Platonic letters

E719412

The Platonic letters are a collection of epistles attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, whose authenticity is debated but which have historically been used to illuminate his life, political involvement, and philosophical views.

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Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient Greek literature
collection of letters
pseudo-epigraphic work
associatedWith Academy of Plato NERFINISHED
attributedTo Plato NERFINISHED
authenticityStatus disputed
circulatedInAntiquity yes
contains Seventh Letter account of Plato’s three voyages to Sicily
reflections on writing and unwritten doctrines
containsAutobiographicalMaterialAbout Plato NERFINISHED
containsLetter Eighth Letter
Eleventh Letter
Fifth Letter
First Letter
Fourth Letter
Ninth Letter NERFINISHED
Second Letter NERFINISHED
Seventh Letter NERFINISHED
Sixth Letter
Tenth Letter NERFINISHED
Third Letter NERFINISHED
Thirteenth Letter NERFINISHED
Twelfth Letter
discusses Plato’s involvement with Dion of Syracuse
dangers of political power
philosopher’s role in politics
politics of Syracuse
genre epistolary literature
historicallyTransmittedWith Platonic corpus
influenced interpretation of Plato’s political activity
later Platonic biography
language Ancient Greek
letterConsideredMostPossiblyAuthentic Seventh Letter NERFINISHED
letterConsideredPossiblyAuthentic Eighth Letter NERFINISHED
mainlyPreservedIn manuscripts of Plato’s works
philosophicalThemes ethics
philosopher-king ideal
political philosophy
theory of knowledge
questionedBy classical philologists
questionedSince 19th century
relatedTo Platonic dialogues NERFINISHED
scholarlyConsensusOnAuthenticity mostly spurious
timeOfComposition Hellenistic period (for most letters, according to many scholars)
traditionalNumberOfLetters 13
usedBy ancient biographers of Plato
modern historians of philosophy
usedToIlluminate Plato’s philosophical views
Plato’s political involvement
life of Plato

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Platonic corpus hasPart Platonic letters