Plato's Life, the Academy and the Dialogue Form

Plato (c. 428–348 BCE) came from a wealthy Athenian family with political connections, including relatives among the Thirty Tyrants. He might have entered politics, but the violence of the Thirty and then the execution of Socrates turned him toward philosophy. Around 387 BCE he founded the Academy, in a grove outside Athens, where students studied mathematics, astronomy, politics and philosophy for years. Plato wrote dialogues rather than treatises, usually with Socrates as the main speaker.

This literary form matters: it shows ideas tested in conversation, includes characters who disagree, and sometimes uses myths and images rather than plain argument. It also makes interpretation difficult, since Plato never speaks in his own voice. Unusually for an ancient author, all of Plato's known dialogues survive. The Academy, as an institution devoted to long-term inquiry, is often seen as an ancestor of the university.