[Footnote 16: Born B.C. 429; died 348.]
It was a common speech among the Athenians, that Apollo begat
Æsculapius and Plato,--the one to cure bodies, the other, souls.
Certainly the last was of divine extraction; his life and thoughts
fruitful in genius and immortality. Like other superior persons, his
birth is traced to a divine ancestry, and dignified with fables.
His mother, Perictione, was a descendant of Solon, and a woman of
extraordinary beauty. Aristo, his father, was of an eminent family.
To him Apollo appeared in a dream, enjoining upon him respect for his
wife's maternity; and, in accordance with the vision, it was affirmed,--
"He did not issue from a mortal bed;
A god his sire, a godlike life he led."
Whilst he was yet an infant, carried in his mother's arms, Aristo went
to Hymettus to sacrifice to the Muses, taking his wife and child with
him. As they were busied in the divine rites, she laid the babe in a
thicket of myrtles hard by, to whom, as he slept, came a swarm of bees,
artists of Hymettian honey, flying and buzzing about him, and (so runs
the myth) made a honeycomb in his mouth,--this being a presage of the
singular sweetness of his future eloquence foreseen in infancy.
As things fall out, not by chance, but by divine ordination, and are
intimated in advance, for the most part, so Socrates, who was to win
the noblest of the Athenian youths for his pupil and disciple, dreamed,
the night before Plato was commended to him, that a young swan fled
from Cupid's altar in the Academy, and sat upon his lap, thence flew up
to heaven, delighting both gods and men with its music. Next day, as
he was relating this to some of his friends, Aristo came to him, and
presented his son Plato to be his pupil. As soon as Socrates saw him,
reading in his looks his ingenuity, "Friends," said he, "this is the
swan of Cupid's Academy."
Whilst a child, he was remarkable for his sharpness of apprehension,
and the admirable modesty of his disposition; the beginnings of his
youth being seasoned with labor and love of study, which virtues
increased and harmonized with all others when he came to man's estate.
He early learned the art of wrestling, and became so great a proficient
that he took part in the Isthmian and Pythian games. As in years and
virtue, so likewise he increased extraordinarily in bodily proportion
and shape, insomuch that Aristo named him Plato, which implies breadth
of shoulders and bold eloquence. He also studied painting and poetry,
writing epics after the manner of Homer; but, finding how far he fell
short of him, he committed them to the flames. Intending to contest for
the palm at the Olympic Theatre, he wrote some dramatic pieces, and
gave them to the players, to be performed at the festivals. But the
day before these were to have been presented, chancing to hear Socrates
discourse in the theatre before the Bacchanals, he was so taken with
him that he not only forbore to contest at the time, but wholly gave
over all tragic poetry, and burned his verses. From that time, being
then in his twentieth year, he became a follower of Socrates, and
studied philosophy.
He studied eight years with Socrates, committing, as was the custom
with his scholars, the substance of his master's discourses to writing.
Of these were some of his Dialogues afterwards composed, with such
additions of argument and ornament that Socrates, hearing him recite
his Lysis, exclaimed, "O Hercules! how many things this young man
fables of me!"
He was one of the youngest of the Senate at the time of Socrates'
arraignment. The judges being much displeased with Socrates, Plato
took the orator's chair, intending to plead in his master's defence,
beginning, "Though I, Athenians, am the youngest of those that come
to this place,"--but, as all the Senate were against his speaking, he
was constrained to leave the chair. Socrates being condemned, Plato
offered to obtain the money for purchasing his liberty, which Socrates
refused. Upon the death of Socrates, Plato,--whose excessive grief
is mentioned by Plutarch,--with others of his disciples, fearing the
tyranny of those who put their master to death, fled to Euclid at
Megara, who befriended and entertained them till the storm was blown
over. He afterwards travelled in Italy, where he addicted himself to
the discipline of Pythagoras, which, though he saw it replenished with
curious and high reason, yet he chiefly affected the continence and
chastity, along with the knowledge of nature, possessed by that school.
Desiring to add to the knowledge of the Pythagoreans the benefits of
other disciplines, he went to Cyrene to learn geometry of Theodorus,
the mathematician; thence into Egypt, under pretence of selling
oil,--the scope of his journey thither being to bring the knowledge
of astrology from thence, and to be instructed in the rites of the
prophets and the mysteries. Having taken a full survey of the country,
he settled himself at Sais, learning of the school of wise men there
the doctrines of the universe, the immortality of the soul, and its
transmigrations. From Egypt he returned to Tarentum in Italy, where
he conversed with Archytas the elder, and other Pythagoreans, adding
to the learning of Socrates that of Pythagoras. He would have gone
also to India to study with the Magi; but the wars then raging in Asia
prevented. While in Egypt he probably became familiar with the opinions
of Hermes Trismegistus. That he also received some light from Moses is
probable, since his laws were translated into Greek before Alexander's
time, and Josephus, the Jew, affirms, "that he chiefly followed our
Lawgiver." And Numenius asks, "Of philosophers, what is Plato but Moses
speaking Greek?" It is known that he brought from Sicily, where he went
thrice, at the invitation of Dionysius the younger, the three books of
Philolaus, the Pythagorean, on natural philosophy, the first that were
published out of that school. These he appears to have woven into his
dialogue entitled "Timeus." Timeon accuses him of this appropriation.
"You Plato with the same affection caught
With a great sum, a little treatise bought,
Where all the knowledge which you own was taught,"--
alluding to his having received of Dionysius above eighty talents, and
being flush with his money.
He is said to owe much to Protagoras, and wrote a dialogue under that
title. In politics, as in morals, he drew largely from the opinions of
his master, Socrates; and it is related that he was indebted to the
books of Sophron, which, having been long neglected, were by him first
brought to Athens, and found under his pillow at his death. Certainly
he, of all scholars, had the best right to borrow, since none could
recognize his own in his pages, and any author might glory in being
esteemed worthy of lending a syllable to so consummate a creator.
On returning to Athens from his Egyptian travels, he settled himself in
the Academy, a gymnasium, or place of exercise, in the suburbs of the
city, surrounded by woods, and taking its name from Academus, one of
the heroes.
"The fluent, sweet-tongued sage first led the way,
Who writes as smoothly as from some green spray
Of Academe grasshoppers chirp their lay."
The occasion of his living here was that he owned an orchard adjoining
the Academy. In process of time, this orchard was much enlarged
by good-will, studious persons bequeathing of their riches to the
professors of philosophy, to maintain the quiet and tranquillity of a
philosophical life. Here he first taught philosophy; afterwards in the
Gardens of Colonus. At the entrance of his school was written,--
"Let none ignorant of geometry enter here";
signifying, by this inscription, not only the proportion and harmony of
lines, but also of inward affections and ideas.
His school took the name of the Academy. He thought it was a great
matter, in the education of youth, to accustom them to take delight
in good things; otherwise, he affirmed, pleasures were the bait of
evil. Education should be conducted with a serene sweetness, never by
force or violence, but by gentleness, accompanied with persuasion and
every kind of invitation. His teaching was conducted by conversation
or dialogue. His method of discourse was threefold,--first, to declare
what that is which is taught; then, for what reason it is asserted,
whether as a principal cause, or as a comparison, and whether to defend
the tenet, or controvert it; thirdly, whether it be rightly said. He
expounded the things which he conceived to be true; confuted those
which were false; suspended his opinions on those which were doubtful.
His philosophy comprised the elements of the school of Heraclitus,
Pythagoras, and Socrates, combined in a system which he distributed
into three parts,--moral, consisting of action; natural, in
contemplation; rational, in distinction of true and false, which,
though useful in all, yet belongs to pure thought. As of old,
in a tragedy the chorus acted alone; then Thespis, making some
intermissions of the chorus, introduced one actor, Æschylus a second,
Sophocles a third; in like manner, philosophy was at first but of one
kind,--physic; then Socrates added ethic; thirdly, Plato, inventing
dialectic, made it perfect.
This third part, dialectic, consisting in reason and dissertation, he
treated thus: Though judgments arise from the sense, yet the judgment
of truth is not in the senses. The mind alone is the judge of things,
and only fit to be credited, because the mind alone sees that which
is simple, uniform, and certain, which is named Idea. All sense he
conceived to be obtuse and slow, and nowise able to perceive those
things which seem subject to sense; those things being so minute that
they cannot fall under sense; so movable and various, that nothing
is one, constant and the same; all are in continual alteration and
movement, and subjects of opinion only. Science he affirmed to be
nowhere but in the reasons and thoughts of the mind, whose objects are
ideas, whence he approved definitions of things, and applied these
to whatsoever subject he discussed, discriminating things and naming
them etymologically. In this consisted the discipline of dialectic;
that is, of speech concluded by reason. Though Socrates practised
conversation by way of question and answer, or dialogue, yet Plato so
much refined the form, both in speech and composition, that he deserves
to be preferred before others, as well for invention as reformation.
The analytical method, which reduces the thing sought into its
principle, is his invention.[17]
[Footnote 17: "Plato," says Grote, "appreciated dialogue, not only as
the road to a conclusion, but for the mental discipline and suggestive
influences of the tentative and verifying process. It was his purpose
to create in his hearers a disposition to prosecute philosophical
researches of their own, and at the same time to strengthen their
ability of doing this with effect. This remark is especially confirmed
in the two dialogues, the Sophisticus and Politicus, wherein he defends
himself against reproaches seemingly made at the time. To what does
all this tend? Why do you stray so widely from your professed topic?
Could you not have reached the point by a shorter road? He replies by
distinctly proclaiming--that the process, with its improving influence
on the mind, stands first in his thoughts, the direct conclusion of the
inquiry only second; that the special topic which he discusses, though
in itself important, is nevertheless chosen primarily with a view to
its effect in communicating general method and dialectical aptitude,
just as a schoolmaster, when he gives out to his pupils a word to be
spelt, looks mainly, not to the exactness in spelling the particular
word, but to their command of good spelling generally. To form
inquisitive testing minds, fond of philosophical debate as a pursuit,
and looking at opinions on the negative as on the positive side, is the
first object of most of Plato's dialogues: to teach positive truth, is
only a secondary object."--_Grote's Plato, Vol. II, p. 399._]
Several words were also introduced by him in philosophy. Of these are
"element," which before his time was confounded with "principle." He
distinguished them thus: "Principle is that which has nothing before
it whereof it might be generated; elements are compounded." The word
"poem" was first used by him. So were "superficies" and "antipodes."
"Divine providence," words since appropriated by Christian theologians,
was first an expression of Plato's. He, too, first considered the force
and efficacy of grammar as the organ of pure thought.
His school was the pride of Athens, and drew into it its most gifted
youth, as well as scholars from abroad. His most distinguished
disciples were Speusippus, his nephew, whom he reformed by his example
and teachings, and who became eminent as a philosopher, succeeding
him in the Academy; Xenocrates, whom he much loved; Aristotle, the
Stagirite, whom Plato used to call a wild colt, foreseeing that he
would oppose him in his philosophy, as a colt, having sucked, kicks its
dam. Xenocrates was slow, Aristotle quick, in extremity; whence Plato
said of them, "See what an unequal team this of mine. What an ass and
horse to yoke together!"
Isocrates the orator, and Demosthenes, were among his auditors; Dion of
Syracuse was an intimate friend of his, and by his persuasions he made
two journeys to Syracuse, at one of which he was sold into slavery by
the tyranny of Dionysius, and being redeemed by his friend, returned to
Athens, as is related by Plutarch. Xenophon was his contemporary.
At home he lived quietly in the Academy, not taking part in public
affairs, the laws and customs of the Athenians not being in harmony
with his ideas of republican institutions. "Princes," he said, "had
no better possessions than the familiarity of such men as could not
flatter, wisdom being as necessary to a prince as the soul to the
body; and that kingdoms would be most happy if either philosophers
ruled, or the rulers were inspired with philosophy, since nothing is
more pernicious than power and arrogance accompanied with ignorance.
Subjects should be such as princes seem to be." And he held that a
philosopher might retire from the commonwealth if its affairs were
unjustly administered. "A just man was a perpetual magistrate."
He affirmed that philosophy was the true helper of the soul, all else
but ornamental; that nothing is more pleasing to a sound mind than to
speak and hear the truth spoken, than which nothing is better or more
lasting.
The study of philosophy, if it made him select in the choice of his
associates, did not sour his temper, nor render him exclusive in his
intercourse and fellowship with mankind. At the Olympian games, he
once fell into company with some strangers who did not know him, upon
whose affections he gained greatly by his affable conversation, dining
and spending the day with them, never mentioning either the Academy or
Socrates, only saying his name was Plato. When they came to Athens, he
entertained them courteously. "Come, Plato," said the strangers, "now
show us your namesake, Socrates' disciple. Take us to the Academy:
recommend us to him, that we may know him." He, smiling a little, as he
used, said, "I am the man." Whereat they were greatly amazed, having
conversed so familiarly with a person of that eminence, who used no
boasting or ostentation, and showed that, besides his philosophical
discourse, his ordinary conversation was extremely winning.
He lived single, yet soberly and chastely. So constant was he in his
composure and gravity, that a youth brought up under him, returning to
his parents, and hearing his father speak vehemently and loudly, said,
"I never found this in Plato." He ate but once a day, or, if the second
time, very sparingly, abstaining mostly from animal food. He slept
alone, and much discommended the contrary practice.
Of his prudence, patience, moderation, and magnanimity, and other
virtues, there are many instances recorded. When he left his school,
he was wont to say, "See, youths, that you employ your idle hours
usefully. Prefer labor before idleness, unless you esteem rust above
brightness."
To Philedonus, who blamed him that he was as studious to learn as
teach, and asked him how long he meant to be a disciple, he replied,
"As long as I am not ashamed of growing better and wiser."
Being asked what difference there was between a learned man and
unlearned,--"The same as betwixt a physician and patient."
To Antisthenes, making a long oration,--"You forget that discourse is
to be measured by the hearer, not the speaker."
Hearing a vicious person speak in defence of another,--"This man," said
he, "carries his heart in his tongue." He blamed having musicians at
feasts, "to hinder discourse."
Seeing the Agregentines so magnificent in building, and luxurious in
feasting,--"These people," said he, "build as if they were immortal,
and eat as if they were to die instantly."
He advised "drunken and angry men to look in the glass if they would
refrain from those vices," and Xenocrates, by reason of his severe
countenance, "to sacrifice to the Graces."
Being desirous to wean Timotheus, the son of Canon, the Athenian
general, from sumptuous military feasts, he invited him into the
Academy to a plain moderate supper, such as pleasing sleep succeeds
in a good temper of body. The next day, Timotheus, observing the
difference, said, "They who feasted with Plato never complained the
next morning."
His servant having displeased him for some offence, he said to him,
"Were I not angry, I should chastise you for it." At another time, his
servant being found faulty, he had him lay off his coat; and, while he
stood with his hand raised, a friend coming in asked him what he was
doing. "Punishing an angry man," said he. It was a saying of his, that
"no wise man punishes in respect of past faults, but for preventing
future ones."
On being told that some one spoke ill of him, he answered, "No
matter: I will live so that none shall believe him." When asked
whether there should be any record left to posterity of his actions
or sayings,--"First," said he, "we must get a name, then many things
follow."
Continuing a single life to his end, and not having any heirs of his
own, he bequeathed his estate to his nephew, young Adimantus, the son
of Adimantus, his second brother. Besides his orchard and grounds
inherited or added by purchase, he left to him "three mina of silver,
a golden cup, and a finger and ear-rings of gold. The gold ear-ring
was one he wore when a boy, as a badge of his nobility; and the golden
cup was one of sacrifice. He left to his servants, Ticho, Bictus, and
Apolloniades, Dionysius' goods." He "owed no man anything."
He died on his eighty-first birthday, for which reason the Magi at
Athens sacrificed to him, as conceiving him to have been more than man,
and as having fulfilled the most perfect number, nine multiplied into
itself. He died of old age; which Seneca ascribes to his temperance and
diligence.