Pla´to

A celebrated philosopher of Athens. He was educated carefully, his mind being cultivated by the study of poetry and geometry, whilst his body was invigorated by the practice of gymnastics. He began his literary career by writing poetry and tragedies. At the age of twenty he was introduced to So crates, with whom he was for some time a pupil. After traveling in various countries, he retired to the neighborhood of Athens, where his lectures were attended by a crowd of learned, noble, and illustrious pupils. He died on his birthday in the eighty-first year of his age, about 348 years before the Christian era. His writings were so celebrated, and his opinions so highly regarded, that he was called the Divine.