Plato's Academy

After socrates's death, plato spent time away from athens in southern italy. He could have encountered pythagorean ideas a further source of inspiration. I think plato's dialogues show that he had a wide knowledge of most of the presocratics. After foreign travels, plato returned to athens and set himself up as the head of a philosophical school. The academia named in honor of a mythical greek hero is where we get our word academy.