2 Answers

  1. The characters in Plato's dialogues are authentic historical figures. These are the students of Socrates, and various writers (Aristophanes), and even political figures (Alcibiades), and, of course, Socrates himself. Most likely, the dialogues are based on real events, although they are slightly artistically processed, which in no way distorts them from reality.

  2. Dialog characters include both completely fictional characters and those that have real historical prototypes. And questions remain about the origin of some of them, such as the priestess Diotima from the dialogue “Feast”: her mention is not found anywhere, except in Plato, and many believe that the philosopher simply invented her. Other researchers believe that her prototype was Aspasia — the second wife of Pericles, who was distinguished by intelligence and wit. At least for Plato, it made an indelible impression…

    But most of them are Plato's contemporaries or predecessors, with whom Socrates is arguing (and Socrates as a character is generally a separate conversation). Thus, the sophists Protagoras, Hippias and Gorgias gave their names to dialogues directed, respectively, against sophistry. And the Heraclithian philosopher Kratylus, Plato's first teacher, is represented, respectively, in Kratylus. In the Timaeus, there is a certain Pythagorean Timaeus from Locri of Italy (V century BC). E.), there is in “Lachete” – a dialogue about courage, Lachete is a real Athenian commander who started out as a simple Hoplite (heavily armed infantryman, let's say) from Hippocrates himself. Lysias is a dialogue about friendship, named after Lysias, an Athenian orator and logographer who became the founder of the genre of judicial speeches and the creator of the literary language of Attic prose. The name of the mathematician Theaetetus of Athens, who, like Plato himself, studied with Theodore of Cyrene, and then collaborated with Plato in the Academy, became the title of the dialogue “Theaetetus”, and the mentioned Theodore also appears in the same text (and he is also present in the Sophist and The Politician) . By the way, a crater on the moon is also named after Theaetetus.

    Dialogue on avarice “Hipparchus” is generally an encyclopedia of information about the elite of Ancient Greece, it contains knowledge of many ancient traditions and, in particular, about the activities of Hipparchus himself as a tyrant patron of art. Another thing is that many people doubt that Plato himself wrote it, but this is no longer the topic of this question…

Leave a Reply

Categories