Plato's original name was Aristocles, which means that he lived up to his reputation. Later, he was called Plato because of his strong body (in Greek, Platus means "flat and broad"). Later, Plato's name was extended.

2. A story about Plato's teacher-student relationship.

Plato is a famous ancient Greek philosopher. He wrote many dialogues about philosophy and founded a famous college in Athens. Plato was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. They are widely regarded as the founders of western philosophy. Like many ancient documents, Plato's collected works are incomplete and still controversial.

Socrates' dialogue he recorded became the main source for later generations to study his thoughts, but many contents actually recorded Plato's own views, not Socrates' original intention. It is generally speculated that Plato was born on May 7, 427 BC, May 428 BC or 65438+February (like other early western philosophers, his date of birth is still unknown).

3. The story about Plato's family

Plato was born into a wealthy slave owner noble family in Athens. His father is Ali Si Tong and his mother is Periken. He is the fourth child in the family. His family claimed to be a descendant of the ancient king of Athens, and he was also the nephew of Chrittia, a famous politician in Athens at that time, but the relationship between them is still controversial.

According to Diogenēs Laertius, Plato's original name was Aristole, and later he was called Plato because of his broad shoulders (in Greek, the word Platus means "flat and broad"). However, Diogenes also made other suggestions. The name Plato may also come from his fluent eloquence or because he has a broad forehead.

4. About Plato's achievements

Because of Plato's excellent learning ability and other talents, the ancient Greeks also praised him as the son of Apollo, and said that when Plato was a baby, bees stayed on his lips, which made his eloquence so sweet and smooth. Plato initially intended to inherit the family tradition and go into politics, but later the situation changed. In the war with Sparta, Athenian democracy failed, and then the "Thirty Tyrants" came to power. The "thirty tyrants" were replaced by a new representative government in turn.

5. The story about Plato's school

In 399 BC, Socrates was tried and sentenced to death. Plato was completely disappointed with the existing regime, so he began to travel around Italy, Sicily, Egypt, Cyrene and other places for knowledge.

It is said that at the age of forty, he returned to Athens after a trip in about 387 BC, and set up his own school, Plato College, in the academy in the northwest corner outside Athens. This college became one of the earliest well-organized institutions of higher learning in western civilization, hence its name as the later academic institution, and it was also the predecessor of the developed universities in the Middle Ages.

The name of the college is related to its address. It is located in a land that used to be the residence of the legendary Greek hero Deimos, hence its name. The college existed for more than 900 years until it was closed by Justinian the Great in 529 AD.

The college is greatly influenced by Pythagoras, and its curriculum is similar to the traditional topics of Pythagoras school, including arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and acoustics. The college has trained many intellectuals, the most outstanding of which is Aristotle.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Plato