Plato is one of the most famous philosophers in the Western history. However, despite the sheer volume of writing by Plato himself, things known about his biographical information is relatively limited. For example, as for his family background, biographers generally describe in the following way: ‘He came from a family that had long played a prominent part in Athenian politics’ (Lee, 1977, p. 1). This brief blog entry would like to search for further information on this specific topic and would like to some more details on the typical description quoted above.
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First of all, it doesn't require a huge effort for finding following information that says Plato was ‘born into an aristocratic and wealthy Athenian family. His father traced his ancestry in a direct line back to the early kings of Athens.’ (http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agexed/aee501/plato.html) By comparing the two sources so far, it can be said that whilst the former only refers to ‘a prominent part’ his family played in the field of politics, the latter adds adjectives ‘aristocratic and wealthy’ to the family and limits the prominent feature to his paternal side.
However, making further research may lead to a different story: ‘His father died while Plato was young, and his mother remarried to Pyrilampes, in whose house Plato would grow up.’ (http://www.egs.edu/library/plato/biography/) Now, by giving a mother, a father and a possible stepfather, following questions come up to be answered; which father’s ancestry line can be traced back to the early kings?, and which one(s) came from aristocratic and wealthy family?
For reading the text in full: https://wrex2009.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/platos-family-background/
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