Perictione facts for kids

Perictione was the mother of Plato, a very famous ancient Greek philosopher. She lived around the 5th century BC.

Perictione's Family

Perictione came from a very important family in Athens, Greece. Her family was related to Solon, who was a famous Athenian lawgiver. A lawgiver is someone who creates laws for a city or country. Her family history goes back to Dropides, an important leader in 644 BC.

Perictione was married to a man named Ariston. They had three sons: Glaucon, Adeimantus, and Plato. They also had one daughter named Potone.

After Ariston passed away, Perictione married again. She married Pyrilampes, who was an Athenian statesman. A statesman is an experienced and respected political leader. Pyrilampes was also Perictione's uncle. With Pyrilampes, she had her fifth child, a son named Antiphon. Antiphon is mentioned in one of Plato's writings called Parmenides.

Writings Attributed to Perictione

Two writings are said to have been written by Perictione. These works are called On the Harmony of Women and On Wisdom. However, these writings are considered spurious. This means they were probably not actually written by Plato's mother, Perictione. They might have been written by someone else who used her name.

These two works were written at different times. Because of this, experts sometimes call the authors Perictione I and Perictione II. Both writings are part of a type of literature called Pythagorean literature. This means they follow the ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras.

• On the Harmony of Women: This writing talks about what a woman's duties are. It discusses her duties to her husband, her marriage, and her parents. This work was written in Ionic Greek, which is a dialect of ancient Greek. It probably dates back to the late 4th or 3rd century BC.
• On Wisdom: This writing tries to explain what wisdom truly is. It offers a philosophical definition of wisdom. This work was written in Doric Greek, another dialect of ancient Greek. It likely dates to the 3rd or 2nd century BC.

See also

In Spanish: Perictione para niños