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Plato Academy
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Published: August 29, 2006
Picture a placid garden, furnished with olive trees and marble statues. It is walled in to isolate it from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding world.
Now picture the people in that garden, people with great minds, asking each other simple yet profound questions.
What is love? What is justice? What is the purpose of life?
That was the essence of Athens' Plato Academy.
The garden that became home to the Plato Academy was part of an estate outside the city of Athens. It was called Akademia after the Greek hero Academus. The olive tree grove, planted by the Greek statesman Cimon, was thought to be sacred. Hippias, son of Peisistratos (founder of Athens' renowned City Dionysia festival) enclosed the area with a wall during the sixth century. Gymnastics and physical fitness training classes were held there before Plato began teaching in 387 B.C.
It must have seemed like a logical setting for Plato, who lived close to the garden. It was quiet, open and beautiful – a perfect setting for people to gather and engage in lively philosophical debate.
But philosophy was not all they discussed. The Plato Academy curriculum included mathematics, astronomy, biology and political theory. Some of the "alumni" included Xenocrates, Arcesilaus, Proclus and Aristotle.
Women also participated in the Plato Academy, which was surprising for the time period. They shared and learned alongside men. Plato believed women should play a responsible role in society and thus needed to know as much about the sciences and philosophy as men. An early proponent of women's rights, Aspasia of Miletus was one of the brightest and most vocal female students at the Plato Academy while Plato served as director.
Plato supervised the Academy until his death in 347 B.C. His "Later" dialogues were written during his remaining years at the school. Speusippus, his nephew, succeeded him as director of the Plato Academy.
Many scholars believe the Plato Academy continued on as Plato established it until 529 A.D., when the Roman Emperor Justinian closed it down along with all other "pagan schools." However, others say there were three distinct phases of the Plato Academy. They describe them as the Old Academy (from Plato to Crantor, 387 B.C. to 265 B.C.), the Middle Academy (from Arcesilaus to Philo, 265.B.C. to 85 B.C.) and the New Academy (from Philo onward). In their view, the Middle Academy took a turn toward skepticism, while the New Academy reverted back to its original Platonic traditions.
There might even have been a fourth phase of the Plato Academy that survived Justinian's edict. Some historical writings suggest Damascius moved the Academy away from Athens in 529 A.D. and Simplicius brought it back several years later. Simplicius, who died in 560 A.D., was probably the last director of the Plato Academy.
What is the Plato Academy's legacy to the modern world? Our concept of an academy as a place of specialized learning can be traced directly to this garden in Akademia, so does our definition of an academy as a society of scholars, scientists, artists and other intellectuals.
It is intriguing to think of the great scholars of antiquity gathering at the Plato Academy to engage in an intellectual form of tag-team wrestling. We wonder if they ever tackled one question seemingly plaguing man since the beginning of time:
Where can I get a really great cup of coffee?
That question, of course, is still open to debate.
http://en.wikipedia.org, www.gap-system.org/~history/Societies/Plato, www.culture.gr, www.egs.edu/resources/plato, www.hickoksports.com, www.wesleyan.edu/synthesis/Synthesis/Women, www.answers.com/topic/academy
Now picture the people in that garden, people with great minds, asking each other simple yet profound questions.
What is love? What is justice? What is the purpose of life?
That was the essence of Athens' Plato Academy.
The garden that became home to the Plato Academy was part of an estate outside the city of Athens. It was called Akademia after the Greek hero Academus. The olive tree grove, planted by the Greek statesman Cimon, was thought to be sacred. Hippias, son of Peisistratos (founder of Athens' renowned City Dionysia festival) enclosed the area with a wall during the sixth century. Gymnastics and physical fitness training classes were held there before Plato began teaching in 387 B.C.
It must have seemed like a logical setting for Plato, who lived close to the garden. It was quiet, open and beautiful – a perfect setting for people to gather and engage in lively philosophical debate.
But philosophy was not all they discussed. The Plato Academy curriculum included mathematics, astronomy, biology and political theory. Some of the "alumni" included Xenocrates, Arcesilaus, Proclus and Aristotle.
Women also participated in the Plato Academy, which was surprising for the time period. They shared and learned alongside men. Plato believed women should play a responsible role in society and thus needed to know as much about the sciences and philosophy as men. An early proponent of women's rights, Aspasia of Miletus was one of the brightest and most vocal female students at the Plato Academy while Plato served as director.
Plato supervised the Academy until his death in 347 B.C. His "Later" dialogues were written during his remaining years at the school. Speusippus, his nephew, succeeded him as director of the Plato Academy.
Many scholars believe the Plato Academy continued on as Plato established it until 529 A.D., when the Roman Emperor Justinian closed it down along with all other "pagan schools." However, others say there were three distinct phases of the Plato Academy. They describe them as the Old Academy (from Plato to Crantor, 387 B.C. to 265 B.C.), the Middle Academy (from Arcesilaus to Philo, 265.B.C. to 85 B.C.) and the New Academy (from Philo onward). In their view, the Middle Academy took a turn toward skepticism, while the New Academy reverted back to its original Platonic traditions.
There might even have been a fourth phase of the Plato Academy that survived Justinian's edict. Some historical writings suggest Damascius moved the Academy away from Athens in 529 A.D. and Simplicius brought it back several years later. Simplicius, who died in 560 A.D., was probably the last director of the Plato Academy.
What is the Plato Academy's legacy to the modern world? Our concept of an academy as a place of specialized learning can be traced directly to this garden in Akademia, so does our definition of an academy as a society of scholars, scientists, artists and other intellectuals.
It is intriguing to think of the great scholars of antiquity gathering at the Plato Academy to engage in an intellectual form of tag-team wrestling. We wonder if they ever tackled one question seemingly plaguing man since the beginning of time:
Where can I get a really great cup of coffee?
That question, of course, is still open to debate.
http://en.wikipedia.org, www.gap-system.org/~history/Societies/Plato, www.culture.gr, www.egs.edu/resources/plato, www.hickoksports.com, www.wesleyan.edu/synthesis/Synthesis/Women, www.answers.com/topic/academy
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