Platonic Tripartition and the Peoples of Middle-Earth
- Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings employ traditional races from fairy tales: elves, men and dwarves. These peoples are differentiated principally by their dominant desires, but also by their speech, diet, and realms. I argue that these three races are significantly inspired by the three aspects that characterize the Republic’s tripartite soul—logistikon, thumoeides, and epithumetikon—along with their respective principal desires: desire for truth, greatness, and material goods. For Tolkien, therefore, these races have a corporate or political psychology that explains who they are as peoples in the history of Middle-earth. I offer a comprehensive view of the major races, connecting the dwarves with the appetitive artisans of the Republic, humans with the honour- and glory-seeking auxiliaries, and elves with the ruling guardians. This treatment explains the artisanal dwarves, as well as the battle-loving men (and women) of Rohan and Gondor, and the nostalgic, ‘anamnetic’ condition of exile that distinguishes the elves.Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings employ traditional races from fairy tales: elves, men and dwarves. These peoples are differentiated principally by their dominant desires, but also by their speech, diet, and realms. I argue that these three races are significantly inspired by the three aspects that characterize the Republic’s tripartite soul—logistikon, thumoeides, and epithumetikon—along with their respective principal desires: desire for truth, greatness, and material goods. For Tolkien, therefore, these races have a corporate or political psychology that explains who they are as peoples in the history of Middle-earth. I offer a comprehensive view of the major races, connecting the dwarves with the appetitive artisans of the Republic, humans with the honour- and glory-seeking auxiliaries, and elves with the ruling guardians. This treatment explains the artisanal dwarves, as well as the battle-loving men (and women) of Rohan and Gondor, and the nostalgic, ‘anamnetic’ condition of exile that distinguishes the elves. Indeed, the condition of elves in many descriptions recalls a Platonic philosopher returned to the Cave, as well as the Neo-Platonic sagacity pictured in the biographies of Plotinus and Proclus.…
Verfasserangaben: | Kevin KamboORCiD |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol15.219 |
ISSN: | 2364-7612 |
Titel des übergeordneten Werks (Englisch): | thersites 15 |
Herausgeber*in(nen): | Annemarie Ambühl, Filippo Carlà-Uhink, Christian Rollinger, Christine Walde |
Publikationstyp: | Wissenschaftlicher Artikel |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Datum der Erstveröffentlichung: | 27.10.2022 |
Erscheinungsjahr: | 2022 |
Veröffentlichende Institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 01.11.2022 |
Freies Schlagwort / Tag: | Plato; Tolkien; Tripartite; race; republic |
Band: | 2022 |
Ausgabe: | 15 |
Seitenanzahl: | 33 |
Erste Seite: | 90 |
Letzte Seite: | 122 |
Organisationseinheiten: | Philosophische Fakultät / Historisches Institut |
DDC-Klassifikation: | 9 Geschichte und Geografie / 90 Geschichte / 900 Geschichte und Geografie |
Peer Review: | Referiert |
Publikationsweg: | Open Access / Gold Open-Access |
Sammlung(en): | Universität Potsdam / Zeitschriften / thersites, ISSN 2364-7612 / thersites Vol. 15 |
Lizenz (Deutsch): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |