He may be one of the pinnacles of modern Western philosophical thought, but the man himself is much harder to know
We are told that Plato was the son of Ariston and a citizen of Athens. His father could trace his ancestors back to legendary kings of Athens and his mother was Perictione, who could trace her lineage back to Solon, an important figure in the development of Athenian democracy. This information comes from a biography of the philosopher by Diogenes Laertius, who was writing in the 3rd century CE. He is essential for our knowledge of ancient philosophy and wrote Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, a doxography (meaning a collection of extracts from ancient Greek philosophers and commentary on them). It is a testament to Plato's importance that an entire book is devoted to him. Nonetheless, Laertius was writing more than 500 years after Plato lived and wrote and, although Laertius refers to myriad sources, there is much that has been lost and much that is confused.
WHEN IS PLATO NOT PLATO?
Plato's actual name (according to Laertius) was Aristocles but he adopted the
