Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Phd. Candidatet of Philosophy of Art, Bu Ali Sina University, Iran, Hamadan
2 Assistant Prof. Bu Ali Sina University, Iran, Hamadan
Abstract
In Greek tragedies, we face a form of cosmic justice and fate that strikes us as strange. Oedipus punishes himself for his unintentional sin. Antigone is paying for her family deeds, Prometheus is punished through his benevolence, and Ajax becomes the puppet of the gods. In all of the mentioned tragedies, and generally in all Greek tragedies, we face a kind of fateful justice, which seems unjust in the standard perspective of modern man. Reading these classic tragedies, we encounter the following question: What did the Greek mind think of righteousness and justice? And In general, what kind of legal system does Greek tragedy promote, which is strange to us? This paper tries to answer the above questions by exploring the concept of justice in the three areas of naturalism, metaphysics, and politics of Presocratic thinkers. In order to achieve this, we place the main focus of this research on the tragedies of Sophocles’ trilogy; Oedipus the Prince, Oedipus in Colonus, and Antigone. These three tragedies, which illustrate the sinister fate of the Labdacides progeny, respectively, are good examples of examining the notion of justice in Greek thought, and refer effectively to various aspects that the concept of justice brought to the mind of the Greeks. These aspects are peculiar to the Greek mind and can be understood only in the sphere of philosophical thought of classical Greek time
Highlights
Introduction
The concept of justice, as revealed in the Greek tragedies, goes far beyond the political, ethical, and social rules and principles. When we speak of the concept of justice in Greek thought, we mean a kind of cosmic justice that flows through all of the natural things. Cosmic justice can be described in the simplest way: respect for the nature and nature of everyone and everything, as it is.
The birth of Greek tragedy at the end of the sixth century coincides with two other major developments in Greek culture, One in the field of philosophy, which we call today the natural philosophy of Greece, and another in the field of politics that led to Solon's drafting of the Athens constitution. These three evolutions are rooted in one soil, and it was the belief in the existence of a cosmic law based on a fixed and universal criterion called the “dike” (justice). The term “dike” was the term first introduced in the texts of the time of the age of Hesiod. The closest term in Homer's work to the concept of justice was inaccurately the term “themis”, which means literally tradition and canon. The word “themis” represents the jurisdiction of kings and nobles in the judgment and is frequently used in Homer's work on Zeus. The word “dike” came in the post-Homer era in Greek legal terms. In Greek lawsuits, for example, it was customary to say that the offender ‘gives dike’, which originally meant ‘makes compensation’ and the injured person ‘takes dike’ and the judge ‘allots dike’. Hence, the fundamental meaning of “dike” is much the same as ‘due share’.
Oedipus the Prince; “Hamartia” and Disorder in Harmony
The Initiative formulation of the concept of justice was presented by the Greek medical theorists based on the technical term “isonomia”. This formulation is nothing more than a form of justice based on some kind of egalitarian rule between the components and the humors of the human body. The health of the body is ensured when equity between these powers is guaranteed on the basis of an egalitarian relationship. In illness, this just principle is violated among the body's components. One of the constituent forces, because of its excess strength, imposes its superiority and supremacy over other constituent and forces and disrupts the equilibrium of the body [dynamis]. To deal with this situation, the human body suppresses the disruptive force in an endogenous process and re-balances the rebellious element by rebalancing other forces [krasis]. This theoretical framework of Greek physicians in the pursuit of justice was expanded by other natural thinkers into the realm of nature and all the components of the universe and became a universal law. This pattern is also found in the tragedies of Greece, which is one of the most important areas of conflict between old and new ideals. The tragic error of “Hamartia” violates the most important principle of justice for natural thinkers. Tragic error acts as a disrupting element within a whole, disrupting the balance of other components, undermining the equality and equality (Isonomia) between the components. At this point, in order to return to the original just state, we are confronted with a series of causal events that, like a chain, rebalance the components and guide the hero of the tragedy to its ominous fate.
Oedipus in Colonus; Justice as the Rule of Law
The influence of cosmic justice on the political life of the Greek individual can be found in Solon's works. This political thinker, who invented the Athens constitution, borrows the notion of justice from cosmology and nature and extends it to the realm of political life and citizenship. Justice, he believes, was the cause of the cohesion and unity of the political state, and by focusing on justice in the political state, the unity of society was guaranteed against internal dangers and threats. Thus, any violation of justice leads to internal strife in the political community. The punishment for injustice does not come in the form of illness or death or natural disasters, but rather through the strife in city, party struggles and civil war. Any disturbance at the public level is the ultimate result of an individual defect (hubris) that disrupts public good and prosperity. By establishing a causal link between any just act with public prosperity and security, he achieved the goal of establishing a unity between the individual and society. In the second tragedy of Sofocles, we see the unity of the individual and his destiny with the life of the whole community. The tragic error of Oedipus is no longer a personal error and its consequences are devastating to all the people of Thebes. Every individual injustice is a kind of injustice to society, and society has the right to subjugate one's desire for its survival.
Antigone; The Atavism of Sin
Sophocles's third tragedy brings us to the confrontation between mythical thought and the new philosophical thought of Greece. Sin, as an atavistic character which is passed down from generation to generation, cannot be justified with the new ideal of justice that arises from the natural thinking and relations of the Greek city (Polis). Transmission of human sin, from generation to generation, is a doctrine that springs from the concept of Greek fate (Moira). “Moira” is a divine force that determines human destiny and human strength and cannot be rescued from it. Under the inevitable law of cosmic justice, justice will eventually overcome injustice in its meandering path. This victory may not come to an end in one's life, and one cannot achieve his right in this enormous chain. Man has no authority over his own “moira”. The logic behind “moira” is transcendent and beyond human understanding.
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