Master and slave philosophy
A slightly different theme of master and slave is also used by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It is a main part of his philosophy even though it often stays hidden. Plato says that enslavement is when a person cannot master themselves. When this happens they become a slave to their desires. The opposite of this he calls "self-mastery". He also says that people become mastered by others when they cannot master themselves. For example, people have leaders when they cannot lead themselves. For Plato, the slave and master relation is when something natural and disorderly is put beneath something divine and orderly. For example, Plato says the soul is master of the body. He also says that the world is naturally disorderly, but is turned orderly and scientific only by divine things. Nietzsche instead says there is no divine orderliness that masters the world. According to Nietzsche, the ancient Greeks before Plato already understood this better. These ancient Greeks were able to balance the disorder of Dionysus, and the reasoning of Apollo. He saw Plato as destroying this understanding. And so Nietzsche saw Plato as a coward who couldn't accept reality. Nietzsche's explanation of the master and slave theme is instead based on power, rather than orderliness.