Plato

Plato was a Greek philosopher, student of Socrates and founder of the Academy in Athens. His dialogues shaped Western philosophy and political thought, and his links with Syracuse connect him to real attempts to influence rulers.

For Historical Bookshelf, this entry is best treated as a historical or literary figure rather than a fictional character. It can support pages where novels refer to writers, playwrights, philosophers or scholars as part of a period’s intellectual background.

In Mary Renault’s The Mask of Apollo, his career takes him through Greek theatres and brings him into contact with Plato and Dion, whose plans for Syracuse promise a rare alliance between philosophy and political power. Mary Renault’s The Last of the Wine places Plato within a narrative shaped by family, marriage and personal loyalty, social change and the pressures of ordinary life, and political ambition and government.

In non-fiction, Plato is discussed in Plato’s The Last Days of Socrates, Plato’s The Republic, Plato’s Gorgias, Plato’s Symposium, and Plotinus’s The Enneads. In Plato’s The Last Days of Socrates, this Plato collection follows Socrates through accusation, trial, imprisonment and death.