Platonic Academy

Lore & Background

Before the Akademia was a school, the site contained a sacred grove of olive trees dedicated to Athena, outside the city walls of ancient Athens. The archaic name for the site was Hekademia, which by classical times evolved into Akademia, linked to the Athenian hero Akademos. The site was sacred to Athena and other immortals, and the Spartans would not ravage these original 'groves of Academe' when they invaded Attica, though the Roman Sulla axed the sacred olive trees in 86 BC to build siege engines. Religious observances included a torchlit night race from altars within the city to Prometheus' altar in the Akademeia, funeral games, and a Dionysiac procession from Athens to the Hekademeia and back. The road to Akademeia was lined with the gravestones of Athenians. The site is located near Colonus, approximately 1.5 km north of Athens' Dipylon gates, and was rediscovered in the 20th century in modern Akadimia Platonos neighbourhood.

Reader's Guide

What was later known as Plato's school probably originated around the time Plato acquired inherited property at age thirty, with informal gatherings including Theaetetus, Archytas, Leodamas, and Neoclides. Speusippus joined the group in about 390, and modern scholars generally agree the school was officially founded in the mid-380s, probably after 387. Meetings were held at Plato's property or the nearby Academy gymnasium. The Academic club was exclusive and not open to the public, but did not charge fees during Plato's time. There was a distinction between senior and junior members, and two women are known to have studied there: Axiothea of Phlius and Lasthenia of Mantinea. During Plato's time, the school had no particular doctrine; Plato and associates posed problems to be studied and solved. There is evidence of lectures, most notably Plato's 'On the Good,' but dialectic was more common. An unverifiable story claims above the entrance was inscribed 'Let no one untrained in geometry enter.' Subjects almost certainly included mathematics and philosophical topics. Simplicius reports Plato instructed members to discover the simplest explanation of irregular motion of heavenly bodies, and Eudoxus was the first to work on this problem. The academy's history is divided by Diogenes Laërtius into Old (Plato), Middle (Arcesilaus), and New (Lacydes). Sextus Empiricus enumerated five divisions. After Arcesilaus around 266 BC, the academy emphasized Academic skepticism. Carneades in 155 BC began the New Academy, still largely skeptical. Philo of Larissa was the last undisputed head geographically connected to the Academy. When the First Mithridatic War began in 88 BC, Philo left Athens for Rome. In 86 BC, Sulla laid siege to Athens, ravaging the Academy and the Lyceum. The destruction was so severe that reconstruction was impossible. When Antiochus returned to Athens around 84 BC, he resumed teaching but not in the Academy. Cicero visited the site one afternoon and found it 'quiet and deserted.' Philosophers continued teaching Platonism in Athens during the Roman era, but a revived Academy was established around AD 410 by leading Neoplatonists. The Neoplatonists called themselves 'successors' of Plato but had no geographical, institutional, economic, or personal continuity with the original Academy. The school was a private foundation conducted in a large house. Heads included Plutarch of Athens, Syrianus, Proclus, Marinus, Isidore, and Damascius. The Neoplatonic Academy reached its apex under Proclus (died 485). The last Greek philosophers in the 6th century were drawn from various parts of the Hellenistic world; five of the seven mentioned by Agathias were Syriac in their culture.

Did You Know?

• The archaic name for the site was Hekademia, which by classical times evolved into Akademia, linked to the Athenian hero Akademos.
• The Spartans would not ravage the 'groves of Academe' when they invaded Attica out of respect for its association with the Dioscuri.
• Two women, Axiothea of Phlius and Lasthenia of Mantinea, are known to have studied with Plato at the Academy.
• An unverifiable story claims above the entrance was inscribed 'Let no one untrained in geometry enter.'
• Five of the seven Neoplatonic Academy philosophers mentioned by Agathias in the 6th century were Syriac in their culture.