The task before a writer of a biography of Plato entails twin dangers: the Scylla, let us say, of naively taking ancient biographical traditions at face value (thick as they are with anachronisms, misquotations, slander and outright lies), and the Charybdis of completely ignoring these traditions. Plato scholars have the good fortune of studying an author whose corpus has been transmitted seemingly intact, unlike scholars of Aristotle or the Stoics – or, indeed, any other Greek philosophical school. As such, many of us make relatively little use of the dubia and spuria, later biographical reports, doxographical materials and the like. W.'s book demonstrates that something has been lost with this conservative approach: when used judiciously, these sources can greatly enrich our understanding of Plato's life and work. W. exercises reasonable judgement throughout, which is not to say that I agree with every conclusion he makes; but, at the big picture level, it is very worthwhile to engage with the rich portrait of Plato's life that emerges from this study.
One early highlight of the book is the discussion of the epigrams attributed to Plato (pp. 20–4). W. quotes two evocative love poems, one addressed to Phaedrus, whom W. tells us is called ‘Aster’ (‘Star’) in the collection:
It is a fantastically memorable poem. W. gives good reason to doubt its authenticity; all the same, it provides a wonderful introduction to the reception of Plato's works in the biographical tradition, which imagined Plato not just as a writer and philosopher, but also as a lover, a soldier and a political guru. He may have even been put up for sale as a slave, in the aftermath of a badly bungled return trip to Athens from Syracuse.
Another highlight is the discussion of the physical space of the Academy (pp. 123–34), which includes a photograph of the shaded walkways from the site that are still extant today. W. quickly and accurately reviews the earlier history of the park: named after the athletic hero Hecademus, the Academy was one of three notable suburban parks in the city equipped with gymnasia (the other two being the Lyceum and Cynosarges). These were popular meeting places for the philosophically inclined, among others – W. reminds us that there was an altar to Eros in the Academy, which was the starting point for festival torch races. Plato made philosophy's connection with the park permanent by buying a property nearby; W. helpfully observes that the house Plato bought could not have been in the park, which was public property, but must have been nearby. On W.'s reckoning, most students would have commuted from Athens to the school, but some may have constructed makeshift huts nearby (p. 130). Such details paint a vivid picture. A key attraction to Plato's philosophical works is that they deal not just in ideas, but ideas as debated, revised, renounced and elaborated by people, and often in specific settings. W.'s book brings us to some degree closer to seeing those dynamics in the Academy and Plato's life; while it ultimately has to build on uncertain sources, this is an important gain for our engagement with this philosopher.
The place of women in the school remains something of a mystery. W. rightly notes key pieces of the puzzle: Plato allegedly had two female students, Axiothea and Lasitheneia; other remarkable women in his philosophical world included Aspasia and Diotima. Speaking of the two students, W. notes that ‘they would not have been able to attend all the school's functions: no women were allowed into a gymnasium, where men and boys exercised naked’ (p. 132). I was surprised at this point that there was no discussion of Republic 5, which famously argues precisely that women will be allowed (indeed, must be enjoined) to take part in exercises in the gymnasium with men. W. also rightly notes that the Pythagorean school importantly anticipated Plato in including women (p. 114); it might be added that the figure of Perictione, Plato's mother, could have been an important influence as well. Although this is by no means certain (as nothing is in these matters), S.B. Pomeroy (Pythagorean Women [2013]) has suggested that Perictione was a Pythagorean, so that we might imagine the young Plato to have learned about Pythagoreanism and women's potential in philosophy from the same source and from an early age.
On many contentious matters a book with this scope is forced to take a stand without necessarily giving exhaustive reasoning; this is all the more true for one that aims, as this one does, to serve as ‘an introduction to Plato as well as a biography’ (p. 231). And, naturally, not all will find its approach to matters such as the authenticity of the Seventh Letter convincing (pp. xxxi–xxxiv; W. argues in favour of its authenticity). This is the stock in trade of scholarly disputes, and W.'s contribution is entirely welcome, supported as it is by a deep knowledge of the relevant evidence. That being said, the economy of his citation practice makes some of the arguments harder to follow – especially for an imagined audience of students looking for an introduction. Seasoned scholars will know, for example, that relevant secondary sources on the topic of ‘The Demarcation of Philosophy’ (pp. 107–12) include A. Nightingale (Genres in Dialogue [1995]) and C. Moore (Calling Philosophers Names [2019]), but they are not cited in that section. Some sections seem to be written with certain interlocutors in mind (e.g. the discussion of sexuality, pp. 12–14, and brief notice on the story that Plato trained in painting, p. 20), but they are not named. The short discussion of sexuality is written in a way that I think is rather likely to give rise to confusion: we learn across three sentences, with no citations or references to relevant secondary literature, that ‘a man's attraction to a boy said nothing, in our terms, about his sexuality; it did not necessarily make him gay or bisexual as opposed to heterosexual’, then hear that roles in penetration mattered more to Greeks than the gender of participants in a sexual encounter, and then things are rounded off with the statement that ‘[i]n any case, the relationship was not necessarily sexual’ (p. 13). I think the logic of this passage would be hard to follow without knowing some of relevant scholarly debates.
That being said, it should be noted that the book provides a good introduction to a number of historical, stylistic and philosophical matters, including the history of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries, and Plato's place in it; Plato's trip to Syracuse; stylometry; and major doctrines across the dialogues. W. makes a number of fascinating connections in this context: as a quick and tantalising example, he suggests we might see a link between the chorēgia Plato was required to perform and the philosopher's views in the Laws on the ‘educational importance of dance and the correct way to go about it’ (p. 27). And, naturally, Plato's trips to Syracuse provide material for reflection on the relationship between the man's philosophy and practical politics. Because of its broad coverage, the book would be extremely useful as a companion to an undergraduate class.
Importantly, the book also captures the spirit of Plato's philosophy: it does not become, to paraphrase the philosopher, mired in the mud of everyday banalities, but brings out how Plato's lived experience infused his philosophical work, and vice versa. For new and old readers of Plato alike, it offers a rich picture of the man, and the promise of casting new light on our experience of his philosophical masterpieces.
