The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
And so one dog seems to another dog
The fairest object in the world; and so
One ox seems to another, ass to ass,
And swine to swine.
And these and similar speculations are examined and compared by Alcimus
through four books, where he shows how much assistance Plato has derived
from Epicharmus. And that Epicharmus himself was not indisposed to
appreciate his own wisdom, one may learn from these lines, in which he
predicts that there will arise some one to imitate him:—
But as I think, I surely foresee this,
That these my words will be preserved hereafter
In many people’s recollection. And
Another man will come, who’ll strip my reasons
Of their poetic dress, and, clothing them
In other garments and with purple broidery
Will show them off; and being invincible,
Will make all rivals bow the knee to him.
XIII. Plato also appears to have brought the books of Sophron, the
farce-writer,[31] to Athens, which were previously neglected; and to have
availed himself of them in his Speculations on Morals: and a copy of them
was found under his head.
XIV. And Plato made three voyages to Sicily, first of all for the purpose
of seeing the island and the craters of volcanoes, when Dionysius, the
son of Hermocrates, being the tyrant of Sicily, pressed him earnestly
to come and see him; and he, conversing about tyranny, and saying that
that is not the best government which is advantageous for one individual
alone, unless that individual is pre-eminent in virtue, had a quarrel
with Dionysius, who got angry, and said, “Your words are those of an old
dotard.” And Plato replied, “And your language is that of a tyrant.” And
on this the tyrant became very indignant, and at first was inclined to
put him to death; but afterwards, being appeased by Dion and Aristomenes,
he forebore to do that, but gave him to Pollis, the Lacedæmonian, who
happened to have come to him on an embassy just at that time, to sell
as a slave. And he took him to Ægina and sold him; and Charmander, the
son of Charmandrides, instituted a capital prosecution against him, in
accordance with the law which was in force, in the island of Ægina,
that the first Athenian who landed on the island should be put to death
without a trial; and he himself was the person who had originally
proposed that law, as Phavorinus says, in his Universal History. But when
some one said, though he said it only in joke, that it was a philosopher
who had landed, the people released him. But some say that he was brought
into the assembly and watched; and that he did not say a word, but stood
prepared to submit to whatever might befall him; and that they determined
not to put him to death, but to sell him after the fashion of prisoners
of war. And it happened by chance that Anniceris, the Cyrenean, was
present, who ransomed him for twenty minæ, or, as others say, for thirty,
and sent him to Athens, to his companions, and they immediately sent
Anniceris his money: but he refused to receive it, saying that they were
not the only people in the world who were entitled to have a regard for
Plato. Some writers again say, that it was Dion who sent the money, and
that he did not refuse it, but bought him the garden in the Academy. And
with respect to Pollis it is said that he was defeated by Chabrias, and
that he was afterwards drowned in Helice, in consequence of the anger of
the deity at his treatment of this philosopher. And this is the story
told by Phavorinus in the first book of his Commentaries. Dionysius,
however, did not remain quiet; but when he had heard what had happened he
wrote to Plato not to speak ill of him, and he wrote back in reply that
he had not leisure enough to think at all of Dionysius.
XV. But he went a second time to Sicily to the younger Dionysius,
and asked him for some land and for some men whom he might make live
according to his own theory of a constitution. And Dionysius promised
to give him some, but never did it. And some say that he was in danger
himself, having been suspected of exciting Dion and Theotas to attempt
the deliverance of the island; but that Archytas, the Pythagorean, wrote
a letter to Dionysius, and begged Plato off and sent him back safe to
Athens. And the letter is as follows:—
ARCHYTAS TO DIONYSIUS, GREETING.
“All of us who are the friends of Plato, have sent to you Lamiscus
and Photidas, to claim of you this philosopher in accordance with the
agreement which you made with us. And it is right that you should
recollect the eagerness which you had to see him, when you pressed us
all to secure Plato’s visit to you, promising to provide for him, and
to treat him hospitably in every respect, and to ensure his safety both
while he remained with you, and when he departed. Remember this too that
you were very delighted indeed at his arrival, and that you expressed
great pleasure at the time, such as you never did on any other occasion.
And if any unpleasantness has arisen between you, you ought to behave
with humanity, and restore the man unhurt; for by so doing you will act
justly, and do us a favour.”
XVI. The third time that he went to Sicily was for the purpose of
reconciling Dion to Dionysius. And as he could not succeed he returned
back to his own country, having lost his labour.
XVII. And in his own country he did not meddle with state affairs,
although he was a politician as far as his writings went. And the
reason was, that the people were accustomed to a form of government
and constitution different from what he approved of. And Pamphile, in
the twenty-fifth book of his Commentaries, says that the Arcadians
and Thebans, when they were founding a great city, appointed him its
lawgiver; but that he, when he had ascertained that they would not
consent to an equality of rights, refused to go thither.
XVIII. It is said also, that he defended Chabrias the general, when he
was impeached in a capital charge; when no one else of the citizens would
undertake the task: and as he was going up towards the Acropolis with
his client, Crobylus the sycophant met him and said, “Are you come to
plead for another, not knowing that the hemlock of Socrates is waiting
also for you?” But he replied, “And also, when I fought for my country I
encountered dangers: and now too I encounter them in the cause of justice
and for the defence of a friend.”
XIX. He was the first author who wrote treatises in the form of
dialogues, as Phavorinus tells us in the eighth book of his Universal
History. And he was also the first person who introduced the analytical
method of investigation, which he taught to Leodamus of Thasos. He
was also the first person in philosophy who spoke of antipodes, and
elements, and dialectics, and actions (ποιήματα), and oblong numbers,
and plane surfaces, and the providence of God. He was likewise the first
of the philosophers who contradicted the assertion of Lysias, the son
of Cephalus, setting it out word for word in his Phædrus. And he was
also the first person who examined the subject of grammatical knowledge
scientifically. And as he argued against almost every one who had lived
before his time, it is often asked why he has never mentioned Democritus.
XX. Neanthes of Cyzicus says, that when he came to the Olympic games
all the Greeks who were present turned to look at him: and that it was
on that occasion that he held a conversation with Dion, who was on
the point of attacking Dionysius. Moreover, in the first book of the
Commentaries of Phavorinus, it is related that Mithridates, the Persian,
erected a statue of Plato in the Academy, and put on it this inscription,
“Mithridates, the son of Rhodobates, a Persian, consecrated an image of
Plato to the Muses, which was made by Silanion.”
XXI. And Heraclides says, that even while a young man, he was so modest
and well regulated, that he was never once seen to laugh excessively.
XXII. But though he was of such a grave character himself, he was
nevertheless ridiculed by the comic poets. Accordingly, Theopompus, in
his Pleasure-seeker, says:—
For one thing is no longer only one,
But two things now are scarcely one; as says
The solemn Plato.
And Anaxandrides in his Theseus, says:—
When he ate olives like our worthy Plato.
And Timon speaks of him in this way, punning on his name:—
As Plato placed strange platitudes on paper.[32]
Alexis says in his Meropis:—
You’ve come in time: since I’ve been doubting long,
And walking up and down some time, like Plato;
And yet have hit upon no crafty plan,
But only tir’d my legs.
And in his Ancylion, he says:—
You speak of what you do not understand,
Running about like Plato: hoping thus,
To learn the nature of saltpetre and onions.
Amphis says in his Amphicrates:—
_A._ But what the good is, which you hope to get
By means of her, my master, I no more
Can form a notion of, than of the good
Of Plato.
_B._ Listen now.
And in his Dexidemides he speaks thus:—
O Plato! how your learning is confined
To gloomy looks, and wrinkling up your brows,
Like any cockle.
Cratinas in his Pseudypobolimæus, says:—
You clearly are a man, endued with sense,
And so, as Plato says, I do not know;
But I suspect.
Alexis, in his Olympiodorus speaks thus:—
My mortal body became dry and withered:
But my immortal part rose to the sky.
Is not this Plato’s doctrine?
And in his Parasite he says:—
Or to converse alone, like Plato.
Anaxilas also laughs at him in his Botrylion, and Circe, and his Rich
Women.
XXIII. And Aristippus, in the fourth book of his treatise upon Ancient
Luxury, says that he was much attached to a youth of the name of Aster,
who used to study astronomy with him; and also to Dion, whom we have
already mentioned. And some say that he was also attached to Phædrus,
and that the following epigrams which he wrote upon them are evidences of
the love he felt for them:—
My Aster, you’re gazing on the stars (ἀστέρες),
Would that I were the heavens, that so I might
Gaze in return with many eyes on thee.
Another of his epigrams is:—
Aster, you while among the living shone,
The morning star. But now that you are dead,
You beam like Hesperus in the shades below.
And he wrote thus on Dion:—
Once, at their birth, the fates did destine tears
To be the lot of all the Trojan women.
And Hecuba, their Queen—to you, O Dion,
As the deserved reward for glorious deeds,
They gave extensive and illustrious hopes.
And now you lie beneath your native soil;
Honoured by all your countrymen, O Dion,
And loved by me with ardent, lasting love.
And they say that this epigram is inscribed upon his tomb at Syracuse.
They say, also, that he was in love with Alexis, and with Phædrus, as I
have already mentioned, and that he wrote an epigram on them both, which
runs thus:—
Now when Alexis is no longer aught,
Say only how beloved, how fair he was,
And every one does turn his eyes at once.
Why, my mind, do you show the dogs a bone?
You’re but preparing trouble for yourself:
Have we not also lost the lovely Phædrus!
There is also a tradition that he had a mistress named Archianassa, on
whom he wrote the following lines:—
I have a mistress fair from Colophon,
Archianassa, on whose very wrinkles
Sits genial love: hard must have been the fate,
Of him who met her earliest blaze of beauty,
Surely he must have been completely scorched.
He also wrote this epigram on Agathon:—
While kissing Agathon, my soul did rise,
And hover’d o’er my lips; wishing perchance,
O’er anxious that it was, to migrate to him.