Plato was born in Athens in 427 BC to Ariston and Perictione, two wealthy land owners for whom were both of aristocratic decent. The earliest days of his life are hardly known to historians but we do know of his travels to Sicily and southern Italy and that he called Athens his home through out his whole life. Plato was given the best education Athens had to offer and showed an interest in politics early off and devoted his talents to poetry and
and the writing of tragedies. Socrates was a big influence on Plato and like many others was compelled by his methods and arguments and his relations with him changed his life forever.
Plato Turns His Back on Politics
After the Peloponnesian war had concluded Plato was put in a difficult position. Plato's uncle Critias was a member of the thirty tyrants for whom were put into power by the Spartans. As a way of preserving their power they associated a great number of Athenians into their atrocious acts, as many as they could possibly get. Therefore Socrates was given the task of arresting a man and bringing him in for execution. Socrates refused to carry out the act, thus putting his life in danger, but he was saved only by the overthrow of the thirty tyrants. Plato never trusted the thirty tyrants and gladly welcomed the return of the democracy just to have his trust betrayed four years later. The government brought up charges against Socrates and sentenced him to death. After Socrates execution Plato turned his head away from politics and never looked back even though he tried to influence his friend's political lives. Plato along with some of his friends left Athens for some time and lived in Magara after the death of his mentor.
Plato's Dialogues
After Plato had returned to Athens he started teaching at the academe and then some time after obtained some land then established the famous Plato academy in 389 B.C. His academy survived for more than 900 years up until the emperor Justinian closed down all the philosophical schools in the 6th century. Plato started writing his dialogues that became the trademark of his philosophical ideas several years before he founded the academy. The laches is one of his early works which has to do with courage and Charmideswith sophrosynedeals with common sense; these were all written before his first trip Sicily. His dialogues Apology along with Crito differed from all his other works for these dialogues covered the topic of history, Socrates's execution and the time that lead up to his execution.
His Last Works
Plato concluded his philosophical career around 367 B.C. and some of his latest works include the laws, the sophist and the Statesmen. The laws was his final work and addressed the question of how society can function best for citizens to better themselves. Plato has had a great influence on people through out the centuries influencing generations of philosophers. A good example of Plato's influence would be the Florentine Academy which was established in the 15th century. Through the guidance of Marsilio Ficino, Academy members would study Plato in traditional Greek. The influence Plato has had on the world reaches all the way to this past century by philosophers like Alfred North Whitehead which complimented Plato by portraying philosophical history as "a series of foot notes to Plato."
