Plato

Plato was born in Athens in 427 B.C. He was “the son of wealthy and influential Athenian parents” named Ariston and Perictione. Plato had two brothers named Adeimantus and Glaucon, as well as a younger sister named Potone. Ariston died when Plato was young. When his mother remarried, Plato found himself with a new stepbrother named Antiphon. (source)

“Plato enjoyed success in athletics and engaged in both poetry and drama.” (source) “An aristocratic man with plenty of money and a superb physique, Plato at one time won two prizes as a championship wrestler. Actually, the man’s real (and little known) name was Aristocles; Plato was just a nickname given to him by his friends, whose original connotation made reference to his broad shoulders.” (Morris 326)

However, his sort of lifestyle changed when, “around 409 B.C., Plato met Socrates and became his devoted follower.” (source) This is interesting because his uncle, Charmides, was one of Socrates’ close friends.

Socrates engaged Plato in serious questions about life such as, “What are virtue, wisdom, courage, beauty, piety, bravery, justice?” Since Socrates wrote none of his thoughts down, we must rely on Plato’s records of his dialogues.

“Following the end of the Peloponnesian war, an oligarchic tyranny called the ‘Thirty Tyrants’ ruled Athens for eight months from 404-403 B.C…[Plato’s] uncles, Critias and Charmides, belonged to the Thirty Tyrants and invited their nephew to join them. The junta was dissolved through civil war before Plato could decide.” (source)

Socrates was arrested later for undermining the religion of Athens and for “corrupting the youth.” (Video) Plato recorded Socrates’ speeches at his trial in Apology. Plato was there to witness Socrates' death of drinking a cup of hemlock in 399 B.C.

“When the master died, Plato travelled to Egypt and Italy, studied with students of Pythagoras, and spent several years advising the ruling family of Syracuse. Eventually, he returned to Athens and established his own school of philosophy at the Academy.” (source) (Craig 794)

“Socrates taught Plato, Plato taught Aristotle, Aristotle taught Alexander the Great.” (source)

“Subjects taught in the University included astronomy, biological sciences, mathematics, and political science. According to legend, his University stood in a place that was once owned by the Greek hero, Academus. That's where we began to use the term ‘academy’ when referring to schools.” (source) “For students enrolled there, Plato tried both to pass on the heritage of a Socratic style of thinking and to guide their progress through mathematical learning to the achievement of abstract philosophical truth.” (source)

Plato spent the rest of his life in charge of and teaching in his academy. He died in 347 B.C. “His end was peaceful and happy, for he is supposedly to have died in his sleep at the age of eighty after having attended the wedding feast of one of his students.” (source) (source)

Works Cited

Craig, Edward. The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Routledge. 2005.

Morris, Tom. Philosophy for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. 1999.

Video on Greece we watched in class




Plato (on the left) walking with Aristotle