Plato and Ancient Greek Culture: Philosophy, Myth, and History

Cultural Context

Cultural context: The philosophy was born in Greece (sixth century BC). Men and gods are subject to the moira (fate). The gods have the same passions and desires as humans, but are immortal. Zeus is the father of all the gods; likewise Aphrodite, Dionysus, and others. In the oracles, relationships were established between humans and the gods, and religious practices were connected with public life (mystery cults). One mystery cult is Orphism, which preaches the immortality of the soul. Religion was identified with mythology. Myth is a narrative whose story is timeless; it offers a paradigm to humans and reflects situations of past, present, and future. Plato makes frequent didactic use of myth, as in the Myth of the Cave and the Myth of the Horses.

Historical Context

Historical Context: In the 5th century BC Greek society and Athens reached their height; this represents the glory of democracy. The sculptor Phidias rebuilt the Acropolis of Athens. In the sculptures of classical antiquity there is an idealization of the figures and a balance between mobility and stability, as in Myron's Discobolus (discus thrower). Later (Hellenistic times), sculpture became much more expressive (pain, debauchery, sensuality, etc.), as in the Venus de Milo and the Laocoön. Greek tragedy, associated with Athens, originated around the cult of Dionysus and became a defining historical genre in the city.

Plato was born in Athens in 427 BC and lived through the Peloponnesian War, which ended with Athens' defeat by Sparta. Athens later came under the hegemony of Alexander the Great. His friendship with Socrates—of whom he was a disciple—directed him toward philosophy. In 387 BC he returned to Athens and opened the Academy (considered the first university in the Western world).

Philosophical Context

Philosophical Context: Much of Plato's work is written in dialogue form (a form of teaching that aims for each pupil to think for himself or herself) and is divided into three periods:

• Socratic Dialogues

  Writings from the death of Socrates and his first trip to Sicily. They expose the thought of Socrates as presented by Plato himself, with few of Plato's own elements.

• Doctrinal Dialogues

  Writings from his years at the Academy. They set out a doctrine through questions and answers. From this period come works that develop the theory of Ideas: Meno, Symposium, Phaedo, and others.

• Critical Dialogues

  In these, Plato criticized his earlier political doctrines, the theory of Ideas, and certain cosmological views. Plato sought something immutable and permanent. Change, which is present in things of the same species, is contrasted with the Idea (Form). The Idea is apprehended by the soul, is fixed and does not change, while the sensible object becomes and changes. To develop the theory, Plato used images and references from earlier Greek philosophers since Socrates. In the world of things he acknowledges the principles of mobility and relativity associated with Heraclitus.