- Epistles (Plato)
The "Epistles" of
Plato are a series of thirteen letters traditionally included in the Platonic corpus. Theirauthenticity has been the subject of some dispute, and scholarly consensus has shifted back and forth over time. By the close of the Nineteenth Century, there was general agreement that none of the letters were actually written by Plato. Now, most of the letters have defenders of their authenticity. The exceptions are the First, Fifth, Ninth, and Twelfth, which are almost certainly forgeries. [Bury, Introduction to the "Epistles", 385.]Authenticity
The two letters with the greatest claim to actually having been written by
Plato are the Seventh and the Eighth, on the supposition that these wereopen letter s and therefore less likely to be the result of invention orforgery . This is not so much because of a presumption in favor of an open letter's authenticity as because of a presumption against that of a private letter: the preservation of the former is unsurprising, while the preservation, dissemination, and eventual publication of the latter requires some sort of explanation. [Bury, Introduction to the "Epistles", 390–2.]The other letters enjoy varying levels of acceptance among scholars. The Third, Fourth, and Thirteenth have the greatest support of the remaining letters, followed by the Sixth, Tenth, and Eleventh; only a few scholars consider the Second Letter to be genuine, while almost none dispute that the First, Fifth, Ninth, and Twelfth are spurious. [Bury, Introduction to the "Epistles", 391–2.] R. G. Bury accepts only the Seventh and Eighth Letters as authentic, while L. A. Post excludes only the four universally disputed Letters from authenticity.
tructure of the Epistles
The numbering of each letter is due solely to their placement in traditional
manuscript s, and does not appear to follow any discernible principle. [Bury, Introduction to the "Epistles", 385"] L. A. Post, in his edition of the "Thirteen Epistles of Plato", presented them in the order in which he thought they were written: Thirteenth, Second, Eleventh, Tenth, Fourth, Third, Seventh, Eighth, and Sixth (the four letters universally recognized as spurious are placed following these nine). [Post, "Thirteen Epistles of Plato"]The addressees of the "Epistles" fall into three main categories. Four are addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse (i, ii, iii, xiii), four to Dionysius' uncle Dion and his associates (iv, vii, viii, x), and five to various others (the Fifth toPerdiccas III of Macedon ; the Sixth toHermias of Atarneus , Erastus, and Coriscus; the Tenth to Aristodorus; the Eleventh to Laodamas; and the Ninth and Twelfth toArchytas ).First Letter
The "First Letter" is addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse , and is almost certainly a forgery. In it,Plato supposedly complains of his rude dismissal by Dionysius and predicts an evil end for him. It is interesting mainly for the number of quotations from the tragic poets which it preserves.econd Letter
The "Second Letter" is addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse in response to a supposed complaint he lodged againstPlato and his associates that they were slandering him. The letter disclaims any responsibility for these slanders and further denies that they are even occurring. It then counsels Dionysius that a concern for his reputation after his death should incline him to repair his relationship with Plato, since the interactions of political men with the wise is a topic of constant discussion. From this subject, the letter turns to a deliberately enigmatic discussion of "the First," in which Plato warns Dionysius to never write these doctrines down and to burn this letter upon committing its contents to memory. The "Second Letter" is the source of the oft-cited remark that "no writing of Plato exists or ever will exist, but those now said to be his are those of a Socrates become beautiful and new (καλός καί νέος)." [Plato , "Second Letter", 314c.]R. G. Bury argues that the "Second Letter" is almost certainly inauthentic, based primarily upon conflicts between it and Plato's "Seventh Letter" and Bury's own conclusion that its tone and content are decidedly un-Platonic. [Bury, Epistle II, 398.] He considers it to be by the same author as the "Sixth Letter". [Bury, Epistle VI, 454–5.]
Third Letter
The "Third Letter" is addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse , complaining of two slanders aimed atPlato , viz. that he had prevented Dionysius II from transforming his tyranny into amonarchy and that Plato was to blame for all the misadministration in Syracuse. The letter responds by recounting Plato's activities in Syracuse, and has the flavor of anopen letter .Bury suggests that the "Third Letter", if authentic, was probably written after Plato's third visit to Syracuse in 360 BCE, and probably after Dion's seizure of power in 357 BCE. He finds the tone to be anachronistic, however, remarks that the parallels to both the "Apology of Socrates" and the "Seventh Letter" argue against its authenticity. [Bury, Epistle III, 422–3]
Fourth Letter
The "Fourth Letter" is addressed to Dion, the uncle and (by this time) ouster of
Dionysius II of Syracuse . It encourages Dion in his political efforts, but admonishes him not to forget about the importance of virtue. Bury finds the mixture of flattery and reproof in the letter to be at odds withPlato 's friendlier relationship with Dion, even granting that it may be anopen letter , and notes conflicts with the "Seventh Letter" that militate against its authenticity. [Bury, Epistle IV, 440–1]Fifth Letter
The "Fifth Letter" is addressed to
Perdiccas III of Macedon , and councels him to listen to the advice of oneEuphraeus . It then proceeds to defendPlato 's abstinence frompolitics . Most scholars doubt its authenticity.ixth Letter
The "Sixth Letter" is addressed to Hermias, tyrant of
Atarneus , and to Erastus and Coriscus, two pupils ofPlato residing inScepsis (a town near Atarneus), advising them to become friends. The letter claims that Plato never met Hermias, contrary to the account given of the latter's life byStrabo ; contains a number of parallels to the "Second Letter" concerning the value of combining wisdom with power, the utility of referring disputes to its author, and the importance of reading and re-reading it; and concludes that all three addresses should publicly swear an oath to strange deities, and to do so half-jestingly. For these reasons, Bury concludes that "Sixth Letter" is inauthentic and shares its author with the "Second Letter". [Bury, Epistle VI, 454–5.]eventh Letter
The "Seventh Letter" is addressed to the associates and companions of Dion, most likely after his assassination in 353 BCE. It is the longest of the "Epistles" and considered to be the most important. It is most likely an
open letter , and contains a defense ofPlato 's political activities in Syracuse as well as a long digression concerning the nature ofphilosophy , the theory of the forms, and the problems inherent to teaching.Eighth Letter
The "Eighth Letter" is addressed to the associates and companions of Dion, and was probably written some months after the "Seventh Letter" but before Dion's assassin,
Callippus , had been driven out byHipparinus . It councels compromise between the parties of Dion and Dionysius the Younger, the former favoringdemocracy , the latter, tyranny. The compromise would be amonarchy limited by laws.Ninth Letter
The "Ninth Letter" is addressed to
Archytas . Bury describes it as "a colourless and commonplace effusion which we would not willingly ascribe to Plato, and which no correspondent of his would be likely to preserve." [Bury, Epistle IX, 591.] Despite the fact thatCicero attests to its having been written byPlato , [Cicero , "De Finibus, Bonorum et Malorum ", ii. 14; "De Officiis ", i. 7.] most scholars consider it aliterary forgery .Tenth Letter
The "Tenth Letter" is addressed to an otherwise unknown Aristodorus, who is praised for having remained loyal to Dion, presumably during the latter's exile. The treatment of
philosophy in simply moral terms, without any reference tointellectual qualities, is foreign enough toPlato 's treatment for Bury to declare the letter a forgery. [Bury, Epistle X, 597.] In any event, it consists of a bare three sentences, covering nine lines in theStephanus pagination .Eleventh Letter
The "Eleventh Letter" is addressed to one Laodamas, who apparently requested assistance in drawing up laws for a new
colony . It refers to someone named Socrates, though the reference in the letter to the advanced age ofPlato means that it cannot be theSocrates who is famous from the dialogues. Bury would allow the authenticity of the letter, were it not for the fact that it claims that this Socrates cannot travel on account of having been enervated by a case ofstrangury . [Bury, Epistle XI, 601.]Twelfth Letter
The "Twelfth Letter" is addressed to
Archytas . It is only slightly longer than the "Tenth Letter" (four sentences, covering 12 lines in theStephanus pagination ), and considered to be spurious. It thanks Archytas for sendingPlato some treatises, which it then goes on to praise effusively.Diogenes Laertius preserves this letter in his "Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers ", as well as the letter from Archytas which presumably occasioned the "Twelfth Letter"; [Diogenes Laertius , "Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers ", Life of Archytus, iv] this letter points to the treatises having been those ofOcellos of Lucania , aPythagorean . Because the writings which are attributed to Ocellos are forgeries from the First Century BCE, the "Twelfth Letter" is probably also a forgery, and by the same forger, intended to stamp the treatises with Plato's authority. [Bury, Epistle XII, 607.]Thirteenth Letter
The "Thirteenth Letter" is addressed to
Dionysius II of Syracuse , and appears to be private in character. The portrait ofPlato offered here is in sharp contrast to that the disinterested and somewhat aloof philosopher of the "Seventh Letter", leading Bury to doubt its authenticity. [Bury, Epistle XIII, 610–3.]Footnotes
References
*Bury, R. G. (1942) Editor and Translator of
Plato 's "Timaeus, Critias, Cleitophon, Menexenus, Epistles",Loeb Classical Library . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
*Post, L. A. (1925) "Thirteen Epistles of Plato". Oxford.
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