extent we are responsible for our actions and furthermore dike is seen as a correction of a wrong. In the Oresteia a complicated series of events plague the house of Atreus of Argos (Agamemnon, pg1) following the end of the Trojan War. Agamemnon returns from the war a hero, but upon his arrival he is murdered by his wife’s lover and his cousin. However, the reasons for his murder are not simple. The murder is only a small part of a cycle of vengeance that began between the cousin’s fathers. Aegisthus motivation for murdering Agamemnon was in retribution for the crimes committed against his father. As a result, Orestes, Agamemnon’s remaining son, is now responsible for avenging his father’s death. Orestes avenges the death by murdering his mother and Aegisthus for which he receives his mother’s curse. Orestes is then plagued by the Furies for the murder. However, this poses the question of whether it is possible to end the cycle that this inte

According to Plato the human soul and thus human nature is divided into three parts – the rational, which is reason, the appetitive, which constantly tries to make bodily desires more important, and the spirited (thumus), which is trained to get the two previously mentioned parts to conform. In each individual there is a constant conflict between these parts for control. However, people do not have a choice when it comes to knowing the good. Even those that go against the good, know the good, but they just chose to ignore it.

#6. Praxis – doing something as opposed to creating something. Aristotle went into knowing the good (theoria), desiring the good or bad (poesis) and doing the good or bad (praxis). Praxis is a virtue because it isn’t sufficient to know the good, there has to be the desire for the good and only then can you do good. A continent individual knows the good, desires the bad but despite that does the good anyway. An incontinent individual knows the good, desires the bad and does the bad. It is important to note that Dante believed in free will and that we can choose to love God or deny God. Dante based the Inferno on these principles. Dante makes the point that sinners elect their hell by an act of their own will.

Some topics in this essay:
God Dante, Orestes Agamemnon’s, Oracle Delphi, According Plato, Republic Plato, Circle II, Oblivion Lethe, Dante’s Inferno, War Agamemnon, Circle III, natural function, dante’s inferno, perfect ideal, natural function society, function society, inferno notes pg, †circle, circle hell, notes pg, guardians exemplified, inferno notes, live world appearances, dante’s inferno notes, live world, serves basis plato’s,