Biography of Plato

Plato was born in 427 B.C. in Athens. Plato's birth name was "Aristocles", but he later received the nickname "Platon", which mean broad. He was given this nickname because he had a broad build. Plato was the youngest son of his parents, Ariston and Perictione. Both of Plato's parents came from famous and wealthy Athenian families. Ariston died when Plato was a young man. Short after the death of Ariston, Perictione married a man named Pyrilampes. Palto was mostly brought up in Pyrilampes' house, where he had a mentor named Cratylus.

His family had a history in politics, and Plato was destined to a life in keeping with this history. He studied at a gymnasium owned by Dionysios, and at the palaistra of Ariston of Argos. When he was young he studied music and poetry. According to Aristotle, Plato developed the foundations of his metaphysics and epistemology by studying the doctrines of Cratylus, and the work of Pythagoras and Parmenides. When Plato met Socrates, however, he had met his definitive teacher. As Socrates' disciple, Plato adopted his philosophy and style of debate, and directed his studies toward the question of virtue and the formation of a noble character.
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Besides being absolutely brilliant, Plato served in the military. He served from 409-404 B.C. After the Peloponnesian war ended in 404 B.C., Plato was more interested in being politically successful rather than militarily successful. Plato was then invited by Charmides (his uncle) to join the oligarchic tyranny, which was called "Thirty Tyrants".

As a young boy, Plato had an encounter with Socrates, and ever since then he had become a great follower of Socrates. this is important in Plato's life because while he was one of the Thirty Tyrants, Socrates was sentenced to death for impiety and corruption of the youth. this devastated Plato. Plato was so desperate to keep Socrates alive, that he offered to pay bail for Socrates, but his money wasn't accepted.

In about 387 B.C., Plato founded a school in Athens, which he called "Academy". This is where we get the word "academics" from today. The students of the Academy were introduced to physical science, astronomy,mathematics, and philosophy. most of Plato's life was dedicated to teaching at and running the Academy. The Academy, where Aristotle learned and later taught, was so successful that it continued functioning many years after Plato's death.

Plato died in 347 B.C. (at the age of 80). He was buried in the ground at the Academy. By this point, Aristotle had been involved with the Academy for about 20 years, as both a student and teacher. Yet he still did not succeed at the head of the Academy. Instead Aristotle's nephew, Speusippus, succeeded at the head of the academy.

Nardo, Don. Lost Civilizations:The Ancient Greeks. San Diego Ca: Lucent Books, 2001.

Nardo, Don. Living in Ancient Greece. Farmington Hills MI: Green Haven Press, 2004