The ''Epistles'' (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: Ἐπιστολαί;
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''Epistolae'') of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
are a series of thirteen
letters
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
traditionally included in the Platonic corpus. Their
authenticity
Authenticity or authentic may refer to:
* Authentication, the act of confirming the truth of an attribute
Arts and entertainment
* Authenticity in art, ways in which a work of art or an artistic performance may be considered authentic
Music
* A ...
has been the subject of some dispute, and scholarly consensus has shifted back and forth over time. They were "generally accepted as genuine until modern times"; but by the close of the nineteenth century, many philologists (such as
Richard Bentley
Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellen ...
,
Christoph Meiners
Christoph Meiners (31 July 1747 – 1 May 1810) was a German racialist, philosopher, historian, and writer born in Warstade. He supported the polygenist theory of human origins. He was a member of the Göttingen School of History.
Biograph ...
, and
Friedrich Ast) believed that none of the letters were actually written by Plato. Now every letter except the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
has some defenders of its authenticity. The
Twelfth is also widely regarded as a
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
, and the
Fifth and
Ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.
Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
have fewer supporters than the others.
[Platon, "Lettres", ed. by ]Luc Brisson
Luc Brisson (born 10 March 1946 in Saint-Esprit, Quebec) is a Canadian (and from 1986 also French) historian of philosophy and anthropologist of antiquity. He is emeritus director of research at the CNRS in France, and is considered by some of ...
, Flammarion, 2004, p. 70.
The ''Epistles'' focus mostly on Plato's time in
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
and his influence on the political figures
Dion and
Dionysius
The name Dionysius (; el, Διονύσιος ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; la, Dionysius) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name ...
. They are generally biographical rather than philosophical, although several, notably the
Seventh Letter
The ''Seventh Letter of Plato'' is an epistle that tradition has ascribed to Plato. It is by far the longest of the epistles of Plato and gives an autobiographical
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-writte ...
, gesture at the doctrines of Plato's philosophy. Only two, the
Second
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
and Seventh, directly reference Plato's teacher
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
, the major figure within his
philosophical dialogues.
Authenticity
The two letters that are most commonly claimed to have actually been written by
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
are the
Seventh
Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven.
Seventh may refer to:
* Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
* A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts
Film and television
*"The Seventh", a second-season e ...
and the
Eighth, on the supposition that these were
open letter
An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
s and therefore less likely to be the result of invention or
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
. This is not so much because of a presumption in favor of an open letter's authenticity as because of a presumption against that of a private letter: the preservation of the former is unsurprising, while the preservation, dissemination, and eventual publication of the latter requires some sort of explanation. Nevertheless, even the Seventh Letter has recently been argued to be spurious by prominent scholars, such as
Malcolm Schofield
Malcolm Schofield, (born 19 April 1942) is a British classicist and academic, specialising in ancient philosophy. Having taught at Cornell University and the University of Oxford, he joined the University of Cambridge in 1972 as a lecturer in cla ...
,
Myles Burnyeat
Myles Fredric Burnyeat (1 January 1939 – 20 September 2019) was an English scholar of ancient philosophy.
Early life and education
Myles Burnyeat was born on 1 January 1939 to Peter James Anthony Burnyeat and Cynthia Cherry Warburg. He rece ...
, and
Julia Annas
Julia Elizabeth Annas (born 1946) is a British philosopher who has taught in the United States for the last quarter-century. She is Regents Professor of Philosophy Emerita at the University of Arizona.
Education and career
Annas graduated from ...
.
George Boas
George Boas (; 28 August 1891 – 17 March 1980) was a professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He received his education at Brown University, obtaining both a BA and MA in philosophy there, after which he studied shortly at ...
argues that all of the ''Epistles'', including the Seventh, are spurious, a conclusion accepted also, and more recently, by
Terence Irwin
Terence Henry Irwin FBA (; born 21 April 1947), usually cited as T. H. Irwin, is a scholar and philosopher specializing in ancient Greek philosophy and the history of ethics (i.e., the history of Western moral philosophy in ancient, medieval, and ...
. On the other hand,
George Grote
George Grote (; 17 November 1794 – 18 June 1871) was an English political radical and classical historian. He is now best known for his major work, the voluminous ''History of Greece''.
Early life
George Grote was born at Clay Hill near Be ...
,
Anton Ræder,
Novotny,
Harward, and
Bluck reject only the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
; and Bentley accepted all of them.
The other letters enjoy varying levels of acceptance among scholars. The
Sixth,
Third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
, and
Eleventh
In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a f ...
have the greatest support of the remaining letters, followed by the
Fourth,
Tenth,
Thirteenth
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...
, and
Second Letter; fewer scholars consider the
Fifth,
Ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.
Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
, and
Twelfth to be genuine, while almost none dispute that the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
is spurious.
If the Epistles are genuine—and some of the greatest scholars and historians hold they are—we know more of the life of Plato than of any other ancient philosopher.' Even apart from the Epistles we know a good deal. Besides what we may infer from the dialogues, we have one or two statements resting on the authority of Hermodoros, who was a member of the Academy in Plato’s time, and these give us certain fixed points to start from. The later Lives are almost entirely mythical. It is conceivable that they may contain one or two stray facts derived from older sources now lost, but their general character is such that it is safer to neglect them in the first instance. The Epistles on the other hand, are free from this mythology, which is the more remarkable as Plato’s own nephew, Speusippos
Speusippus (; grc-gre, Σπεύσιππος; c. 408 – 339/8 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher. Speusippus was Plato's nephew by his sister Potone. After Plato's death, c. 348 BC, Speusippus inherited the Academy, near age 60, and remained ...
, already credited him with a miraculous birth. If, then, the Epistles are forgeries, they are at least the work of a sober and well-informed writer, whose use of the Attic dialect proves him to have been Plato’s contemporary. It would have been impossible to find anyone fifty years later who could handle the language as he does. Even the oldest and most successful of the spurious dialogues betray themselves at every turn. We may, indeed, go so far as to say that the supposed forger of the Epistles must have been a man of almost unparalleled literary skill, or he could not have reproduced so many of the little peculiarities that marked Plato’s style at the very time of his life to which the Epistles profess to belong, though with just those shades of difference we should expect to find in letters as contrasted with more elaborate literary work. I believe that all the letters of any importance are Plato’s, and I shall therefore make use of them. As, however, there are still eminent scholars who are not convinced, I shall warn the reader when I have occasion to do so.
The genuineness of the Epistles has been maintained by scholars like Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
and Cobet, and by historians like Grote and E. Meyer In practice most accounts of Plato really depend on them, though that is disguised by the custom of referring instead to Plutarch’s Life of Dion. Plutarch, however, is obviously dependent on the Epistles for most, if not all, of what he tells us; so this is an illegitimate evasion. I should add that the First Epistle stands by itself In my judgement, it has got into its present place by mistake. It is a genuine fourth-century letter, but I do not think the writer, whoever he was, meant to pass for Plato at all. I do not think either that he was Dion or meant to pass for Dion.
Structure of the ''Epistles''
The numbering of each letter is due solely to their placement in traditional
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
s, and does not appear to follow any discernible principle. L. A. Post, in his edition of the ''Thirteen Epistles of Plato'', presented them in the order in which he thought they were written:
Thirteenth
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...
,
Second
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
,
Eleventh
In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a f ...
,
Tenth,
Fourth,
Third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
,
Seventh
Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven.
Seventh may refer to:
* Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
* A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts
Film and television
*"The Seventh", a second-season e ...
,
Eighth, and
Sixth (the four letters universally recognized as spurious are placed following these nine).
The addressees of the ''Epistles'' fall into three main categories. Four are addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse
Dionysius the Younger ( el, Διονύσιος ὁ Νεώτερος, 343 BC), or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
Biography
Dionysius II of Syracuse was the s ...
(i, ii, iii, xiii), four to Dionysius' uncle
Dion and his associates (iv, vii, viii, x), and five to various others (the Fifth to
Perdiccas III of Macedon
Perdiccas III (Ancient Greek, Greek: Περδίκκας Γ΄) was king of the Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 365 BC to 360 BC, succeeding his brother Alexander II of Macedon, Alexander II.
Son of Amyntas III of Maced ...
; the Sixth to
Hermias of Atarneus Hermias of Atarneus (; el, Ἑρμίας ὁ Ἀταρνεύς; died 341/0 BC) was a Greek tyrant of Atarneus, and Aristotle's father-in-law.
The first mention of Hermias is as a slave to Eubulus, a Bithynian banker who ruled Atarneus. Hermias ev ...
, Erastus, and Coriscus; the Tenth to Aristodorus; the Eleventh to Laodamas; and the Ninth and Twelfth to
Archytas
Archytas (; el, Ἀρχύτας; 435/410–360/350 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, music theorist, astronomer, statesman, and strategist. He was a scientist of the Pythagorean school and famous for being the reputed founder ...
).
First Letter
The ''First Letter'' is addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse
Dionysius the Younger ( el, Διονύσιος ὁ Νεώτερος, 343 BC), or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
Biography
Dionysius II of Syracuse was the s ...
, and is almost certainly a
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
. In it,
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
supposedly complains of his rude dismissal by Dionysius and predicts an evil end for him. It is interesting mainly for the number of quotations from the tragic poets which it preserves.
Second Letter
The ''Second Letter'' is addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse
Dionysius the Younger ( el, Διονύσιος ὁ Νεώτερος, 343 BC), or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
Biography
Dionysius II of Syracuse was the s ...
in response to a supposed complaint he lodged against
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
and his associates that they were slandering him. The letter disclaims any responsibility for these slanders and further denies that they are even occurring. It then counsels Dionysius that a concern for his reputation after his death should incline him to repair his relationship with Plato, since the interactions of political men with the wise is a topic of constant discussion. From this subject, the letter turns to a deliberately enigmatic discussion of "the First," in which Plato warns Dionysius to never write these doctrines down and to burn this letter upon committing its contents to memory. The ''Second Letter'' is the source of the oft-cited remark that "no writing of Plato exists or ever will exist, but those now said to be his are those of a Socrates become beautiful and new (καλός καί νέος)."
R. G. Bury argues that the ''Second Letter'' is almost certainly inauthentic, based primarily upon conflicts between it and Plato's
''Seventh Letter'' and Bury's own conclusion is that its tone and content are decidedly un-Platonic. He considers it to be by the same author as the
''Sixth Letter''.
[Bury, Epistle VI, 454–5.]
Third Letter
The ''Third Letter'' is addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse
Dionysius the Younger ( el, Διονύσιος ὁ Νεώτερος, 343 BC), or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
Biography
Dionysius II of Syracuse was the s ...
, complaining of two slanders aimed at
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, viz. that he had prevented Dionysius II from transforming his
tyranny
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...
into a
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
and that Plato was to blame for all the maladministration in
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
. The letter responds by recounting Plato's activities in Syracuse, and has the flavor of an
open letter
An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
.
Bury suggests that the ''Third Letter'', if authentic, was probably written after Plato's third visit to Syracuse in 360
BC, and probably after
Dion's
Dion’s is a privately owned chain of pizza restaurants based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As of 2020 Dion’s operates 25 restaurants; 20 in New Mexico, 2 in Texas, and 3 in Colorado.
History
Dion’s was founded in 1978 by Jon Patten and Bill Sc ...
seizure of power in 357 BC. He finds the tone to be anachronistic, however, remarks that the parallels to both the
''Apology of Socrates'' and the
''Seventh Letter'' argue against its authenticity.
Fourth Letter
The ''Fourth Letter'' is addressed to
Dion, the uncle and (by this time) ouster of
Dionysius II of Syracuse
Dionysius the Younger ( el, Διονύσιος ὁ Νεώτερος, 343 BC), or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
Biography
Dionysius II of Syracuse was the s ...
. It encourages Dion in his political efforts, but admonishes him not to forget about the importance of virtue. Bury finds the mixture of flattery and reproof in the letter to be at odds with
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's friendlier relationship with Dion, even granting that it may be an
open letter
An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
, and notes conflicts with the
''Seventh Letter'' that militate against its authenticity.
Fifth Letter
The ''Fifth Letter'' is addressed to
Perdiccas III of Macedon
Perdiccas III (Ancient Greek, Greek: Περδίκκας Γ΄) was king of the Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 365 BC to 360 BC, succeeding his brother Alexander II of Macedon, Alexander II.
Son of Amyntas III of Maced ...
, and counsels him to listen to the advice of one
Euphraeus. It then proceeds to defend
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's abstinence from
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
. Most scholars doubt its authenticity.
Sixth Letter
The ''Sixth Letter'' is addressed to
Hermias, tyrant of
Atarneus
Atarneus (; grc, Ἀταρνεύς), also known as Atarna (Ἄταρνα) and Atarneites (Ἀταρνείτης), was an ancient Greek city in the region of Aeolis, Asia Minor. It lies on the mainland opposite the island of Lesbos. It was on the ...
, and to Erastus and Coriscus, two pupils of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
residing in
Scepsis
Scepsis or Skepsis ( grc, Σκῆψις or Σκέψις) was an ancient settlement in the Troad, Asia Minor that is at the present site of the village of Kurşunlutepe, near the town of Bayramiç in Turkey. The settlement is notable for being t ...
(a town near Atarneus), advising them to become friends. The letter claims that Plato never met Hermias, contrary to the account given of the latter's life by
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
; contains a number of parallels to the
''Second Letter'' concerning the value of combining wisdom with power, the utility of referring disputes to its author, and the importance of reading and re-reading it; and concludes that all three addresses should publicly swear an oath to strange deities, and to do so half-jestingly. For these reasons, Bury concludes that ''Sixth Letter'' is inauthentic and shares its author with the ''Second Letter''.
Seventh Letter
The ''Seventh Letter'' is addressed to the associates and companions of
Dion, most likely after his assassination in 353 BC. It is the longest of the ''Epistles'' and considered to be the most important. It is most likely an
open letter
An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
, and contains a defense of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's political activities in
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
as well as a long digression concerning the nature of
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, the
theory of the forms, and the problems inherent to teaching. It also espouses the so-called "unwritten doctrine" of Plato which urges that nothing of importance should be committed to writing.
Eighth Letter
The ''Eighth Letter'' is addressed to the associates and companions of
Dion, and was probably written some months after the ''Seventh Letter'' but before Dion's assassin,
Callippus
Callippus (; grc, Κάλλιππος; c. 370 BC – c. 300 BC) was a Greek astronomer and mathematician.
Biography
Callippus was born at Cyzicus, and studied under Eudoxus of Cnidus at the Academy of Plato. He also worked with Aristotle at th ...
, had been driven out by
Hipparinus. It counsels compromise between the parties of Dion and
Dionysius the Younger
Dionysius the Younger ( el, Διονύσιος ὁ Νεώτερος, 343 BC), or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
Biography
Dionysius II of Syracuse was the s ...
, the former favoring
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
, the latter,
tyranny
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...
. The compromise would be a
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
limited by laws.
Ninth Letter
The ''Ninth Letter'' is addressed to
Archytas
Archytas (; el, Ἀρχύτας; 435/410–360/350 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, music theorist, astronomer, statesman, and strategist. He was a scientist of the Pythagorean school and famous for being the reputed founder ...
. Bury describes it as "a colourless and commonplace effusion which we would not willingly ascribe to Plato, and which no correspondent of his would be likely to preserve." Despite the fact that
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
attests to its having been written by
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, most scholars consider it a
literary forgery
Literary forgery (also known as literary mystification, literary fraud or literary hoax) is writing, such as a manuscript or a literary work, which is either deliberately misattributed to a historical or invented author, or is a purported memoir ...
.
Tenth Letter
The ''Tenth Letter'' is addressed to an otherwise unknown Aristodorus, who is praised for having remained loyal to
Dion, presumably during the latter's exile. The treatment of
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
in simply
moral
A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...
terms, without any reference to
intellectual
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
qualities, is foreign enough to
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's treatment for Bury to declare the letter a
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
. In any event, it consists of a bare three sentences, covering nine lines in the
Stephanus pagination
Stephanus pagination is a system of reference and organization used in modern editions and translations of Plato (and less famously, Plutarch) based on the three-volume 1578 edition''Platonis opera quae extant omnia'' edidit Henricus Stephanus, Ge ...
.
Eleventh Letter
The ''Eleventh Letter'' is addressed to one Laodamas, who apparently requested assistance in drawing up laws for a new
colony
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...
. It refers to someone named Socrates, though the reference in the letter to the advanced age of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
means that it cannot be the
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
who is famous from the dialogues. Bury would allow the authenticity of the letter, were it not for the fact that it claims that this Socrates cannot travel on account of having been enervated by a case of
strangury
Strangury (or stranguria) is the symptom characterized by painful, frequent urination of small volumes that are expelled slowly only by straining and despite a severe sense of urgency, usually with the residual feeling of incomplete emptying. The ...
.
Twelfth Letter
The ''Twelfth Letter'' is addressed to
Archytas
Archytas (; el, Ἀρχύτας; 435/410–360/350 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, music theorist, astronomer, statesman, and strategist. He was a scientist of the Pythagorean school and famous for being the reputed founder ...
. It is only slightly longer than the
''Tenth Letter'' (four sentences, covering 12 lines in the
Stephanus pagination
Stephanus pagination is a system of reference and organization used in modern editions and translations of Plato (and less famously, Plutarch) based on the three-volume 1578 edition''Platonis opera quae extant omnia'' edidit Henricus Stephanus, Ge ...
), and considered to be spurious. It thanks Archytas for sending
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
some treatises, which it then goes on to praise effusively.
Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Ancient Greece, Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a ...
preserves this letter in his ''
Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal sourc ...
'', as well as the letter from Archytas which presumably occasioned the ''Twelfth Letter''; this letter points to the treatises having been those of
Ocellos of Lucania, a
Pythagorean
Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to:
Philosophy
* Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras
* Ne ...
. Because the writings which are attributed to Ocellos are
forgeries
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
from the First Century BC, the ''Twelfth Letter'' is probably also a forgery, and by the same forger, intended to stamp the treatises with Plato's authority.
Thirteenth Letter
The ''Thirteenth Letter'' is addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse
Dionysius the Younger ( el, Διονύσιος ὁ Νεώτερος, 343 BC), or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
Biography
Dionysius II of Syracuse was the s ...
, and appears to be private in character. The portrait of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
offered here is in sharp contrast to that the disinterested and somewhat aloof philosopher of the
''Seventh Letter'', leading Bury to doubt its authenticity.
[Bury, Epistle XIII, 610–3.]
Notes
References
* Boas, George. (1949) "Fact and Legend in the Biography of Plato", ''
The Philosophical Review
''The Philosophical Review'' is a quarterly journal of philosophy edited by the faculty of the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University and published by Duke University Press (since September 2006).
Overview
The journal publishes original ...
'' 57 (5): 439–457.
*
Bury, R. G. (1929; reprinted 1942) Editor and Translator of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's ''Timaeus, Critias, Cleitophon, Menexenus, Epistles'',
Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and L ...
. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
* Moore-Blunt, Jennifer (1985) ''Platonis Epistulae.'' Teubner.
* Post, L. A. (1925) ''Thirteen Epistles of Plato''. Oxford.
Further reading
*
*
*
*
Caskey, Elizabeth Gwyn (1974), "Again - Plato's Seventh Letter," ''Classical Philology'' 69(3): 220–27.
External links
*
''Epistles''translated by George Burges
Free public domain audiobook version of the ''Epistles''
* . Collection includes the Epistles.
George Burges
George Burges (; 1786 – 11 January 1864) was an English classical scholar who published translations of the works of Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Plato.
Biography
Burges was born in Bengal, India, and was probably the son of Thomas B ...
, translator (1855).
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