Plato's family background: Ariston, Pyrilampes and Periktione

As for Plato’s mother, it is said that ‘His mother was the niece of the wealthy nobleman, Critias and the sister of the rich and famous Charmides.’ (http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agexed/aee501/plato.html) From this, it can be presumed that regardless to her marital status, Plato’s mother was originally born in a wealthy family background.

Subsequently, searching for information relating to ‘Pyrilampes’, Plato's potential stepfather, enables us to find following information:

‘… Periktion… after bearing Plato and his three siblings to Ariston, was later remarried to her own maternal uncle Pyrilampes, who thereby became Plato’s stepfather…’ (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3nCSw5Cr4PUC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=Pyrilampes&source=bl&ots=tABDRODs0y&sig=KhRSfrOxyhJ7OMI5KTPU3K2fwjk&hl=en&ei=NwC4TejyDIPovQP06vjHDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Pyrilampes&f=false) 

Now, it became clear that Plato was born to a married couple of Ariston and Periktione. Then, due to the early death of Ariston, he was brought to the house of Pyrilampes, to whom his mother remarried. However, the questions are still remaining without being given answers fully: the question of the ancestry and whether Ariston and Pyrilampes were wealthy or not. For filling in the whole questionnaires, the following information could be useful and decisive:

‘Plato’s father Ariston descended from the early kings of Athens. His mother Perictione came from a similarly distinguished line that included the sixth-century legislator Solon. Plato’s father appears to have died when Plato was still a young child. His mother remarried to Pyrilampes, an associate of the statesman Pericles, being otherwise unable to support Plato and his siblings.’(http://www.gradesaver.com/author/plato/)

Solon

Thus, finally it reached a conclusion that it was Ariston, whose ancestry was associated with the early kings of Athens. In addition, although there can be found no direct reference on either men’s financial status, since the above quote explains the circumstance where Perictione (or Periktione) remarried as ‘being otherwise unable to support Plato and his siblings’, despite her own wealthy family background, this would suffice to conclude both Ariston and Pyrilampes were enough wealthy, at least to support Perictione and her children’s lives.

For reading the text in full: https://wrex2009.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/platos-family-background/