I am looking for a parable that tells about a tyrant and an honest poor man
I am looking for a parable that tells about a tyrant and an honest poor man.
Brief paraphrase: In a certain city there lived a tyrant and a poor man, the tyrant did not know about his tyranny and believed that he was doing the right thing, the poor man saw the tyrant's injustice, but he himself did not become like him and therefore remained a poor man. The question was whether to choose to live richly and not knowing that you are hurting others or to live poorly but honestly looking at your actions.
I don’t remember where I read it, for some reason I think that it was from Socrates. I hope this is not my fantasy and would like to find the original one.
Brief paraphrase: In a certain city there lived a tyrant and a poor man, the tyrant did not know about his tyranny and believed that he was doing the right thing, the poor man saw the tyrant's injustice, but he himself did not become like him and therefore remained a poor man. The question was whether to choose to live richly and not knowing that you are hurting others or to live poorly but honestly looking at your actions.
I don’t remember where I read it, for some reason I think that it was from Socrates. I hope this is not my fantasy and would like to find the original one.
Comments (7)
It wouldn't be this biblical passage, would it? What about this?
I remember that the action took place in a certain city or region. The tyrant ruled this region. The tyrant and the beggar did not meet tet-a-tet, but both were citizens of this region; there was no war. The tyrant held feasts or killed his political enemies, generally did evil, but did not feel guilty and thought that he was doing justice and felt happiness. The beggar was a righteous man and did not act like that, but he felt unhappy from the injustice around. And at the end of this story, a question was asked: how to live a person's life, or what a quality life: a tyrant who does not know the evil he is doing, or an honest person, but a beggar.
I remember that since the story ended with a question, it must have been Socrates' favorite method (maieutics) or Plato or.... I remember that this story was in some ancient Greek philosophical work that I read on some website.