Plato in Syracuse

This chapter overviews Plato's activities in Syracuse. It starts with the core theme of Letters about Plato's failed attempt to carry out Dion's plan of educating Dionysius to philosophy. The failure essentially resulted in Plato's fateful decision to involve himself in the political affairs of the Syracusan tyranny. The chapter highlights how Plato never believed in Dion's vision for a regime of philosophic rule in Syracuse and that he could never have been sanguine about Dionysius's prospects as a student of Platonic philosophy. It then looks into Letter Thirteen of Letters, which contains reflections on the difficulty of ascertaining the genuineness and authorship of the letter.