Plato's Seventh & Eighth Letters

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PLATO'S ,,, ~,eventh & Eighth Letters Edited with Introduction and Notes by

R. S. BLUCK,

M.A.

Sometime Scholar of Peterhouse, Cambridge Classical Upper Sixth Form-Master, Fettes College

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Olympiodorus, Life of Plato, §vr

CAMBRIDGE AT THE

UNIVERSITY

1947

PRESS

Printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge (Brooke Crutchley, University Printer) and published by the Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, and Bentley House, London) Agents/or U.S.A., Canada, and India: Macmillan

CONTENTS Preface

page vii

References

viii

The Platonic Letters

I

Plato's Life

3

The Date and Purpose of the Seventh Letter The Occasion of the Eighth Letter Brief Summaries The Family of the Dionysii

31

Text: the Seventh Letter the Eighth Letter Commentary: the Seventh Lett~r the Eighth Letter Critical Apparatus

160

Appendix I. On the 'Dion's son' of Ep. VIII

164

II. On the Hipparinus of Ep. VII, 324a III.

Genuineness

171 174

Indices Maps. Sicily and Southern Italy Plan of Syracuse

at end

PREFACE No excuse, perhaps, is needed for publishing an edition of Plato's Seventh and Eighth Letters, for although there are one or two English translations and commentaries, no edition of the Greek text accompanied by notes and Introduction has yet appeared in this country. I have long thought that the Seventh Letter should be more widely read. Some passages of it have become well known; but it can hardly be denied that the Letter as a whole, now that its authenticity is generally accepted, deserves more attention. It has an important bearing upon almost every aspect of Plato's life and thought. This edition is an attempt to supply a need for undergraduates and the Sixth Forms of schools, and for others interested. In the Introduction I have included a section on Plato's Life, which should serve to explain the general circumstances in which our Letters were written, and also to supplement from other sources what Plato tells us of his visits to Syracuse. I have consigned discussion of several controversial matters to the footnotes and to the Appendices. I am deeply grateful to Professor Hackforth for reading this work in typescript, and for sending me most valuable notes; and to the University Press for all their help. I have also to thank the Oxford University Press for permission to use Burnet's text, and to make a few alterations which are noted in my Critical Apparatus. A list of works to which I am particularly indebted will be found overleaf. R.S.BLUCK HAILEYBURY IMPERIAL

August 1945

AND SERVICE

COLLEGE

REFERENCES The following warks are often referred to by name of author alone. Abbreviations used are shown here in brackets. Burnet, J., Platonis Operd, Vol. v. Oxford, 1937. (Bt.) Hackforth, R., The Authorship of the Platonic Epistles. Manchester, 1913. (H.) Harward, J., The Platonic Epistles. Cambridge, 1932. Howald, E., Die Briefe Platons. Zurich, 1923. (How.) Morrow, G. R., Studies in the Platonic Epistles, Illinois Studies in Language and Literature, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 3-4, 1935.

Novotny, F., Platonis Epistulae Commentariis Illustratae. Bmo, 1930. (N.) Pasquali, G., Le Lettere di Platon. Florence, 1938. (P.) Post, L. A., Thirteen Epistles of Plato. Oxford, 1925. Souilhe, J., Platon, CEuvres Completes; Tome xm, Ire Partie, Lettres (Bude edition). Paris, 1926. (Sou.) Taylor, A. E., 'The Analysis of 'Elll:ETHMH in Plato's Seventh Epistle', in Philosophical Studies, pp. 192sq., 1934.

THE

PLATONIC

LETTERS*

'LET us consider', says Albinus in his Introduction to Plato,1 written during the second century A.D., 'with what dialogues one should begin the study of Plato. Some begin with the Letters.' This could hardly be asserted nowadays, and the reason is partly, no doubt, that for some time the genuineness even of the Seventh and Eighth was in dispute. But there is general agreement in favour of at least these two now, and they, together with some others that are probably authentic, 2 not only have an important bearing on Sicilian history and on Plato's later thought, but throw a most interesting light upon Plato's life and character. In the dialogues much of his personality is of necessity concealed, but here, since letters are always, as the critic Demetrius remarks, 'a reflection of the writer's soul ', 3 we see Plato as a man. In our manuscripts of Plato's works thirteen letters ascribed to him have come down to us. The Fifth introduces to King Perdiccas of Macedon Plato's pupil Euphraeus, who is to advise him in matters of government. The Sixth is another letter of introduction, this time recommending two pupils to Aristotle's friend, Hermeias, King of Atarneus. The Ninth and Twelfth are addressed to Archytas, the Pythagorean statesman of Tarentum, the Twelfth being concerned with an exchange of notes, doubtless on mathematical and philosophical subjects; while the Ninth, after

* Line-references to Plato, other than in Letters VII and VIII, are according to the Oxford Text. 1 § IV. Appendix Platonica, p. 14·9 ed. Hermann. 2 On the question of genuineness, see Appendix III. • 7rEp,Jpµ.ryvElas § 227. BP

THE PLATONIC

2

LETT,ERS

referring to a state mission sent by Archytas, reminds him that he should not complain if matters of state are taking up his time, because-and here follows a remark that Cicero admired and twice quotes 1-' each of us is not born for himself alone, but our country has its share in our birth, our parents have their share, and so have the rest of our friends; the course of events too in which our life is involved makes many claims upon us.' 2 The Eleventh Letter tells Laodamas of Thasos that Plato cannot come in person to help him draw up laws for a colony that is being founded, but warns him of the importance of having an efficient executive, if suitable men can be found; and the Tenth consists of a few lines sent to Aristodorus, a supporter of Dion, encouraging him to continue in the true philosophy. The First, which is undoubtedly spurious, purports to be written by Plato to Dionysius II, rebuking him for the unworthy treatment he had received, and complaining in particular of the insufficiency and paltriness of the journeymoney he had been given. Neither the matter nor the tone is in keeping with what we know of the relations between the two, and the style is not Plato's; but the letter is something of a mystery, as it seems to belong to an early date, and is not the ordinary type of forgery. Epp. II, 111, IV, Vll, 3 VIII, and XIII, are important for what they tell us about Plato's visits to Sicily, and will be referred to in the next section. It will be convenient to postpone consideration of the precise nature and purpose of Epp. VII and VIII until we have discussed Plato's life, as only in the light of their historical background can they be properly understood. 1

de Fin. n, 14, 45; de Off. 1, 7, 22. 358 a, tr. Harward, 3 Ep. VII is longer than the rest of the letters (including VIII) combined. 2

3

PLATO'S

LIFE

ARisTOCLES,son of Ariston, nicknamed Plato, was born at Aegina in 42.8/7 B.c. 1 to Athenian parents who were both of noble descent. His boyhood was spent during years of war and civil disorder, and though he had been brought up iri the expectation that he would one day take part in public life, the corruption and self-seeking that prevailed in contemporary politics filled him with disgust. At the age of twenty 2 he came under the influence of Socrates, 'whom', he says when writing in his old age, 3 'I would not hesitate to call the most righteous man then living' ; and owing largely 'to the impression made upon him by Socrates, he determined to base his life on reasoned principles, and not to compromise with ideals amid the sordid necessities of a politician's career. 4 He accordingly devoted himself henceforward to the study and teaching of philosophy. After Socrates' death in 399 B.c., Plato withdrew to Megara, and there, probably, began writing dialogues to perpetuate the memory of his master. 5 This work helped him, moreover, to reflect upon Socrates' principles, and to begin to formulate his own philosophy of life. Plato travelled widely at this time: to Cyrene, to Italy,6 and to Egypt. In Italy he must have met Archytas, who became a close friend of his. Further, 'Aristoxenus asserts that he went on military service three times, first to Tanagra, secondly to Corinth, and thirdly to Deliwn, where he dis1 On the 7th of Thargelion (about May 42,7 B.c.) according to Apollodorus, ap. Diog. L. III, 2. 2 20, according to tradition (Diog. L. III, 6). But he must at 3 least have heard of him before that, · Ep. VII, 324e. 4 Cf. Ep. ·v, 322 b, quoted in 331 d, note. • The 'Socratic' dialogues-Crito, Laches, Euthyphro, etc. 6 Diog. L, m, 6. But see p. 4, note 4.

1·2

PLATO'S

4

LIFE

tinguished himself for valour' .1 All this time he was trying to reconcile Socrates' outlook on life, which he had so greatly admired, with the arguments of materialist followers of Democritus, and with Heraclitus' doctrine that nothing is eternal: finally Pythagorean influence led Plato to believe in the immortality of the soul, and helped him to formulate his doctrine of Ideas. 2 Although we cannot be certain, it is probable that by 387 B.C. the Protagoras, Meno, Gorgias, and some of the Republic had been written. In 388/7 B-.c. Plato, at the age of forty, went on his first visit to Sicily, 'to see the island and the craters of Etna'. 3 Dionysius I, the tyrant of Syracuse, may well have invited him. 4 Plato himself tells us of his meeting with Dion, brother-in-law of the tyrant, at that time about twenty years of age, and of the enthusiasm he showed for philosophy. Plutarch points out that Dion's conversion to Plato's principles, after his being brought up to extravagant and servile habits under a tyrant's regime, is most remarkable ;0 but he goes on to say, 6 ' It is true, there was a natural haughtiness in Dion's deportment, and an asperity of an unsociable and almost inaccessible nature .... Plato himself, writing to him some time afterwarqs, 7 warned him against that austerity which is the companion of solitude.' Plato may have had an interview with the tyrant himself, though the accounts we have of such a meeting are probably apocryphal. The whole of his stay in Syracuse on this occasion was almost certainly not longer than a year, but it 1 2

Diog. L.

III,

8.

See Arist. Met. A, vi, 987a, 29 sq. Cf. Diog. L. m, 8. 3 Diog. L. III, 18, cf. Athen. XI, 507b, TWV pvaKWV EVEK!l. Nepos, Dion, 2, 2, says he did 'when the news reached Sicily that Plato had come ·to Tarentum': it is possible, despite Diog. L., that this was Plato's first visit to Italy; so E. S. · Thompson, ed. of Meno, pp. xxxv-xxxvi. 6 6 7 Ep. IV, ad fin. Dion, 4, 3. Ibid. 8, 2-3.

PLATO'S

LIFE

5

for

was long enough him so to impress Dion with his teaching as to change his way of life. Four authorities 1 tell us that at the end of this visit Plato was sold into slavery at Dionysius' command. According to Plutarch's version, Dion's friends had arranged for Plato to leave on a ship carrying Pollis, the· Spartan envoy, to Greece, but Dionysius 'secretly urged Pollis either to put Plato to death on the way, or at least to sell him as a slave .... Pollis accordingly took him to Aegina, and sold him there.' Diogenes adds that Plato · narrowly escaped death at Aegina, and that 'Anniceris the Cyrenaic happened to be present and ransomed him for twenty minae '. Aegina was at war with Athens at the time, and Syracuse had an alliance with Sparta, so that the story may be based on fact. Dionysius' quarrel, if he had one, with Plato, did not, apparently, lessen his regard for Dion, who was, indeed, a valuable minister. Dion served as ambassador on several occasions, and had outstanding success in that capacity at Carthage. He married his niece, Arete, who was Dionysius' daughter by Aristomache, 2 after the death of her first husband, and had a very great love for her. When Dionysius fell ill, Dion tried to obtain an audience of the monarch to get one of Aristomache's sons nominated as heir to the throne; but the physicians, 'anxious to ingratiate themselves with the heir apparent (the younger Dionysius), prevented it, and when the patient asked for a sleeping draught, gave him one so effectual that he awoke no more'. 3 Dionysius I died in 367 B.C. Meanwhile, Plato had returned to Athens, and there, 1

Nepos, Dion, 2, 3; Diod. xv, 7; Plut. Dion, 5, 3; Diog. L. Olymp., Life of Plato, § 5, has a similar account, though he puts the incident at the ·end of Plato's second visit to Syracuse. Cf. also A then. xr, 507 b, iKiv3vvwae. 3 2 Dion's sister. Plut. Dion, 5, I I. 111, 19-21.

PLATO'S

6

LIFE

probably in 386 B.c., founded the" Academy. This university, as it really was, lasted for 900 years, until Justinian in A.D. 529 closed all the schools of philosophy at Athens. Plato made lecturing his main work, and wrote dialogues in his spare time as a hobby. The Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus, Parmenides, Theaetetus, and most of the Republic should probably be assigned to this period. After nearly twenty years' teaching in the Academy Plato, now sixty years old, received a request from Dion 1 to come again to Sicily, and · try to create in the new king, Dionysius II, who was probably about twenty-eight 2 at the time, the same determination to live well and honourably as he had created in Dion himself and some few others on his previous visit. Such an event would bring true happiness to Dionysius, and -his example might lead to the moral reformation and real prosperity of the whole of Syracuse. We can easily understand that Plato might feel some reluctance to leave his work at the Academy and to undertake, at this stage in his career, which had been hitherto so cloistered, a task of such a nature; but so as not to betray the cause of philosophy, and disappoint Dion, with many misgivings, but a conscience clear, he set out for Sicily once more. It is most unlikely3 that Plato ever hoped to make of Dionysius an ideal ruler of the type described in the Republic. Dionysius was too old to begin the training an ideal ruler would require, and though the passage in Republic vr 4 describing the natural qualities that a philosopher must possess may have been written after these events, even at the time Plato must have been aware of the extreme weakness of Dionysius' character. Something, 1

And from Dionysius at his suggestion: 327 d. • Cf. Holm, Hist. of Gr., vol. n, pp. 156, 425. 3 See Morrow, pp. 146-55, from which several of the points made here are taken. 4 485 sq. See also 334-c, note (vml v61wi,·).

PLATO'S

LIFE

7

perhaps, might be achieved, but that as a king he could never be brought near to perfection must have been obvious from the first, Probably the Guardians of the Republic were to be above the law: we can hardly suppose Plato ever intended that the reformed Dionysius should be. 1 Plato in the Seventh Letter 2 regrets that an apparent opportunity of uniting in one man political power and a love of true philosophy has come to naught, but this combination '3/'as required for the second-best polity, described in the Laws,3 no less than for the ideal one of the Republic; and when we read of Plato's reluctance to go to Syracuse, and of his hesitating whether it would be of any use, 4 we must conclude that his ambitions fell short of the ideal. Probably he aimed chiefly at reforming Dionysius' character, so that he by his example might to 111 large extent improve the moral standards of his people. The king would then be more likely, too, to use discretion in introducing the social and political reforms he had already agreed to make. 5 Plato was accompanied on this visit, we hear, by Xenocrates, 6 a colleague of his at the Academy who later succeeded to the headship of the, School. 'On his arrival in Syracuse, probably in the early autumn of 367 B.c., 7 Plato found the court full of intrigues against Dion. The other courtiers, jealous of his power, had kept telling the tyrant that Dion was plotting against him, with the object of transferring the tyranny to his own nephews ; and they pointed to his austere way of living to show that he dis2 335 c. See 334c, note (,nrovoµms). 709 sq. Cf. 334c, note (vml voµms). 4 328 b sq., and cf. his later refusal to return even before the 'test' (340b sq.) had been made. 6 Ep. III, 315 de, 319d; Plato apparently advised the king to postpone them until the course of instruction was completed. 7 6 Diog. L. 1v, 6. See 327 b, note. 1

8 IV,

PLATO'S

8

LIFE

approved of theirs, and must therefore be looked upon as dangerous. 1 And when it had become clear that Dionysius, as a result of Dion's persuasion, was determined to invite Plato to Syracuse, they had urged the tyrant to recall Philistus, 2 the historian, who had been exiled by the elder Dionysius, but still remained a staunch and influential supporter of Dionysius' house. Plato was received on his arrival with much ceremony and public rejoicing. What subjects he tried to teach the tyrant we cannot say for certain; but they probably included geometry and the composition of essays on law. 3 No doubt he thought a general course of elementary education would help not only to improve his intellect, but to keep him from licentious pursuits and give. him a sounder judgement, and thereby to reform his character: which, as he did not hesitate to impress upon the king, was the chief aim of his endeavour. 4 Some three or four months later the slandcrous 5 accusations of Dion's enemies, reinforced now by those of Philistus, that he was plotting with a certain Heraclides to oust Dionysius, led to the deportation of Dion. Plutarch mentions a letter of Dion's that had been intercepted, addressed to the Carthaginian plenipotentiaries, 'telling them not to negotiate for peace with Dionysius save in his 1

Plut. Dion, 7. Plut. Dion, 2; cf. Nepos, Dion, 3, Diod. xv, 7, 3. 3 Preambles to laws: cf. Ep. III, 316a; Laws, vu, 8u de. 4 Ep. VII, 331 d-333 a. One ofDionysius' vices was drunkenness; cf. Plut. Dion, 7; Ar. Pol. v, rn, 1312a. He had had no training at all; cf. Plut. Dion, 9: his father, 'fearing that if he should get wisdom and associate with men of sense, he would plot against him and rob him of his power, used to keep him shut up at home, where, through lack of association with others and in ignorance of affairs, as we are told, he made little waggons and Jampstands and wooden chairs and tables' (tr. Perrin). But see 333 a, note. 2

PLATO'S

LIFE

9

presence, since he could effect a lasting settlement' .1 If this story is true, the letter does not, of course, prove Dion guilty of treason, and it was no doubt only the occasion, not the cause, of Dion's exile. After this the tyrant kept Plato practically as a prisoner at Syracuse, lest his departure should reflect discredit on himself': but finally the outbreak of war made him agree to Plato's going, and he then declared he would send for him again when peace returned. He promised to recall Dion in the summer; but when summer came, he decided to postpone his recall until the war ended. 2 This promise, too, as we shall see, he broke. Plato returned to the Academy, where the exiled Dion had become a pupil. 3 The Thirteenth Letter, if genuine, was written shortly after his return, perhaps in 365 B.c. This purports to be a letter to Dionysius introducing to him the astronomer Helicon: mention is made of presents Plato is sending for Dionysius and his family, and advice is given about arrangements for the expenditure of money on Dionysius' behalf at Athens. We read, too, that Dion would not agree to divorce his wife in order that she might be transferred to another, as the tyrant wished. Plato had apparently been asked not to mention the matter, and had sounded Dion discreetly without breaking his word. 4 Plato's own account in the Seventh Letter of his last visit to Sicily is a full one. He tells of Dionysius' requests, made in the summer of 362 B.C. 6 and again the next year, that he should revisit his court, and of his own reluctant 2 Plut. Dion, 14. Ibid. 16 (cf. Ep. III, 317a). Ibid. 17. He stayed for a time with Callippus, who a few years later plotted his murder. 4 The Sophist and part of the Statesman were probably written at this time. 6 Cf. Ep. III, 317 b 2, iJoTEpov iv,avT