• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Herculaneum papyri reveal Plato's burial place

JonnyDBrit

JonnyDBrit

God and Anime
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,050

Broke a couple days ago, but starting to reach English language publications, so figured to share

The Herculaneum papyri have revealed the location of Plato's burial place in the Platonic Academy in Athens, as well as shedding fresh light on his last few hours of life, an Italian researcher said on Tuesday.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The location of Plato's burial place was contained in thousands of new words and differently read words in papyrus on the history of the Academy by Philodemus of Gadara, an Epicurean philosopher and poet who lived in Herculaneum, said University of Pisa expert Graziano Ranocchia.

The scholar made the announcement at the Naples Biblioteca Nazionale (National Library) as he presented the mid-term results of the 'Greek Schools' research project conducted with the National Research Council.

Ranocchia said the texts suggested the burial place was in a garden reserved for Plato in a private area in the Academy, near the sacred shrine to the Muses.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The newly deciphered text has revealed that Plato was sold as a slave on the island of Aegina in 404 BC, when the Spartans conquered the island, or alternatively in 399 BC, immediately after the death of Socrates.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The new technology that has permitted the scrutiny of the troublesome multiple layers of carbonised text include two innovative techniques, optical coherence tomography and infrared hyperspectral imaging, carried out thanks to a mobile laboratory supplied by Nottingham Trent University.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Picking out quotes of course, but honestly, read the whole thing if you can. This could all be bullshit on the part of Philodemus - though other sources have previously stated Plato was buried on the academy grounds, just not where within it - and yet in one text, the possibilities and range of debate over the details of the life of one of the most well-studied men of the ancient world expands significantly. The potential that lies hidden in that library is just... staggering to come to terms with
 
eyeball_kid

eyeball_kid

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,258
The text also speak of Plato's last night, Ranocchia said.
"He was running a high fever and was bothered by the music they were playing," said the Pisa researcher.
The newly revealed text says the "sweet notes" of a flute played by a woman originally from Thrace were supposed to make Plato's last hours of life lighter, but the famed Greek philosopher did not enjoy them at all: although running a high fever and at death's door, he was lucid enough to criticise the barbarian musician for her "scant sense of rhythm", in front of a Chaldean guest who had come from Mesopotamia.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Apparently Plato was, aside from being a brilliant philosopher, also the Larry David of ancient Greece.
 
Bufbaf

Bufbaf

Don't F5!
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,704
Hamburg, Germany
Well if there's not a globe spanning riddle quest, filled with tons of puzzles and secrets, ending with a treasure buried with him involved, I don't really care now, do I.
 
Jedi2016

Jedi2016

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,813
So they know where he was... how does that equate to knowing where the exact spot is today? How likely is it that they could actually find his body?
 
OP
OP
JonnyDBrit

JonnyDBrit

God and Anime
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,050
Jedi2016 said:
So they know where he was... how does that equate to knowing where the exact spot is today? How likely is it that they could actually find his body?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

On the one hand, the academy is actually already an archaeological site and park one can visit

On the other, Sulla destroyed the academy and what's left are razed ruins. So... it might be a bit of a project either way
 
CrazyDude

CrazyDude

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,756
I think the bigger news is that we got anything out of those papyri. There is a ton of them, so it exciting to think what lost documents and information we can get out of them.
 
Wereroku

Wereroku

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,293
CrazyDude said:
I think the bigger news is that we got anything out of those papyri. There is a ton of them, so it exciting to think what lost documents and information we can get out of them.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Most of the papyri will probably be related to philosophy going by what has been uncovered so far. Apparently some think Philodemus either formed the library or his was incorporated into it as a bunch of the works found are his. I hope they find some lost plays in there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.