Final answer:
The son of a timocratic man becomes an oligarch because he inherits wealth and power, leading to a focus on material wealth that may corrupt the original values of honor in timocracy, turning governance towards oligarchy—a rule by a few in their own interest.
Step-by-step explanation:
The son of a timocratic man becomes an oligarch likely because he inherits wealth and power from his father and becomes corrupted by his desire for wealth and material possessions. In a timocracy, honor and military success are highly valued, and a son raised in this environment might perceive the accumulation and maintenance of wealth and power as crucial to upholding the family's status and honor. However, this focus on material wealth can lead to a shift towards oligarchy, where governing power is in the hands of a few wealthy individuals. The shift from valuing honor to valuing wealth signals a corruption of the original principles of timocracy and reflects a transformation in the socioeconomic class of the family.
Plato and Aristotle both examined the perils of different forms of government and acknowledged the tendency of government systems to devolve into baser forms, such as oligarchy. Oligarchy is characterized by rule in the service of personal advantage, often underpinned by familial wealth, contrasting with the ideal of rule by the most virtuous or wise, as seen in aristocracies or meritocracies.
As observed throughout history, including in the transformations of the Song dynasty and the Tang dynasty, societal and governmental structures can shift, enabling families to rise to wealth and power through merit or hard work, but also to fall through mismanagement or a loss of virtue.