Plato

Kelsey Wood (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Eleni Bozia (University of Florida), Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool)

Dates

Born c. -427
Died -347
Activity c. -409--347

Places

Born in Ancient Greece
Active in Ancient Greece

Activities

Primary

Philosopher
Poet

Other

Literary Theorist
Political Philosopher
Political writer

Resources

“The safest general characterization of the European tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” - Alfred North Whitehead

The ancient Athenian philosopher Plato is perhaps the greatest philosopher in history. More than one eminent scholar claims that the entire course of Western philosophy has been a development of efforts to understand Plato. What is the reason for Plato's ongoing and profound influence?

Virtually nothing is known of Plato's life; there are many ancient sources of information, but these accounts were composed long after Plato's death. Moreover, there are contradictions between them and other indications of their unreliability. As a result, most of what has been written on Plato's life is hypothetical and contradictory, built on centuries of inconsistent guesswork. Even in some of the earliest sources...

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3811 words

Citation: Wood, Kelsey. "Plato". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 October 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3580, accessed 17 December 2025.]

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