In Book V of Paradise Lost, Milton shows the supremacy of a hierarchical conception of the cosmos to the egalitarian conception. In the scene where Lucifer announces to his angels that he resents God's authority over them and plans to rebel, one of his sub-angels, Abdiel, remains loyal to God, and calls Lucifer out for rebellion.

Lucifer has claimed that he simply wants equality for all--but his motive is selfish. He wants to be equal with God. As a result, he falsely accuses God of being unjust in the way He rules His creatures. But Abdiel reminds Lucifer that hierarchy is simply a God-given reality. Authority begins with God himself, and all of us are creatures under authority. God has the right to rule:

     ... Unjust thou saist,
     Flatly unjust, to binde with Laws the free,
     And equal over equals to let Reigne,
     One over all with unsucceeded power. (ll. 818-21)

Abdiel asks Lucifer a penetrating question:

     Shalt thou give Law to God, shalt thou dispute
     With him the points of libertie, who made
     Thee what thou art, & formd the Pow'rs of Heav'n
     Such as he pleasd, and circumscrib'd thir being? (ll. 818-25)

By the way, C. S. Lewis discusses this idea of hierarchy in A Preface to Paradise Lost in a passage I've commented on here.