About The StatueA life-size statue of Plato the Athenian philosopher of the Classic Period in Ancient Greece above the entrance to the Great Hall of the University of Birmingham. He was the founder of the Platonist school of thought, and the Academy, the first institution of higher learning in the Western World. (
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Plato’s statue along with the other eight figures was carved by Henry Pegram, and together personify the Joseph Chamberlain’s vision for the University’. Joseph Chamberlain was the University’s first Chancellor and had a vision of ‘a school of universal instruction, not confined to any particular branch of knowledge but taking in its province. These guardians watch over those who pass beneath reminding all that the University is an integral part of a living international academic and cultural tradition.’
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The statue of Plato is carved from Darley Dale stone and is actual life-sized. In the statue Plato, who is bare chested and is in period dress, is shown standing with his right hand raised above his shoulder and his left and by his side. He is bare headed but has a full beard.
Plato is best-known as the author of philosophical works including the ‘Apology of Socrates’. (
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Below is an extract from "The Victorian Web" website which describes the 9 Statues as follows:
"Nine cultural icons in a "Pantheon of the Immortals" Foster/Dungawell 243) carved over the entrance to the University of Birmingham's Great Hall. Henry Alfred Pegram (1862-1937). 1907. Life-size statues in Darley Dale stone. Chancellor's Court, the University of Birmingham, Edgbaston."
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Aristocles, son of Ariston of the deme Colytus (“Plato”) ”The Athenian philosopher Plato (c.428-347 B.C.) is one of the most important figures of the Ancient Greek world and the entire history of Western thought.In his written dialogues he conveyed and expanded on the ideas and techniques of his teacher Socrates. The Academy he founded was by some accounts the world’s first university and in it he trained his greatest student, the equally influential philosopher Aristotle. Plato’s recurring fascination was the distinction between ideal forms and everyday experience, and how it played out both for individuals and for societies. In the “Republic,” his most famous work, he envisioned a civilization governed not by lowly appetites but by the pure wisdom of a philosopher-king.
Plato: Early Life and EducationPlato was born around 428 B.C., during the final years of the Golden Age of Pericles’ Athens. He was of noble Athenian lineage on both sides. His father Ariston died when he was a child. His mother Perictione remarried the politician Pyrilampes. Plato grew up during the Peloponnesian War (431-404) and came of age around the time of Athens’ final defeat by Sparta and the political chaos that followed. He was educated in philosophy, poetry and gymnastics by distinguished Athenian teachers including the philosopher Cratylus.
Plato’s InfluencesThe young Plato became a devoted follower of Socrates—indeed, he was one of the youths Socrates was condemned for allegedly corrupting. Plato’s recollections of Socrates’ lived-out philosophy and style of relentless questioning, the Socratic method, became the basis for his early dialogues. Plato’s dialogues, along with “Apologia,” his written account of the trial of Socrates, are viewed by historians as the most accurate available picture of the elder philosopher, who left no written works of his own.
Following Socrates’ forced suicide, Plato spent 12 years traveling in southern Italy, Sicily and Egypt, studying with other philosophers including followers of the mystic mathematician Pythagoras including Theodorus of Cyrene (creator of the spiral of Theodorus or Pythagorean spiral), Archytas of Tarentum and Echecrates of Phlius. Plato’s time among the Pythagoreans piqued his interest in mathematics.
Plato’s Theory of Forms, stating that the physical world we know is but a shadow of the real one, was strongly influenced by Parmenides and Zeno of Elea. The two appear as characters in Plato’s dialogue “The Parmenides.”
Plato had a lifelong relationship with the ruling family of Syracuse, who would later seek his advice on reforming their city’s politics.
Platonic AcademyAround 387, the 40-year-old Plato returned to Athens and founded his philosophical school in the grove of the Greek hero Academus, just outside the city walls. In his open-air Academy he delivered lectures to students gathered from throughout the Greek world (nine-tenths of them from outside Athens). Many of Plato’s writings, especially the so-called later dialogues, seem to have originated in his teaching there. In establishing the Academy Plato moved beyond the precepts of Socrates, who never founded a school and questioned the very idea of a teacher’s ability to impart knowledge.
Aristotle arrived from northern Greece to join the Academy at age 17, studying and teaching there for the last 20 years of Plato’s life. Plato died in Athens and was probably buried on the Academy grounds.” (
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Crater PlatoCrater Plato is a lava-filled lunar impact crater. It was named for the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It is 101km in diameter and is "located on the northeastern shore ot the Mare Imbrium, at the western extremity of the Montes Alpes mountain range. In the mare to the south are several rises collectively named the Montes Tenerife. To the north lies the wide stretch of the Mare Frigoris. East of the crater among the Montes Alpes, are several riles collectively name the Rimae Plato." (
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A second extraterrestrial location is shown below:
Asteroid 5451 PlatoAsteroid 5451 is an asteroid in the main asteroid belt it was discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten and Gehrels at Palomar and is named for Plato the ancient Greek philosopher. (
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