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Alexandros Mistriotis: The Plato Behind the Philosopher
🇬🇷 Greece /Culture & Society

Alexandros Mistriotis: The Plato Behind the Philosopher

From Kathimerini · () Greek

Translated from Greek, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Director Alexandros Mistriotis was inspired to create a play about Plato's Seventh Letter after hearing a friend discuss Plato's dialogue "Lysis."
  • The Seventh Letter, a purported account of Plato's life and work before his death, is unusual because it suggests wisdom is a passion, not found in books, and that Plato himself did not write his most important works.
  • Mistriotis's play, "The Seventh Letter or The Disappointed Plato," features Plato on stage, reflecting on his life, political involvement in Syracuse, and his relationship with Dion.

Director Alexandros Mistriotis initially dismissed Plato as a symbol of stagnation, representing a past that hindered Greece's future. However, a friend's discussion of Plato's dialogue "Lysis" on a rooftop in Athens sparked his curiosity.

I wasn't involved with Plato at all; in my mind, he was something akin to the Parthenon, symbols of a fatigue and, in relation to Greece, a mechanism that prevents this place from having a future since the founding of the modern Greek state.

— Alexandros MistriotisMistriotis explains his initial negative perception of Plato before encountering the 'Seventh Letter'.

Attending the discussion out of camaraderie, Mistriotis encountered the "Seventh Letter," a text attributed to Plato near the end of his life. This letter presented a different view of Plato, suggesting wisdom is a passion, akin to Eastern teachings, rather than confined to rigid structures or books, challenging conventional Western interpretations.

You read this text and you get excited, because it's really not the area you expect to find yourself in, you hear, for example, that wisdom is not contained in shapes, words, or books, it is a passion and this points more towards Eastern-style teachings, rather than what you would learn about Plato at Cambridge or Oxford.

— Alexandros MistriotisMistriotis describes his reaction to the content of the 'Seventh Letter'.

Mistriotis was particularly struck by the letter's assertion that Plato himself had not written his most significant works. This revelation, he explains, creates an "embarrassment" for scholars dedicated to studying Plato's oeuvre. The debate over the letter's authenticity, he notes, often reflects aesthetic preferences of different eras and Western perceptions of the philosopher.

In the letter he addresses to the relatives of Dion, in Syracuse, after the murder of his beloved student, he appears human, vulnerable, direct, speaks in the first person, does not hide behind masks, gets angry, indignant, ironic, disgusted and mainly undermines what we have from him.

— Alexandros MistriotisMistriotis discusses the human and vulnerable portrayal of Plato in the 'Seventh Letter'.

In his play, "The Seventh Letter or The Disappointed Plato," staged at Piraeus, Mistriotis brings Plato to life on stage. The philosopher is not confined to the past or a modern social setting but maintains a characteristic distance and self-awareness. He confronts his life's failures, discusses his controversial political involvement in Syracuse, and touches upon the concept of virtue and his relationship with his young student, Dion.

Think about the embarrassment this causes a person who has dedicated his life to the study of Platonic work.

— Alexandros MistriotisMistriotis highlights the challenge the 'Seventh Letter' poses to Platonic scholarship.
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Originally published by Kathimerini in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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