The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
and eighth Olympiad, having lived eighty-one years. But Neanthes says
that he was eighty-four years of age at his death. He is then younger
than Isocrates by six years; for Isocrates was born in the archonship of
Lysimachus, and Plato in that of Aminias, in which year Pericles died.
III. And he was of the borough of Colytus, as Antileon tells us in
his second book on Dates. And he was born, according to some writers,
in Ægina, in the house of Phidiades the son of Thales, as Phavorinus
affirms in his Universal History, as his father had been sent thither
with several others as a settler, and returned again to Athens when the
settlers were driven out by the Lacedæmonians, who came to the assistance
of the Æginetans. And he served the office of choregus at Athens, when
Dion was at the expense of the spectacle exhibited, as Theodorus relates
in the eighth book of his Philosophical Conversations.
IV. And he had brothers, whose names were Adimantus and Glaucon, and a
sister called Potone, who was the mother of Speusippus.
V. And he was taught learning in the school of Dionysius, whom he
mentions in his Rival Lovers. And he learnt gymnastic exercises under
the wrestler Ariston of Argos. And it was by him that he had the name
of Plato given to him instead of his original name, on account of his
robust figure, as he had previously been called Aristocles, after the
name of his grandfather, as Alexander informs us in his Successions. But
some say that he derived this name from the breadth (πλατύτης) of his
eloquence, or else because he was very wide (πλατὺς) across the forehead,
as Neanthes affirms. There are some also, among whom is Dicæarchus in the
first volume on Lives, who say that he wrestled at the Isthmian games.
VI. It is also said that he applied himself to the study of painting, and
that he wrote poems, dithyrambics at first, and afterwards lyric poems
and tragedies.
VII. But he had a very weak voice, they say; and the same fact is stated
by Timotheus the Athenian, in his book on Lives. And it is said that
Socrates in a dream saw a cygnet on his knees, who immediately put forth
feathers, and flew up on high, uttering a sweet note, and that the next
day Plato came to him, and that he pronounced him the bird which he had
seen.
VIII. And he used to philosophize at first in the Academy, and afterwards
in the garden near Colonus, as Alexander tells us in his Successions,
quoting the testimony of Heraclitus; and subsequently, though he was
about to contend for the prize in tragedy in the theatre of Bacchus,
after he had heard the discourse of Socrates, he learnt his poems,
saying:—
Vulcan, come here; for Plato wants your aid.
And from henceforth, as they say, being now twenty years old, he became a
pupil of Socrates. And when he was gone, he attached himself to Cratylus,
the disciple of Heraclitus, and to Hermogenes, who had adopted the
principles of Parmenides. Afterwards, when he was eight and twenty years
of age, as Hermodorus tells us, he withdrew to Megara to Euclid, with
certain others of the pupils of Socrates; and subsequently, he went to
Cyrene to Theodorus the mathematician; and from thence he proceeded to
Italy to the Pythagoreans, Philolaus and Eurytus, and from thence he went
to Eurytus to the priests there; and having fallen sick at that place, he
was cured by the priests by the application of sea water, in reference to
which he said:—
The sea doth wash away all human evils.
And he said too, that, according to Homer, all the Egyptians were
physicians. Plato had also formed the idea of making the acquaintance of
the Magi; but he abandoned it on account of the wars in Asia.
IX. And when he returned to Athens, he settled in the Academy, and that
is a suburban place of exercise planted like a grove, so named from an
ancient hero named Hecademus, as Eupolis tells us in his Discharged
Soldiers.
In the well-shaded walks, protected well
By Godlike Academus.
And Timon, with reference to Plato, says:—
A man did lead them on, a strong stout man,
A honeyed speaker, sweet as melody
Of tuneful grasshopper, who, seated high
On Hecademus’ tree, unwearied sings.
For the word academy was formerly spelt with E. Now our philosopher
was a friend of Isocrates; and Praxiphanes composed an account of a
conversation which took place between them, on the subject of poets, when
Isocrates was staying with Plato in the country.
X. And Aristoxenus says that he was three times engaged in military
expeditions; once against Tanagra; the second time against Corinth,
and the third time at Delium; and that in the battle of Delium he
obtained the prize of pre-eminent valour. He combined the principles of
the schools of Heraclitus, and Pythagoras and Socrates; for he used
to philosophize on those things which are the subjects of sensation,
according to the system of Heraclitus; on those with which intellect is
conversant, according to that of Pythagoras; and on politics according to
that of Socrates.
XI. And some people, (of whom Satyrus is one,) say that he sent a
commission to Sicily to Dion, to buy him three books of Pythagoras from
Philolaus for a hundred minæ; for they say that he was in very easy
circumstances, having received from Dionysius more than eighty talents,
as Onetor also asserts in his treatise which is entitled, Whether a wise
Man ought to acquire Gains.
XII. And he was much assisted by Epicharmus the comic poet, a great part
of whose works he transcribed, as Alcimus says in his essays addressed
to Amyntas, of which there are four. And in the first of them he speaks
as follows:—“And Plato appears to utter a great many of the sentiments
of Epicharmus. Let us just examine. Plato says that that is an object
of sensation, which is never stationary either as to its quality or its
quantity, but which is always flowing and changing; as, for instance,
if one take from any objects all number, then one cannot affirm that
they are either equal, or of any particular things, or of what quality
or quantity they are. And these things are of such a kind that they
are always being produced, but that they never have any invariable
substances.”
But that is a subject for intellect from which nothing is taken, and
to which nothing is added. And this is the nature of things eternal,
which is always similar and the same. And, indeed, Epicharmus speaks
intelligibly on the subject of what is perceived by the senses and by the
intellect:—
_A._ But the great Gods were always present, nor
Did they at any moment cease to be;
And their peculiar likeness at all times
Do they retain, by the same principles.
_B._ Yet chaos is asserted to have been
The first existent Deity.
_A._ How can that be?
For ’tis impossible that we should find
Any first principle arise from anything.
_B._ Is there then no first principle at all?
_A._ Nor second either in the things we speak of;
But thus it is—if to an even number,
Or e’en an odd one, if you so prefer it,
You add a unit, or if you deduct one,
Say will the number still remain the same?
_B._ Certainly not.
_A._ So, if you take a measure
A cubit long, and add another cubit,
Or cut a portion off, the measure then
No longer is the same?
_B._ Of course it is not.
_A._ Now turn your eyes and thoughts upon mankind—
We see one grows, another perishes
So that they all exist perpetually
In a condition of transition. That
Whose nature changes must be different
At each successive moment, from the thing
It was before. So also, you and I
Are different people now from what we were
But yesterday; and then, again, to-morrow
We shall be different from what we’re now;
So that, by the same rule, we’re always different.
And Alcimus speaks as follows:—“The wise men say that the soul perceives
some things by means of the body, as for instance, when it hears and
sees; but that it also perceives something by its own power, without
availing itself at all of the assistance of the body.” On which account
existent things are divisible into objects of sensation and objects of
understanding. On account of which Plato used to say, that those who
wished to become acquainted with the principles of everything, ought
first of all to divide the ideas as he calls them, separately, such as
similarity, and unity, and multitude, and magnitude, and stationariness,
and motion. And secondly, that they ought to form a notion of the
honourable and the good, and the just, and things of that sort, by
themselves, apart from other considerations. And thirdly, that they
ought to ascertain the character of such ideas as are relative to one
another, such as knowledge, or magnitude, or authority; considering that
the things which come under our notice from partaking of their nature,
have the same names that they have. I mean that one calls that just which
partakes of the just; and that beautiful which partakes of the beautiful.
And each of these primary species is eternal, and is to be understood
by the intellect, and is not subject to the influence of external
circumstances. On which account he says, that ideas exist in nature as
models; and that all other things are like them, and, as it were, copies
of them. Accordingly Epicharmus speaks thus about the good, and about the
ideas.
_A._ Tell me, is flute-playing now a thing at all?
_B._ Of course it is.
_A._ Is man then flute-playing?
_B._ No, nothing of the sort.
_A._ Well, let us see—
What is a flute-player? what think you now
Of him—is he a man, or is he not?
_B._ Of course he is a man.
_A._ Think you not then
The case is just the same about the good.
That the good is something by itself, intrinsic
And he who’s learnt, does at once become
Himself a good man? just as he who’s learnt
Flute-playing is a flute-player; or dancing,
A dancer; weaving, a weaver. And in short,
Whoever learns an art, does not become
The art itself, but just an artist in it.
Plato, in his theory of Ideas, says, “That since there is such a thing
as memory, the ideas are in existent things, because memory is only
conversant about what is stable and enduring; and that no other thing
is durable except ideas, for in what way,” he continues, “could animals
be preserved, if they had no ideas to guide them, and if, in addition
to them, they had not an intellect given to them by nature?” But as it
is they recollect similitudes, and also their food, so as to know what
kind of food is fit for them; which they learn because the notion of
similarity is implanted naturally in every animal; owing to which notion
they recognize those of the same species as themselves. What is it then
that Epicharmus says?
Eumæus’ wisdom?—not a scanty gift
Appropriated to one single being;
But every animal that breathes and lives,
Has mind and intellect.—So if you will
Survey the facts attentively, you’ll find,
E’en in the common poultry yard, the hen
Brings not her offspring forth at first alive,
But sits upon her eggs, and by her warmth,
Cherishes them into life. And all this wisdom
She does derive from nature’s gift alone,
For nature is her only guide and teacher.
And in a subsequent passage he says:—
There is no wonder in my teaching this,
That citizens please citizens, and seem
To one another to be beautiful: