Greek philosophers
Plato
Plato was a Greek philosopher, educator and mathematician. He was born in 427 BC (ancient Athens) and died in 347 BC. He is considered one of the most important thinkers in history. Plato is the founder of the Athenian Academy, which was a model for European universities and scientific institutions. He wrote his writings mostly in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and others, with Socrates as his teacher.
Plato was born into one of the most prominent families. His father, Ariston, derived his ancestry from the Athenian king Copernicus. His mother, Perictyone, was descended from the famous poet and lawgiver Solon. Her brothers Charmides and Critias were involved in the rule of the Thirty at the end of the Peloponnesian War.
His original name was Aristocles. Plato is merely his common pseudonym, said to have been given to him by his wrestling coach. The word is supposed to mean "broad, mighty".
In his youth he received a good education in many different fields (grammar, music, gymnastics, philosophy, etc.). He was first introduced to philosophy by Kratylos. Later, at the age of 20, he became acquainted with Socrates and became his most faithful disciple, it is from Plato that most of the information about Socrates comes. When Socrates was condemned and executed in 399 BC, Plato perhaps left Athens for Megara and travelled to Italy, Sicily, Egypt and Cyrene. When he was 40 years old, he returned to Athens and founded the famous Academy in the "Grove of Academe". He died at the age of 80.
Together with Socrates, he turned the attention of philosophers from considerations about the nature and origin of the world to questions of man and human society.
In his works, dialogues with Socrates predominate, but sometimes the narrator is not present. Often in these dialogues one can find inconsistencies with the biography of the real characters in question. For example, in the Próthagoras, Alcibiades and Agathon are young men, whereas Apollodorus and Glaucon could be their fathers. In the Symposium it is just the opposite.
Its dialogue is akin to period theatre. This is because there are no more than three characters on stage who have a 'chorus' of silent listeners. Plato's works are quoted with page and column or section citations in the edition by the French printer H. Étienne (Stephanus). The total of 36 dialogues that have survived under Plato's name have been classified since antiquity into quatrains, the so-called tetralogies.
Plato's influence on the whole of philosophy is enormous. In antiquity, he was followed by Middle and New Platonism. Through Augustine, even Christian thought. In the High Middle Ages, through Proclus and Dionysius the Areopagite. Even Renaissance thought is influenced mainly by Plato.