PLATO'S SEVENTH LETTER PHILOSOPHIA ANTIQUA A SERIES OF MONOGRAPHS ON ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY EDITED BY W. J. VERDENIUS AND J. H. WASZINK VOLUME XIV LUDWIG EDELSTEIN PLATO'S SEVENTH LETTER LEIDEN E. J. BRILL 1966 PLATO'S SEVENTH LETTER BY LUDWIG EDELSTEIN LEIDEN E. J. BRILL 1966 Copyright I966 by E. ]. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without written permission from the publisher. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS Haroldo Frederico Cherniss per dies faustos infaustosque arnico firrno ac fideli TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface. . . IX Introduction I I. The Historical Narrative. 5 1. Plato's Youth and Early Manhood 5 2. The First Journey to Sicily and the Motives for the Second. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IS 3. The Counsel to Dion's Followers . . . . . . 24 4. Plato's Relation to Dion and to Dionysius; the Portrayal of Plato. . . . . . . . . . . 39 5. The Motives for the Writing of the Letter 56 II. The Philosophical Digression . . . . . . . 70 1. The Philosophical Test. . . . . . . . 70 2. Plato's Views on Philosophical Writing. 76 3. The Doctrine of the Fifth . . . . . . 85 4. The Import of the so-called Philosophical Digression 108 Ill. The Other Platonic Letters in their Relation to the Autobiography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 1. The Letters to Philosophers and Statesmen outside the Sicilian Circle. . . . . . 122 2. Letters to Archytas and Dion. . . . . . . . 127 3. Letters to Dionysius. . . . . . . . . . . . 131 4. The Second Letter to Dion and his Followers . 145 5. The Background of the Collection of Letters 156 6. Conclusion. 161 Conclusion. 166 Appendix . 170 PREFACE The first outline of this book was written during my stay at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1959-1960, and so I should like first to express my gratitude to the Faculty of the Institute, who made it possible for me to devote this whole year to research. I also owe much to the conversations on Plato and many another subject that I had during that time with members of the Institute, especially with G.M.A. Grube and Erwin Panofsky. But I must mention too my indebtedness to those with whom I discussed the Seventh Epistle long before the writing of the book was undertaken. In 1939, Paul Friedlander spent several months with Mrs. Edelstein and myself reading and interpreting Plato's "autobiography." In later years, between 1948 and 1950, many an hour was passed in controversy over the document with Ernst Kantorowicz, P. Friedlander, and Father A. J. Festugiere. None of them, I am afraid, was in agreement with the views which have now found expression in this study. But they made me see difficult ies I would otherwise not have noted and I have tried to learn from their objections. The dedication expresses a debt of gratitude that arises out of a long fellowship in work and life. But I should say that when I was in Princeton, I often talked to Harold Cherniss about the Seventh Letter; he has also read over the finished manuscript and given me his advice on controversial points. And when I was writing and revising the text I had the constant help of Miss Caroline Clauser. Her devotion to the work and her vigilance saved me from many an error in thought and expression. New York, March Il, L964 L.E. An untimely death prevented Professor Edelstein from seeing his book through the press. The editors of this series therefore took upon themselves the correction of the proofs as against the manuscript as submitted by the author.