Lives of the Eminent Philosophers

by Pamela Mensch

  Alexander Visits the Sage Plato in His Mountain Cave (detail), folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi, attributed to Basawan, Indian, 1597–1598.

  20,21 Anniceris49 of Cyrene, who chanced to be present, ransomed Plato for twenty minas (some say he paid thirty) and sent him to Athens to his friends, who promptly remitted the money. But Anniceris refused to accept it, saying that the Athenians were not the only men who deserved to look after Plato. Others say that Dion sent the money and that Anniceris did not keep it, but bought Plato a little garden in the Academy. And it is reported that Pollis was defeated by Chabrias50 and thereafter drowned at Helice, having incurred the gods’ wrath on behalf of the philosopher, as Favorinus says in the first book of his Reminiscences. Dionysius himself could not rest easy. On learning what had happened, he wrote asking Plato not to speak ill of him. And Plato wrote back that he had no leisure to think about Dionysius.

  22 On his second visit51 Plato asked the younger Dionysius for a territory and men who would live in accordance with his plan for a republic. But though Dionysius gave his promise, he did not keep it. Some say that Plato found himself in danger for having encouraged Dion and Theodotas to try to liberate the island.52 It was then that Archytas the Pythagorean, writing a letter to Dionysius, interceded for Plato and had him brought safely to Athens.53 Archytus’ letter runs as follows:

  Archytus wishes Dionysius good health.

  We, all of us being friends of Plato, have sent Lamiscus and Photidas to you, that we may receive the philosopher in accordance with the agreement made with you. You would do well to recall the zeal with which you urged us all to secure his coming, resolved as you were to persuade him and to undertake, among other things, responsibility for his safety while he remained with you and on his return journey. Remember also that you made much of his coming, and from then on esteemed him more than anyone at court. But if some animosity has arisen, it is incumbent upon you to behave humanely and restore the man to us unharmed. You will thereby do what is just and at the same time earn our gratitude.

  23,24 Plato sailed to Sicily a third time in the hope of reconciling Dion and Dionysius;54 but on failing to gain his end, he returned to his own country. There he did not engage in public life, though it is clear from his writings that he was a statesman. The reason was that by then the people had become accustomed to policies at odds with his own.55 Pamphila, in the twenty-fifth book of her Reminiscences, says that the Arcadians and Thebans, when they were founding Megalópolis,56 invited him to be their lawgiver; but when he learned that they were opposed to equality of possessions, he would not go. There is a story that he pleaded for Chabrias when the general was on trial for his life, though none of the other citizens was willing to do so.57 And as Plato was going up to the Acropolis with Chabrias, Crobylus the informer met him and said, “Have you come to plead for the defendant? Do you not know that the hemlock of Socrates awaits you?” To this Plato replied, “Just as I ran risks when defending my country, so I’ll run them now in fulfilling my duty to a friend.”

  He was the first to introduce argument by question and answer (as Favorinus says in the eighth book of his Miscellaneous History) and the first to explain to Leodamas of Thasos58 the analytic method of inquiry. He was also the first, in philosophical discourse, to use the terms “antipodes,” “element,” “dialectic,” “quality,” “oblong” (for number), “planar surface” (for limits), and “divine providence.”

  25 He was the first philosopher to rebut the speech of Lysias, son of Cephalus, quoting it verbatim in the Phaedrus.59 He was the first to recognize the importance of scholarship. And as he was the first to attack the views of almost all his predecessors, one wonders why he failed to mention Democritus.60 Neanthes of Cyzicus says that when Plato went to Olympia, the eyes of all the Greeks were turned toward him. It was then that he met Dion, who was about to launch a military campaign against Dionysius.61 In the first book of Favorinus’ Reminiscences, it says that Mithridates the Persian62 dedicated a statue of Plato in the Academy and had it inscribed with the words “Mithridates the Persian, son of Orontobates, dedicated to the Muses a likeness of Plato fashioned by Silanion.”63

  26 Heraclides says that as a young man Plato was so reserved and decorous that he was never seen laughing immoderately. Yet he too was ridiculed by the comic poets. At any rate, Theopompus says in his comedy Sweet Tooth:

       Nothing is truly one;

  Even the number two is scarcely one, as Plato says.

  And Anaxandrides,64 in his comedy Theseus, says:

  Since he was munching olives just like Plato65

  And even Timon makes a pun on Plato’s name:

  As imagined by Plato, who made astonishing discoveries.66

  27 Alexis67 in his Merops:

  You’ve come in the nick of time. In my perplexity,

  Walking up and down just like Plato,

  I’ve found no wise plan, but only tired my legs.

  And in the Ancylion:

  You don’t know what you’re talking about! Run about with Plato,

  And you’ll know all about soap and onions.

  Amphis, in his Amphicrates:

  A. As for the good—whatever it may be—that you’re likely to get on her

       [account, I know even less about it,

  Master, than I do about the good of Plato. B. Just listen!

  28 In the Dexidemides:

     O Plato,

  All you know is how to frown,

  Lifting your haughty eyebrows like a snail.

  Cratinus in The False Changeling:

  A. Are you a man? B. Clearly. A. And have you a soul?

  B. As Plato would say, I don’t know for sure, but I suspect I have.

  Sacred and Profane Love, by Titian, c. 1514.

  Alexis in Olympiodorus:

  My mortal body withered away,

  But my immortal part soared into the air.

  B. Isn’t this a lecture of Plato’s?

  And in The Parasite:

  Or, with Plato, to chatter on alone.

  Anaxilas also makes fun of him in his Botrylion, and in Circe and in Wealthy Women.

  29 Aristippus,68 in the fourth book of his work On the Luxuriousness of the Ancients, says that Plato fell in love with a young man named Aster, who joined him in the study of astronomy, and with the above-mentioned Dion, and, as some say, with Phaedrus69 too. His passion is evident in the following epigrams, which he is said to have addressed to them:

  You gaze at the stars, my Aster; would that I were heaven,

  That I might gaze at you with many eyes!70

  And another:

  You shone once, Aster, Morning Star, among the living,

  And now in death, Evening Star, among the dead.

  30 And this to Dion:71

  Tears to Hecuba and the women of Troy

   From their birth the Fates allotted.

  But on you, Dion, who have set up a trophy of noble deeds,

   The gods showered prosperous hopes.

  You lie in your wide country, honored by your countrymen.

   You drove my spirit mad with love, O Dion.

  This, it is said, was actually inscribed on Dion’s tomb in Syracuse.

  31 And they say that when he fell in love with Alexis and Phaedrus, as I mentioned earlier, he wrote the following verses:

  Now I have only to say of Alexis, “He is beautiful,”

   And everyone, everywhere, turns to gaze at him.

  Why, my heart, do you show the dogs a bone,

   And live to regret it? Wasn’t this how we lost Phaedrus?72

  He also had a passion for Archeanassa,73 of whom he wrote as follows:

  I have a mistress, Archeanassa of Colophon,

   Whose very wrinkles inspire the keenest passion.

  O wretches who met such beauty on its

   Maiden voyage, what fire you braved!

  32 And also to Agathon:74

  Wh
ile kissing Agathon, my soul rushed to my lips,

   As if, unhappy wretch, it would pass over to him.

  Terra-cotta statuette of Eros on a lion, late fourth or third century BC.

  And another:

  I throw you an apple;75 and if you consent to love me,

   Accept it and in exchange give me your virginity.

  But if you’re otherwise inclined, then take this very apple,

   And see how fleeting is the bloom of youth.

  And another:

  An apple am I, tossed by one who loves you. Only consent,

   Xanthippe!76 For you and I are ripening on the vine.

  33 They say that the epigram about the Eretrians77 who were swept from their country was written by him:

  We are Eretrian by race, from Euboea, and lie dead near Susa.

   How far, alas, from our native land!78

  And this:

  Cypris79 to the Muses: “Maidens, honor Aphrodite,

   Or I’ll arm Eros80 against you.”

  The Muses to Cypris: “Save your chatter for Ares;

   The lad doesn’t fly this way.”81

  And another:82

  A man found some gold and left a noose in its place.

   The owner, finding his treasure gone, donned the noose.

  34,35 Molon, being hostile to Plato, said, “What is surprising is not that Dionysius should be in Corinth,83 but that Plato should be in Sicily.” And it seems that Xenophon84 was not on good terms with Plato. They have written similar works, at any rate, as if out of rivalry with each other—a Symposium, an Apology of Socrates, and memoirs that deal with ethical matters. And one of them wrote a Republic, the other an Education of Cyrus.85 In his Laws Plato says that Xenophon’s account of Cyrus’ education is a fiction, for the real Cyrus did not resemble the man portrayed by Xenophon.86 They both make mention of Socrates, but nowhere do they refer to each other except for Xenophon’s mention of Plato in the third book of his Memorabilia.87 It is said that when Antisthenes88 was about to read one of his own works in public he invited Plato to attend. And when Plato asked what he was planning to read, Antisthenes said, “A work on the impossibility of contradiction,” to which Plato replied, “But how can you write on this subject?” And because Plato had showed that the argument against contradiction was self-contradictory, Antisthenes wrote a dialogue against Plato entitled Sathon.89 From then on they continued to be on bad terms with each other. They say that when Socrates heard Plato reading the Lysis, he said, “By Heracles, how many lies the young man is telling about me.” For Plato has included in the dialogue quite a few things that Socrates did not say.

  36 Plato was also ill disposed to Aristippus.90 At any rate, in his dialogue On the Soul91 he disparages him, saying that he was not present when Socrates died, but was in Aegina, right nearby. They say that he also vied with Aeschines because the latter was highly esteemed by Dionysius, and that when Aeschines arrived at the court he was spurned by Plato because of his poverty, while Aristippus supported him.92 And Idomeneus claims that the arguments Plato has Crito make in the prison, advising Socrates to escape, were actually advanced by Aeschines, and that Plato attributed them to Crito out of spite.93

  37,38 Plato nowhere mentions himself in his writings except in the dialogue On the Soul and in the Apology.94 Aristotle says that the style of the dialogues is somewhere between poetry and prose.95 Favorinus says that Aristotle alone stayed to listen when Plato was reading On the Soul, though the rest of the audience got up and left. Some say that Philip of Opus transcribed Plato’s Laws, which were preserved on wax tablets.96 They also maintain that Philip was the author of Epinomis.97 Euphorion and Panaetius have said that several revisions of the opening of the Republic have been discovered. Aristoxenus says that almost the entire Republic was included in Protagoras’ Disputations.98 It is said that the first dialogue he wrote was the Phaedrus. For the undertaking has a fresh and youthful feeling. Dicaearchus, however, disparages its whole style as vulgar.

  39,40 It is said that Plato, after watching someone playing at dice, admonished him. And when the man said that he played for an insignificant stake, Plato replied, “But the habit is not insignificant.” When asked if there would be memoirs of him as there were of his predecessors, he replied, “One must first make one’s name, and the memoirs will follow.” One day, when Xenocrates99 had come by, Plato told him to flog his slave, since he himself was too enraged to do so. He is also reported to have said to one of his slaves, “I would have flogged you, had I not been so enraged.” Being seated on horseback, he quickly dismounted, saying he had to take care not to be corrupted by horse-pride.100 He advised those who were drunk to look at themselves in the mirror; for they would then abstain from such unseemly conduct. To drink to excess he said was nowhere becoming except at feasts of the god who gave us wine. He also disapproved of sleeping too much. In the Laws, at any rate, he says, “No one who is sleeping is good for anything.”101 He said that the truth is the pleasantest thing to hear. According to others, he said it was the pleasantest thing to speak. In the Laws he says this about truth: “Truth, my friend, is beautiful and steadfast. But it is not easy to persuade men of this.”102 He also thought it right to leave a memorial of himself behind, either in the hearts of friends or in books. He spent most of his time in seclusion, according to some writers.

  41, 42, 43 He died, in the manner we have related, in the thirteenth year of Philip’s reign,103 as Favorinus says in the third book of his Reminiscences. Theopompus says that Plato was accorded honors by Philip. Myronianus in his Parallels says that Philo104 mentions some proverbs about Plato’s lice, implying that this was the cause of his death. He was buried in the Academy, where he had passed most of his life in the study of philosophy. Hence the school he founded was called the Academic school. And the entire population of Athens joined in the funeral procession from the Academy. His will runs as follows:

  This property has been left, and these dispositions made by Plato: the estate in Iphistiadae, bounded on the north by the road from the temple of Cephisia, on the south by the temple of Heracles of Iphistiadae, on the east by the property of Archestratus of Phrearrhi, and on the west by that of Philip of Chollidae; let no one be permitted to sell or transfer it, but let it be the property of young Adeimantus105 for all intents and purposes; the estate in Eiresidae, which I bought from Callimachus, bounded on the north by the property of Eurymedon of Nyrrhinus, on the south by that of Demostratus of Xypete, on the east by that of Eurymedon of Myrrhinus, and on the west by the Cephisus; three minas of silver; a silver bowl weighing 165 drachmas; a small cup weighing 45 drachmas; a gold signet ring and gold earring, both together weighing four drachmas and three obols. Euclides the mason owes me three minas. I grant Artemis106 her freedom. I leave four servants: Tychon, Bictas, Apollonides, and Dionysius. Household furniture, as set down in the inventory, a copy of which is in Demetrius’ possession. I owe no one anything. My executors are Leosthenes, Speusippus, Demetrius, Hegias, Eurymedon, Callimachus, and Thrasippus.107

  Plato’s Symposium, by Anselm Feuerbach, 1873.

  Such was his will. The following epitaphs were inscribed on his tomb. The first:

  Excelling among mortals for temperance and justice,

   Here lies divine Aristocles.108

  If anyone ever won great praise for wisdom,

   He won the greatest, and without arousing envy.

  44 Next:

  Earth hides Plato’s body in her bosom,

   But his soul has an immortal station with the blessed.

  Ariston’s son, whom every good man, though living far off,

   Honors for glimpsing the divine life.

  And a third that is more recent:

  Eagle, why do you swoop over this tomb? Tell me,

   Do you gaze at the starry house of one of the gods?

  —I am an image of the soul of Plato, which has flown to Olympus,

   While his earth-born body lies in Atti
c soil.

  45 There is also my own, which runs thus:

  And how could Phoebus,109 unless he brought Plato to life in Greece,

   Have healed the souls of men by letters?

  For Asclepius, the god’s son, is a healer of the body,

   While Plato heals the immortal soul.

  And another, on how he died:

  Phoebus gave mortals Asclepius and Plato,

   The one to save the soul, the other the body.

  After a wedding feast, Plato departed to that city

   He had built for himself, and resided in the abode of Zeus.

  These are his epitaphs.

  46,47 His students were Speusippus of Athens, Xenocrates of Chalcedon, Aristotle of Stagira, Philip of Opus, Hestiaeus of Perinthus, Dion of Syracuse, Amyclus of Heraclea, Erastus and Coriscus of Scepsus, Timolaus of Cyzicus, Euaeon of Lampsacus, Python and Heraclides of Aenus, Hippothales and Callippus of Athens, Demetrius of Amphipolis, Heraclides of Ponticus, and many more, including two women, Lastheneia of Mantinea and Axiothea of Phlius, who is reported by Dicaearchus to have worn men’s clothes. Some say that Theophrastus110 also attended Plato’s lectures. Chamaeleon includes Hyperides the orator and Lycurgus,111 as does Polemon. Sabinus adds Demosthenes,112 citing Mnesistratus of Thason as his authority in the fourth book of his Collected Meditations. And this is likely.