PLATINA. 



PLATO. 



M 



tint Cardinal Beaarion declared tht the heart of 1'lanudes had no 

 hare in what lie bod written on that occasion. 



We are Indebted to Planudes for the preservation of n number of 

 valuable Greek poemi. He made a collection of Greek epigrams, in 

 even books, extracted from the comprehensive 'Anthology,' in fifteen 

 book*, which Constantino* Cepbalas had compiled in the 10th century. 

 Planndea, in hia collection, omitted those poems which seemed to him 

 obacene or of little importance. This collection, though the compiler 

 had displayed little taste or discernment, was at the time of the revival 

 of letters in Italy the only one which was known, and was first printed 

 in 1494 at Florence by John Lasearis. This edition was reprinted at 

 Venice in 1508, and at Florence in 1619. A better edition, and with 

 some additional poem*, was published by H. Stephouus at Paris in 

 1566 which was likewise reprinted several times. It has been trans- 

 lated into Latin by Grotius. In 1C06 Salmasius discovered, in the 

 Palatine library at Heidelberg, a manuscript belonging to' the 10th 

 century, which contained the complete 'Anthology' of Constautinus 

 C'ephalas, upon which our present 'Anthologia Grtcca,' revised by 

 Brunck and edited by Fr. Jacobs, is based. Plauudes also made, 

 without itny critical discrimination, a collection of fables, ascribed to 

 JEsop, to which he prefixed a ' Life ' of the father of fabulists, which 

 is full of absurdities. [jKsor.] Plauudes also made a translation of 

 the ' Metamorphoses ' of Ovid into Greek prose, which was edited in 

 1622 by Boissonade; and a Greek translation of Ctosar's ' Gallic War,' 

 which was printed by Jungermann in his edition of Ctcsor, Frankf., 

 1C06 ; but it is a disputed point whether this is the translation of 

 Plnnudes. Most of his other translations, such as that of some works 

 of St. Augustine, and Macrobiua on the ' Dream of Scipio,' as well aa 

 his numerous original works, partly on theological, partly on scientific, 

 and partly on grammatical and rhetorical subjects, have never been 

 thought worth being published, and are scattered in various libraries. 

 His literary character on the whole is low ; he wanted perseverance 

 and honesty, and was guilty of several forgeries, especially in his 

 ' Anthology,' his ' Life of ^Esop," and the collection of fables ascribed 

 to him. 



PLATINA. [PAUL II.] 



PLATO (nxo'Tuy) was born, according to the most consistent 

 accounts, on the seventh day of Thargelion, in 01. 87, 3, that is, in 

 May,B.c.429. (Athcnjeua,v.217,B.) His father was Ariston, the son 

 of Aristoclcs, and Plato is said to havo been originally called aft. i- las 

 grandfather, according to a custom very common among tho Greeks. 

 The old anecdote collectors have thought it necessary to find some 

 explanation for the second name, by which he is now known, as for 

 instance, that he was so called from the breadth of his style (Sia iV 

 AoT^TT(TO TTJJ ipHT)n(tu), or from his expansive forehead (on irAariis 

 fa 1-4 iitranar) ; but this seems quite idle, as the name Plato was of 

 common occurrence among tho Athenians of that time. The philo- 

 sopher's mother was Perictione. Tho later writers attribute to her a 

 lineal descent from Execestidvs, the father of Solon. 



It seems doubtful however whether Dropides, through whom the 

 pedigree is traced, was really a brother of Solon; that they were 

 intimate friends and connections appears from the words of Plato 

 himself in the ' Timacus ' (p. 20, E.) ; but perhaps the claim of a 

 direct descent from Execestides originated only in later times, when 

 the admirers of the great philosopher lost no opportunity of exalting 

 his family and investing his early youth with the wonders of fable. 

 It is also stated that be was born hi the island of -ICgina, which was, 

 bout the time of Plato's birth, stripped of its inhabitants, and 

 occupied by Athenian colonists, among whom was Aristophanes, the 

 comic poet. 



As might have been expected from his connection with tho most 

 distinguished Athenian family, Plato received the best education that 

 Athens could furnish : Dionysiua taught him reading and writing 

 (ypdfifuiTa) ; he was instructed in gymnastic exercises by an Argive 

 wrestler named Ariston ; his masters in music were Metcllus of Agri- 

 gentum, and Draco of Athens, a pupil of tho celebrated Damon. He 

 was sufficiently skilled in wrestling to contend at the Pythian and 

 Isthmian games, and his first literary attempts, the composition of 

 dithymnbic, lyric, and tragic poems, show that he had profited by 

 the instruction of bis muic masters. He is also said to have applied 

 himself to painting. 



Plato's connection with Socrates is said to havo commenced in B.C. 

 410. He had previously, and while very young, learned tho doctrines 

 of tho Heraclcitcan philosophy from Cratylus (Aristot. 'Metaphys.,' 

 i. c. fl; Apuleus, 'De Dogm. Plat.,' p. 2), who appears to have been 

 friend or acquaintance of Socrates. (Plato, Cratyl.,' p. 430, C.) 

 The assertion of Diogenes Lacrtius (iii. 6) that he learned the Elcatic 

 doctrines from Hermogenes seems to be derived from this statement 

 with regard to Cratylus, and from the circumstance that Hermogenes 

 maintains the Elcatic opinions against Cratylus in tho dialogue which 

 hears the name of tho latter. 



On the death of Socrates (hi May, Bo. 890), Plato betook himself 

 to Megan, in company with several of his late master's followers. 

 Related at he was to Critiaa and Charmides, who fell fighting side by 

 Bde against Thrasybulus and his party, and professing, as he always 

 did, sentiment* harmonising rather with the oligarchical faction at 

 i than with those of the patriots who wished for a restoration 

 of the older constitution under which Athens had so long and so 



pre-eminently distinguiibed herself, it cannot be doubted that ho 

 was driven to this st*lf-bani.->. in fear for his own safety; 



and we shall be the more inclined to draw this inference when we 

 recollect how intimately the n of Socrates was connected 



with that reaction against the Thirty Tyrants ant orters 



in which Lysiss took so prominent a part, [SOCRATES.] We are not 

 disposed to charge Plato, at this or at any other time of his life, with 

 absolute treason against tho liberties of his country : 

 however to hold with Niebuhr (' Kleiue Schriftcn,' p. 170; ' 1'lnlol. 

 Mus.,' i., p. 494), that Plato may have been prejudiced against his 

 native city in ita constitutional form of government by the warm 

 feelings of his youthful heart ; " but it is not the less true," adds 

 the historian, "that, if so, he was not n good citi/'-n." \\hilo at 

 Mcgara, he is said to have attended tho lectures of Euclid, wh 

 the head of a school there [EUCLID], and we find traces in several of 

 his dialogues of an acquaintance with the peculiar doctrines of tho 

 Megoric philosophy. He afterwards went to Cyrene to visit Theo- 

 dorus, the mathematician, who is introduced in the ' Thetctetus ' as 

 living at Athens before the death of Socrates, and advocating the 

 doctrines of Protagoras against that philosopher. From thence, we 

 are told, he travelled to Kgypt, where he spent thirteen years, col- 

 lecting all the traditions which the priests could teach him ; and it is 

 said that he afterwards went to Persia to learn the doctrines of tho 

 Magi, and even became acquainted with the 1 iws and religion of tho 

 Jews. (Lactant ' Institut.,' iv. -' ; Clemens AlcxauHr., ' Protropt., 

 p. 46, A.) So late as in Strabo'a time the traveller to Hclio] olis was 

 shown the house where Plato and his companion Eudoxus had lodged, 

 (Strabo, p. 806, C.) That Plato visited K.nypt is also stat 

 Cicero, in a remarkable passage ('De Kepubl.,' i. 10), and the story is 

 not in itself improbable, especially if we admit the truth of his 

 journey to Cyrene; it seems however exceedingly unlikely that he 



i there so long as thirteen years, for he never speaks of ' 

 like a person who was familiarly acquainted with the peculiarities of 

 the country, and his philosophy was so much cultivated At Alexandria 

 in later times, that a lie circumstantial, like that which Strabo relates, 

 u. Lht easily have been fabricated on the spot. The other exaggera- 

 tions with regard to Plato's travels iu the East are highly absurd, nnd 

 can only be accounted for from the great importance attributed to his 

 philosophy by the early Chri.stiin writi-n, and by their wish to make- 

 out that the apparent coincidences between his system and the Christian 

 revelation were not anticipations so much as proofs of his acquaint- 

 ance with the traditions and prophecies of tho East. There is probably 

 more truth in the statement that, on his return from Egypt, he went 

 to Tnrentum to visit or renew his acquaintance with some renowned 

 teachers of the Pythagorean school ; he certainly did not go to It ,ly 

 to learn the doctrines of this school : he might have learn, d them 

 nearer home, for the celebrated Pythagorean Philolaus had been at 

 Thebes before the death of Socrates ; Cebes and Simmi.is heard him 

 there (Cicero, 'Do Fin.,' v. 29; Diog. Lacrt., viii. 4C) ; and 1'latn 

 shows in his earliest works that he was not unacquainted with the 

 tenets of the Pythagoreans. 



This journey to Magna Unccia seems to be connected with the fir*t 

 of three visits which he paid to Sicily. Curiosity to see an err 

 of Mount ./Etna is said to have been the motive for this first voyage to 

 Syracuse, which, it is stated, he undertook in the fortieth year of his 

 age, therefore in B.C. 889. (Athen., xi. p. 507, B ; 1 >iod. Sic , xv. 7 ; 

 Pseudo-Plat., ' Epist,' vii. p. 324, A.) It was on this occasion that he 

 became acquainted with bionysius I., tyrant of Syracuse, with his son 

 Dionysius. II., and with Dion, brother in law of the former and uncle 

 of the latter. He had the misfortune to offend tho elder Dionysius by 

 some freedom of speech, and the tyrant got Poll!*, the Spartan > 

 sador, in whose ship he was returning to Ureece, to sell him at 

 as a slave. He was bought by Anuiceris of Cyrene, who gave hi 

 freedom ; and on returning to Athens he Bet up a school in the 

 Academy, where he taught for twenty-two years. After this h 

 a teconcl visit to Syracuse, at the request of Dion, to endeavour to 

 form by philosophical instruction the ill-educated mind of hi i. 

 the younger Dionysius. Ho failed in doing this ; and Dion being 

 banished soon after, Plato returned to Athens with the tyrant's per- 

 mission. This second journey is placed in B.C.- 367, and Plato stayed 

 four months in Sicily. His third journey to Sicily is placed in 

 B.C. 861 ; it seems to have been undertaken in tho hope of reconciling 

 Dion and Dionysius. Plato's stay at the tyrant's court beca; 

 agreeable and dangerous to himself, and it was nut without difficulty 

 that he obtained permission to return again to Athens, which i 

 in the following year. In n.c. 357 Dion collected an i-xpi-dition in 

 Ureece for the purpose of liberating Syracuse from tho tyranny of 

 Dionysius : among tho volunteers who joined this expedition was 

 Spciuippus, a nephew of Plato, who had accompanied him on bin 

 second journey to Sicily. Dion succeeded in this object, but was soon 

 after murdered (u.c. 353), and with his death Plato's connection with 



ie ceased. 



Plato spent the last years of his life iu the diligent prosecution of 

 hi-" philosophical and literary pursuits, Cicero tells us ('De Senect.,' 

 c. r.) that he was actually engaged in writing at the moment of hi* 

 death. His lectures were at first delivered in the garden of th 

 Academy itself, but afterwards in a garden which he Lad bought, near 

 the Academy, and between it and tho village Coloous. Plato died in 



