Plato was born in 427 BC on the seventh day of the month Targelion, which would correspond to the second half of our May. He was born on the same day as the celebration of Apollo’s birth on the island of Delos, which is why he was later called Apollo’s son and messenger.
He was born into an aristocratic family, descended on his father’s side from Codrus, the last king of Athens, and on his mother’s side from Solon. His parents, Ariston and Perictione, named him Aristocles after his grandfather and raised him carefully from birth, providing him with the best education. The nickname Plato (Wide, Broad-shouldered) was given to him by his gymnastics teacher, Ariston of Argos, either because of his broad forehead, shoulders, way of speaking, or breadth of mind. Although he had the best teachers in gymnastics, music, mathematics, geometry, and philosophy, and read the works of older thinkers, Ionian cosmologists, and Anaxagoras, the deepest impact on him would be made by Socrates, whom he immortalized in his dialogues. The day before their first meeting, Socrates will have a dream of Plato approaching him from Eros’s altar.
A swan descends, the bird of Apollo, lands on his chest, and then, as soon as its wings have grown, it flies towards the sky with a song that enchants both humans and gods. When he saw Plato the next day, who was then twenty years old, he immediately understood the meaning of the dream and said that it was the swan he had seen in his dream. This encounter will bring about a turning point in Plato’s life. Socrates’ wisdom and virtue captured Plato, and he will remain faithful to him for the rest of his life.
PLATO’S ATHENA
Athena, once the gathering place of philosophers, artists, statesmen, and commanders, in Plato’s time lived in the shadow of those ancient times.
Socrates (469 – 399 BC) – Plato’s teacher.
The general loss of moral values, which was reflected primarily in politics, and from there, as a certain criterion of “antivalues,” spread to other aspects of life and society itself, cemented Plato’s belief: “All of this that I have seen and much more, which was not insignificant, embittered me and turned me away from the then prevailing values.” After Sokrates’ death, Plato, like most of Sokrates’ students, leaves Athens. He travels to Megara, where he meets Euklides, the founder of the Megarian school. From Megara, he travels to Egypt, where he studies under the hierophants in Heliopolis and Memphis. Diodorus mentions that during his visit to these places, he saw the house where Plato lived with a Pythagorean. He then goes to Cyrene (in present-day Libya) and stays for a long time with the renowned mathematician Theodorus, whom he had met in Athens before Sokrates’ death. From Cyrene, he goes to Greater Hellas, as southern Italy was then called due to the large number of Greek colonies. The center of Pythagoreanism was the peaceful and prosperous city of Tarentum, where there was a strong Pythagorean tradition under the leadership of Archytas, a mathematician, statesman, and philosopher. Through the intermediation of the Pythagoreans, Plato is invited to Syracuse, to the court of the tyrant Dionysius I. failed. Despite all of Plato’s efforts, Dionysius refused to be convinced of establishing a more humane order, on the contrary, Plato fell out of favor and his first trip to Sicily ended almost fatally. The captain of the ship on which Plato embarked, Dionysius the Elder, gave a secret order to kill him or sell him into slavery. The captain disembarked him on the island of Aegina and sold him. Although a law had been passed at that time, stating that any Athenian who set foot on Aegina soil should be killed due to hostilities with Athens, the people of Aegina decided to spare him “because he was a philosopher” and sold him as a prisoner of war. Fate would have it that an affluent stranger, Anicetus from Cyrene, happened to be present at the slave market at that time. He had met Plato and befriended him during his stay in this African colony. Anicetus redeemed the captive and sent him back to Athens to his friends. They immediately collected money to repay the redeemer, but Anicetus refused, saying that they were not the only ones who had helped him. adequately took care of Plato. This story is cited by Plutarch and Diogenes Laertius, the latter adding that part of the money collected was used to buy land and houses where the Academy later operated.
The good side of this journey was that Plato met Dion, the brother of Dionysius’ wife, and this friendship would later prove to be much more significant than his acquaintance with Dionysius the Elder.
THE ACADEMY
When Plato returned to Athens in 387 BC after his ten-year journey, he founded a philosophical school called the Academy in the gymnasium, which was named after the hero Academus. According to Pausanias, there was an altar dedicated to Eros, the oldest of all gods, at the entrance to the Academy, as mentioned in Plato’s dialogue Symposium or On Love. Within the premises of the Academy, there was a sanctuary dedicated to the Muses, the protectors of human arts, and altars dedicated to Prometheus, Hermes, Athena, and Hercules. They also had an olive tree, which they say was the second to grow in Athens after the one that was I was located near the very Acropolis.
At first, Plato taught in the actual gymnasium, and later in the garden and house where he moved and lived in the company of young people who came not only from Greece but also from foreign countries, some for knowledge, others for general education and preparation for public service.
Plato did not charge for his lectures, but the school was financially supported by regular contributions from the students. Plato was in daily contact with his students, either in the classroom or during meals. The meals were communal, which had a great educational role, and that is why Speusipus and Xenocrates, Plato’s immediate successors at the head of the Academy, wrote regulations for this type of gathering.
Although after Socrates’ death Plato abandoned direct political work, he took on the education and upbringing of a new generation that would, as true aristocracy of spirit and character, transmit ethical-political ideas to the entire Hellenic world and practically implement them in many cities. ma. Young people who attended lectures at the Academy did not give up active participation in political life, but on the contrary, they prepared to establish better political systems that would exude the spirit of the best laws.
Part of the original Plato’s manuscript.
It is generally believed that education at the Academy lasted for ten years, and many students later continued to spread its ideas throughout the Mediterranean, and there is hardly a city that was not influenced by it. From the list of Academy members, from which a fragment was found in Herculaneum in Italy, it can be seen that one of the regular members was a Chaldean. Two women also attended the lectures: Lastenia from Mantinea and Axiothea from Fliunt in Arcadia, who started listening to Plato after reading a passage from the Republic.
Remains of Plato’s Academy.
In addition to Dionysius, many other kings and statesmen invited Plato to come and help establish a better social order with his advice. From. Among other things, Macedonian king Perdika III also invited him, but instead of going himself, Plato sends his student Eufrej to him, and he explains the reasons for this in his Fifth Letter.
An eloquent testimony of the political influence of the Academy is also given in the Eleventh Letter, in which Plato responds to Laodamant, a philosophically educated statesman on the island of Tassos, who approached him for advice when founding a settlement.
Plato’s student Formion from Eleusis wrote laws for his Eleans, and Menedem from Piraeus for his fellow citizens. As people originating from Plato’s school, Plutarch mentions Aristonimus, who composed laws for the newly founded Megalopolis in the Peloponnese, the versatile Eudoxus from Knidos and Aristotle from Stagira, who wrote laws for their respective native cities, as well as two military leaders, Habrius and Phocion.
Alexander the Great – Aristotle’s student during his time as a member of the Academy.
THE ACADEMY AFTER PLATO
After Plato’s death in 347 BC, Xenocrates and Aristotle went to As, where
Together with Erastus and Choriscus, also Plato’s students, they founded a branch of the Academy. Hermias, the ruler of Atarneus and Assos, became friends with Erastus and Choriscus and, following their advice, reformed Atarneus according to the principles of Plato’s philosophical and political teachings, and bestowed the city of Assos upon them.
The impact of these political reforms was such that many neighboring Greek cities formed alliances with the state of this Atarnean king-philosopher, and it became a strong Greek force on the doorstep of Macedonia and a “base” for liberating the Hellenes of Asia Minor from Persian rule. Hermias formed a secret military alliance with Philip and created a powerful force against the Persians.
Aristotle himself married Hermias’ daughter Pythia, and his father Nicomachus was the physician of Philip’s father Amyntas II. These connections led to Aristotle’s ties with the Macedonian court. Hearing the praises that Hermias spoke about the work of the Academy, Philip decided to invite Aristotle to help him educate his thirteen-year-old son Alexander. Thus, Aristotle entered the world of the Macedonian court. In the western part of the Macedonian capital Pele, a philosophical school was established dedicated to the nymphs, which operated as an Academy.
Hermias’ life ended tragically. The Persians learned about his alliance with Philip and attacked Atarneus, which resisted the attack. However, Hermias, a fellow countryman and mentor who served the Persians, deceived Hermias. He took him to Susa, to the Persian king who tortured him to extract more information about the conspiracy. Hermias said nothing and died as a martyr. When asked if he had any last wish before the execution, he replied that he wanted his friends to be informed: “Tell them that I did nothing unworthy of philosophy and indecent.” This is how Hermias stood alongside Dion as a hero of the Academy.
Map of Athens during the time of Plato.
The politician, philosopher, and orator Demosthenes also came from the Academy. For years, he participated in the political life of Athens. Habrias, an admiral who in 376 BC won the battle at Naxos, also passed through the Academy. The first naval victory of Athens over the Spartans after the Peloponnesian War was significant. Following them at the head of the Academy were Polemon and Krates, both Athenians. Heraklid, an important academic who managed the school at the time when Plato was in Sicily with Speusip and Krates, was one of the notable figures. After Speusip’s death, he returned to his hometown of Heraclea, on the shores of the Black Sea, and founded a prestigious school, of which he was in charge until 330 BC. Arkesilaos from Pitane in Asia Minor succeeded Krates. Then followed the less well-known figures Lakid, Teleklo, and Evandar, and then Hegesinus, who was the teacher of Carneades. In 156 BC, Carneades was sent to Rome as an ambassador for Athens, along with two other philosophers. Although he did no writing, he gave lectures in Rome, as reported by Cicero and other Romans. Carneades died in 129 BC and was succeeded by Clitomachus from Carthage. He was a prolific writer, and it seems that his works inspired Cicero when he wrote his Academica. In 110 BC, Clitomaha is succeeded by Philo of Larisa. He left Athens and sought refuge in Rome in 88 BC, where he lectured with great success, and even Cicero himself listened to him. He died around 85 BC. Many contemporary authors consider him the last great academician.
Although the Academy itself will last until 529 AD, when Emperor Justinian I closed all philosophical schools with a general ban, after Philo, only Heracleides of Tyre and Eudorus of Alexandria are mentioned as prominent academics.
The modern Athenian Academy – the building was erected in 1887 in the neoclassical style. In front of the entrance are statues of Socrates and Plato.
After the dissolution of Alexander’s empire, the next important role of the Academy was outlined in Megalopolis, a newly founded city in the Peloponnese, which was associated with philosophers originating from Plato’s school from the very beginning. We have already mentioned the legislator Aristonimus, but later history has produced several other important historical figures. One of them was Filopemen, the last great Hellenic military leader.
“Let no one enter here unless they know geometry.”
The ideal that the Academy instilled and strived for was the rule of the mind and virtue, both in the life of the individual and in the life of the state. This was the foundation on which a humane political system could be built and the knowledge of tradition could be expanded.
Plato’s philosophy continued to live on throughout the entire ancient era, especially through the Alexandrian Neoplatonism, and later flourished again during the Renaissance. It had a great impact on the German idealists of the 19th century and continues to do so today. English mathematician and philosopher A. N. Whitehead noted that all of Western philosophy after Plato is merely footnotes to Plato’s text.