Download Plato

Plato (429-327BC)
Plato was born in Athens, to a very rich and powerful family.
Many of his relatives were involved with Athenian politics,
though Plato himself was not. As a child, Plato received a very
good education. His original name was Aristocles, after his
grandfather, but he got the nickname Plato from his
wrestling coach, due to his broad ("platys" in Greek) and
strong figure
When Plato was a young man, he went to listen to Socrates
speak, and learned a lot about how to think, and what sort of
questions to think about. When Socrates was killed in 399
BC, Plato was very upset. He began to write down some of the
discussions he had heard Socrates have. Practically
everything we know about Socrates comes from what Plato
wrote down.
After Socrates was put to death Plato lost his belief in
Athenian society and left his homeland to travel all around
the world. He travelled in Italy and Africa where he met new
people and civilizations and learned lots from them.
When Plato returned to Athens, at the age of forty, he
created a school on a plot of land that belonged to a man
named Academus, which is why the school was called
Academy. The Academy of Plato is one of the earliest
universities in the world and young Athenians would learn
philosophy, mathematics, music, art astronomy and other
subjects there.