Twelfth Letter (Plato)

Twelfth Letter (Plato)

The "Twelfth Letter of Plato", also known as "Epistle XII" or "Letter XII", is an epistle that tradition has ascribed to Plato, though it is almost certainly a literary forgery. Of all the "Epistles", it is the only one that is followed by an explicit denial of its authenticity in the manuscripts. In the Stephanus pagination, it spans 359c–e of Vol. III.

Like the "Ninth Letter", the "Twelfth Letter" is purportedly addressed to Archytas. It thanks him for sending Plato some treatises, which it then goes on to praise effusively, declaring its author worthy of his ancestors and including in their number Myrians, colonists from Troy during the reign of Laomedon. It then promises to send to Archytas some of Plato's unfinished treatises.

Diogenes Laertius preserves this letter in his "Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers", as well as a 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 of Ocellos of Lucania, a Pythagorean. 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.] There is no other mention of a Trojan colony in Italy from the reign of Laomedon, let alone of Lucania or the Lucani having been decended from the otherwise unknown "Myrians." [Bury, Epistle XII, 608.] R. G. Bury also notes that the "Twelfth Letter", along with the "Ninth", spell Archytas with an α, whereas Plato spells it in more authoritative epistles with an η (Αρχύτης). [Bury, Epistle XII, 607; cf. "Seventh Letter" 338c, 339b, 339d, 350a, "Thirteenth Letter" 360c.]

ee also

*Epistles (Plato)
*Plato
*Dialogues of Plato

Footnotes

References

*Bury, R. G., ed. (1942) "Timaeus, Critias, Cleitophon, Menexenus, Epistles". Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
*Diogenes Laertius. "Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers".
*Plato. "Seventh Letter".
*Plato. "Thirteenth Letter".


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ninth Letter (Plato) — The Ninth Letter of Plato, also called Epistle IX or Letter IX, is an epistle that is traditionally ascribed to Plato. In the Stephanus pagination, it spans III. 357d–358b. The letter is ostensibly written to Archytas of Tarentum, whom Plato met… …   Wikipedia

  • Twelfth century (The) — The twelfth century John Marenbon INTRODUCTION The twelfth century began and ended with events which mark it off, at least symbolically, as a discrete period in the history of Western philosophy. It was in about 1100 that Abelard the most wide… …   History of philosophy

  • Epistles (Plato) — The Epistles of Plato are a series of thirteen letters traditionally included in the Platonic corpus. Their authenticity has been the subject of some dispute, and scholarly consensus has shifted back and forth over time. By the close of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Philosophy and its background in the early medieval West — Rosamond McKitterick and John Marenbon ‘Libraries, schools and the dissemination of texts’ is by Rosamond McKitterick; the ‘Introduction’ and ‘Philosophical themes’ are by John Marenbon. INTRODUCTION The period from 800 to 1100 is even more… …   History of philosophy

  • Philosophy (The) of the Italian Renaissance — The philosophy of the Italian Renaissance Jill Kraye TWO CULTURES: SCHOLASTICISM AND HUMANISM IN THE EARLY RENAISSANCE Two movements exerted a profound influence on the philosophy of the Italian Renaissance: scholasticism and humanism, both of… …   History of philosophy

  • Jewish philosophy — Colette Sirat INTRODUCTION The history of medieval Jewish philosophy can be divided into two consecutive periods. The first, beginning in the ninth century and ending roughly with the death of Maimonides in 1204, occurred in Islamic lands. The… …   History of philosophy

  • From the beginnings to Avicenna — Jean Jolivet INTRODUCTION Arabic philosophy began at the turn of the second and third centuries of the Hegira, roughly the ninth and tenth centuries AD. The place and the time are important. It was in 133/750 that the ‘Abbāssid dynasty came to… …   History of philosophy

  • Christianity — /kris chee an i tee/, n., pl. Christianities. 1. the Christian religion, including the Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox churches. 2. Christian beliefs or practices; Christian quality or character: Christianity mixed with pagan elements; …   Universalium

  • History of algebra — Elementary algebra is the branch of mathematics that deals with solving for the operands of arithmetic equations. Modern or abstract algebra has its origins as an abstraction of elementary algebra. Historians know that the earliest mathematical… …   Wikipedia

  • Timaeus (dialogue) — Timaeus (Greek: Τίμαιος, Timaios) is a theoretical treatise of Plato in the form of a Socratic dialogue, written circa 360 BC. The work puts forward speculation on the nature of the physical world. It is followed by the dialogue Critias .Speakers …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”