Letters

Introduction

Thirteen letters have come down under Plato's name. The longest and most important, the Seventh Letter, tells the story of his political life: his disillusion with Athenian politics as a young man, the death of Socrates, and his three journeys to Sicily in the failed attempt to make the tyrant Dionysius II of Syracuse a philosopher-king. It also contains a famous passage saying that the deepest truths of philosophy cannot be put into writing, but are kindled in the soul like a spark only after long shared inquiry. Whatever their authenticity, the letters are precious evidence of Plato the man.