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{{Short description|Ancient philosophical center founded by Plato}}
{{about|the academy founded by Plato|other uses|Academy (disambiguation)}}
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{{Platonism}}

[[File:Plato&#039;s Academy mosaic from Pompeii.jpg|250px|right|thumb|[[Plato's Academy mosaic]] – from the Villa of T. Siminius Stephanus in [[Pompeii]].]]
'''The Academy''' ({{langx|grc|Ἀκαδημία|Akadēmía}}), variously known as '''Plato's Academy''', or the '''Platonic Academy''', was founded in [[Classical Athens|Athens]] by [[Plato]] ''[[wikt:circa|circa]]'' 387 BC. The academy is regarded as the first institution of higher education in the west, where subjects as diverse as [[biology]], [[geography]], [[astronomy]], [[mathematics]], [[history]], and many more were taught and investigated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Baltes |first=Matthias |date=1993 |title=Plato's School, the Academy |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23041030 |journal=Hermathena |issue=155 |pages=5–26 |issn=0018-0750}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Neils |first=Jenifer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzkQEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Athens |last2=Rogers |first2=Dylan Kelby |date=2021 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-108-48455-8 |series= |location=Cambridge (GB) |pages=3, 298}}</ref> [[Aristotle]] studied there for twenty years (367–347 BC) before founding his own school, the [[Lyceum (classical)|Lyceum]]. The Academy persisted throughout the [[Hellenistic period]] as a [[Academic skepticism|skeptical]] school, until coming to an end after the death of [[Philo of Larissa]] in 83 BC. The Platonic Academy was destroyed by the Roman dictator [[Sulla]] in 86 BC.<ref name="Lindberg 2007 70">{{cite book|url= http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo5550077.html|last=Lindberg|first=David C.|title= The Beginnings of Western Science|page=70|publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2007|isbn= 978-0226482057}}</ref>

A neo-Platonic academy was later established in Athens that sought to continue the tradition of Plato's Academy. This academy was shut down by [[Justinian I|Justinian]] in 529 AD, when some of the scholars fled to [[Harran]], where the study of classical texts continued. In 1462 [[Cosimo de' Medici]] established the [[Platonic_Academy_(Florence)|Platonic Academy of Florence]], which helped initiate the [[Renaissance]]. In 1926 the [[Academy of Athens (modern)|Academy of Athens]] was founded again but this time with the founding principle of tracing  back the historical Academy of Plato.

==History==
The ''Akademia'' was a school outside the city walls of ancient [[Athens]]. It was located in or beside a [[sacred grove|grove of olive trees]]<ref>[[Thucydides]]. ii:34.</ref>  dedicated to the goddess [[Athena]], which was on the site even before [[Cimon]] enclosed the precincts with a wall,<ref>[[Plutarch]]. ''Life of [[Cimon]]'', xiii:7.</ref> and was called Academia after its original owner, [[Academus]], an [[Attica|Attic]] hero in [[Greek mythology]].<ref>The archaic name for the site was ''Ἑκαδήμεια'' (''Hekademia''), which by classical times evolved into Ἀκαδημία (''Akademia''), which was explained, at least as early as the beginning of the sixth century BC, by linking it to "[[Akademos]]", a legendary Athenian [[Greek hero cult|hero]].</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Schmitz | first = Leonhard | author-link = Leonhard Schmitz | contribution = Academus | editor-last = Smith | editor-first = William | title = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] | volume = 1 | pages = 5 | place = Boston | year = 1867 | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0014.html | access-date = 2020-12-24 | archive-date = 2007-09-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070907130518/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0014.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> Academus was said to have saved Athens from attack by Sparta, revealing where [[Helen of Troy]] was hidden, when she had been kidnapped by King [[Theseus]] years before the incidents of the later [[Trojan War]]. Having thus spared Athens a war (or at least delayed it), Academus was seen as a savior of Athens. His land, six [[Stadion (unit)|stadia]] (a total of about one kilometre, or a half mile; the exact length of a stadion varied) north of Athens, became revered even by neighboring city-states, escaping destruction during the many local wars.

The site of the Academy was sacred to [[Athena]]; it had sheltered her [[Greek mythology#Greek pantheon|religious cult]] since the [[Bronze Age]]. The site was perhaps also associated with the [[Greek hero cult|twin hero-gods]] [[Castor and Pollux|Castor]] and [[Pollux (mythology)|Polydeuces]] (the ''[[Dioscuri]]''), since the hero Akademos associated with the site was credited with revealing to the brothers where the [[Bride kidnapping|abductor]] [[Theseus]] had hidden their sister [[Helen of Troy|Helen]]. Out of respect for its long tradition and its association with the Dioscuri &ndash; who were [[patron god]]s of [[Sparta]] &ndash; the Spartan army would not ravage these original "groves of Academe" when they invaded [[Attica]].<ref>[[Plutarch]]. ''Life of Theseus'', xxxii.</ref> Their piety was not shared by the Roman [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]], who had the sacred olive trees of Athena cut down in 86&nbsp;BC to build [[siege engine]]s.

Among the religious observances that took place at the Akademeia was a torchlit night race from altars within the city to Prometheus' altar in the Akademeia. The road to Akademeia was lined with the gravestones of Athenians, and [[Funeral games (antiquity)|funeral games]] also took place in the area as well as a [[Cult of Dionysus|Dionysiac]] procession from Athens to the Hekademeia and then back to the city.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]. ''Description of Greece'', i, 29.2, 30.2</ref><ref>[[Plutarch]]. ''Life of Solon'', i, 7.</ref>

==Plato's school==
[[Image:"The School of Athens" by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''[[The School of Athens]]'' by [[Raphael]] (1509–1510), fresco at the [[Apostolic Palace]], [[Vatican City]].]]

What was later to be known as Plato's school appears to have been part of Academia. Plato inherited the property at the age of thirty, with informal gatherings which included [[Theaetetus (mathematician)|Theaetetus of Sunium]], [[Archytas]] of Tarentum, [[Leodamas of Thasos]], and Neoclides.<ref>pp. 5–6, D. Nails, "The Life of Plato of Athens", in H. Benson (ed.), ''A Companion to Plato'', Blackwell Publishing 2006.</ref> According to Debra Nails, [[Speusippus]] "joined the group in about 390 BC". She claims, "It is not until [[Eudoxus of Cnidus|Eudoxus of Cnidos]] arrives in the mid-380s BC that [[Eudemus of Rhodes|Eudemus]] recognizes a formal Academy." There is no historical record of the exact time the school was officially founded, but modern scholars generally agree that the time was the mid-380s, probably sometime after 387 BC, when Plato is thought to have returned from his first visit to Sicily.<ref>pp. 19–20, [[W. K. C. Guthrie]], ''A History of Greek Philosophy'', vol. 4, Cambridge University Press 1975; p. 1, R. Dancy, "Academy", in D. Zeyl (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy'', Greenwood Press 1997.  I. Mueller gives a much broader time frame – "...some time between the early 380s and the middle 360s..." – perhaps reflecting our real lack of evidence about the specific date (p. 170, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth", in R. Kraut (ed.), ''The Cambridge Companion to Plato'', Cambridge University Press 1992).</ref> Originally, the meetings were held on Plato's property as often as they were at the nearby [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|Academy gymnasium]]; this remained so throughout the fourth century.<ref>[[David Sedley|D. Sedley]], "Academy", in the ''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', 3rd ed.; p. 4, [[Jonathan Barnes|J. Barnes]], "Life and Work", in ''The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle'', Cambridge University Press 1995; J. Barnes, "Academy", E. Craig (Ed.), ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', Routledge 1998, accessed 13 Sept 2008, from http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/A001.</ref>

Though the academy was open to the public, the main participants were upper-class men.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1120786946|title=Plato's academy : its workings and its history|others=Kalligas, Paulos|year= 2020|isbn=978-1-108-55466-4|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=74|oclc=1120786946}}</ref><ref>p. 31, J. Barnes, ''Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction'', Oxford University Press 2000.</ref> It did not, at least during Plato's time, charge fees for membership.<ref>p. 170, Mueller, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth"; p. 249, D. Nails, ''The People of Plato'', Hackett 2002.</ref><ref name=":0" /> Therefore, there was probably not at that time a "school" in the sense of a clear distinction between teachers and students, or even a formal curriculum.<ref>pp. 170–171, Mueller, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth"; p. 248, Nails, ''The People of Plato''.</ref> There was, however, a distinction between senior and junior members.<ref>Barnes, "Academy".</ref> Two women are known to have studied with Plato at the Academy, [[Axiothea of Phlius]] and [[Lasthenia of Mantinea]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hackettpublishing.com/philosophy/women-in-the-academy|title = Women in the Academy}}</ref>

The school has been seen as the first institution of higher learning in the west, with subjects as diverse as [[mathematics]], [[politics]], [[ethics]], [[biology]], [[geography]], [[astronomy]], [[history]], and many more being taught and investigated.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdCQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |title=Higher Education Re-formed |date=2005-08-18 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-69981-9 |editor-last=Scott |editor-first=Peter |edition=1st |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780203984581}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

[[Diogenes Laërtius]] divided the history of the Academy into three: the Old, the Middle, and the New. At the head of the Old he put Plato, at the head of the Middle Academy, [[Arcesilaus]], and of the New, [[Lacydes of Cyrene|Lacydes]]. [[Sextus Empiricus]] enumerated five divisions of the followers of Plato. He made Plato founder of the first Academy; Arcesilaus of the second; [[Carneades]] of the third; [[Philo of Larissa|Philo]] and [[Charmadas]] of the fourth; and [[Antiochus of Ascalon|Antiochus]] of the fifth. [[Cicero]] recognised only two Academies, the Old and New, and had the latter commence with Arcesilaus.<ref>Charles Anthon, (1855), ''A Classical Dictionary'', p. 6</ref>

===Old Academy===
{{redirect|Old Academy}}
Plato's immediate successors as "[[Scholarch]]" of the Academy were [[Speusippus]] (347–339 BC), [[Xenocrates]] (339–314 BC), [[Polemon (scholarch)|Polemon]] (314–269 BC), and [[Crates of Athens|Crates]] ({{circa|269}}–266 BC). Other notable members of the Academy include [[Aristotle]], [[Heraclides Ponticus|Heraclides]], [[Eudoxus of Cnidus|Eudoxus]], [[Philip of Opus]], and [[Crantor]].

In at least Plato's time, the school did not have any particular doctrine to teach; rather, Plato (and probably other associates of his) posed problems to be studied and solved by the others.<ref>p. 2, Dancy, "Academy".</ref> There is evidence of lectures given, most notably Plato's lecture "On the Good"; but probably the use of [[dialectic]] was more common.<ref>p. 2, Dancy, "Academy"; p. 21, Guthrie, ''A History of Greek Philosophy'', vol. 4; p. 34–36, Barnes, ''Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction''.</ref> According to an unverifiable story, dated of some 700 years after the founding of the school, above the entrance to the Academy was inscribed the phrase ΑΓΕΩΜΕΤΡΗΤΟΣ ΜΗΔΕΙΣ ΕΙΣΙΤΩ, "Let no-one ignorant of geometry enter here."<ref>p. 67, V. Katz, ''History of Mathematics''</ref>

Many have imagined that the Academic curriculum would have closely resembled the one canvassed in Plato's ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]''.<ref>p. 22, Guthrie, ''A History of Greek Philosophy'', vol. 4.</ref>  Others, however, have argued that such a picture ignores the obvious peculiar arrangements of the ideal society envisioned in that dialogue.<ref>pp. 170–171, Mueller, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth".</ref>  The subjects of study almost certainly included mathematics as well as the philosophical topics with which the Platonic dialogues deal, but there is little reliable evidence.<ref>M. Schofield, "Plato", in E. Craig (Ed.), ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', Routledge 1998/2002, retrieved 13 Sept 2008, from http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/A088 ; p. 32, Barnes, ''Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction''.</ref>  There is some evidence for what today would be considered strictly scientific research:  [[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]] reports that Plato had instructed the other members to discover the simplest explanation of the observable, irregular motion of heavenly bodies: "by hypothesizing what uniform and ordered motions is it possible to save the appearances relating to planetary motions."<ref>Simplicius, ''Commentary on Aristotle's "On the Heavens"'' 488.7–24, quoted on p. 174, Mueller, "Mathematical Method & Philosophical Truth".</ref>  (According to Simplicius, Plato's colleague Eudoxus was the first to have worked on this problem.)

Plato's Academy is often said to have been a school for would-be politicians in the ancient world, and to have had many illustrious alumni.<ref>p. 23, Guthrie, ''A History of Greek Philosophy'', vol. 4; G. Field, "Academy", in the ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 2nd ed.</ref>  In a recent survey of the evidence, [[Malcolm Schofield]], however, has argued that it is difficult to know to what extent the Academy was interested in practical (i.e., non-theoretical) politics since much of our evidence "reflects ancient polemic for or against Plato".<ref>p. 293, "Plato & Practical Politics", in Schofield & C. Rowe (eds.), ''Greek & Roman Political Thought'', Cambridge University Press 2000.</ref>

===Middle Academy===
Around 266 BC [[Arcesilaus]] became Scholarch. Under Arcesilaus ({{circa|266}}–241 BC), the Academy strongly emphasized a version of [[Academic skepticism]] closely similar to [[Pyrrhonism]].<ref>Sextus Empiricus, ''Outlines of Pyrrhonism'', Book 1, Chapter 33, Section 232</ref> Arcesilaus was followed by [[Lacydes of Cyrene]] (241–215 BC), [[Evander (philosopher)|Evander]] and [[Telecles]] (jointly) (205&nbsp;– {{circa|165 BC}}), and [[Hegesinus of Pergamon|Hegesinus]] ({{circa|160 BC}}).

===New Academy===
The New or Third Academy begins with [[Carneades]], in 155 BC, the fourth Scholarch in succession from Arcesilaus. It was still largely skeptical, denying the possibility of knowing an absolute truth. Carneades was followed by [[Clitomachus (philosopher)|Clitomachus]] (129 – {{circa|110 BC}}) and [[Philo of Larissa]] ("the last undisputed head of the Academy," {{circa|110}}–84 BC).<ref>''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 3rd ed. (1996), s.v. "Philon of Larissa".</ref><ref>See the table in [https://books.google.com/books?id=9lRD6feR3hEC ''The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy''] (Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 53–54.</ref>  According to [[Jonathan Barnes]], "It seems likely that Philo was the last Platonist geographically connected to the Academy."<ref>"Academy", E. Craig (Ed.), ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', Routledge 1998, accessed 14 Sept 2008, from http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/A001.</ref> Around 90 BC, Philo's student [[Antiochus of Ascalon]] began teaching his own rival version of Platonism rejecting Skepticism and advocating [[Stoicism]], which began a new phase known as [[Middle Platonism]].

===Destruction of the Academy===
[[Image:Athens Plato Academy Archaeological Site 2.jpg|thumb|The archaeological site of [[Plato]]'s academy.]]

When the [[First Mithridatic War]] began in 88 BC, Philo of Larissa left Athens and took refuge in [[Rome]], where he seems to have remained until his death.<ref>Giovanni Reale, John R. Catan, 1990, ''A History of Ancient Philosophy: The Schools of the Imperial Age'', p. 207. SUNY Press</ref> In 86 BC, [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] laid siege to Athens and conquered the city, causing much destruction. It was during the siege that he laid waste to the Academy, as Plutarch relates: "He laid hands upon the sacred groves and ravaged the Academy, which was the most wooded of the city's suburbs, as well as the [[Lyceum (classical)|Lyceum]]."<ref>Plutarch, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Sulla*.html ''Sulla'' 12]; cf. Appian, ''Roman History'' [https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_mithridatic_06.html xii, 5.30] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912164943/http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_mithridatic_06.html |date=2015-09-12 }}</ref>

The destruction of the Academy seems to have been so severe as to make the reconstruction and re-opening of the Academy impossible.<ref>Giovanni Reale, John R. Catan, 1990, ''A History of Ancient Philosophy: The Schools of the Imperial Age'', p. 208. SUNY Press</ref> When Antiochus returned to Athens from [[Alexandria]], {{circa|84 BC}}, he resumed his teaching but not in the Academy. [[Cicero]], who studied under him in 79/8 BC, refers to Antiochus teaching in a gymnasium called ''Ptolemy''. Cicero describes a visit to the site of the Academy one afternoon, which was "quiet and deserted at that hour of the day".<ref>Cicero, ''De Finibus'', book 5</ref>

==Neoplatonic Academy==
{{further|Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism}}
Despite the Platonic Academy being destroyed in the first century BC, the philosophers continued to teach [[Middle Platonism|Platonism]] in Athens during the [[Roman era]], but it was not until the early fifth century ({{circa|410}}) that a revived academy (which had no connection with the original Academy) was established by some leading [[Neoplatonism|neoplatonists]].<ref>Alan Cameron, "The last days of the Academy at Athens," in ''Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society'' vol 195 (n.s. 15), 1969, pp. 7–29.</ref> The origins of neoplatonist teaching in Athens are uncertain, but when [[Proclus]] arrived in Athens in the early 430s, he found [[Plutarch of Athens]] and his colleague [[Syrianus]] teaching in an Academy there. The neoplatonists in Athens called themselves "successors" (''[[diadochi|diadochoi]]'', but of Plato) and presented themselves as an uninterrupted tradition reaching back to Plato, but there cannot have actually been any geographical, institutional, economic or personal continuity with the original academy.<ref name="bechtle">[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2000/2000-04-19.html Gerald Bechtle, Bryn Mawr Classical Review of Rainer Thiel, ''Simplikios und das Ende der neuplatonischen Schule in Athen''. Stuttgart, 1999] (in English).</ref> The school seems to have been a private foundation, conducted in a large house which Proclus eventually inherited from Plutarch and Syrianus.<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History'', (1970), Volume XIV, p. 837. Cambridge University Press.</ref> The heads of the Neoplatonic Academy were [[Plutarch of Athens]], [[Syrianus]], [[Proclus]], [[Marinus of Neapolis|Marinus]], [[Isidore of Alexandria|Isidore]], and finally [[Damascius]]. The Neoplatonic Academy reached its apex under Proclus (died 485). [[Severianus of Damascus|Severianus]] studied under him.

The last Greek philosophers of the revived Neoplatonic Academy in the sixth century were drawn from various parts of the [[Hellenistic]] cultural world and suggest the broad [[syncretism]] of the common culture (see ''[[koine]]''): Five of the seven Academy philosophers mentioned by [[Agathias]] were [[Syriac Christians|Syriac]] in their cultural origin: [[Hermias (philosopher)|Hermias]] and [[Diogenes of Phoenicia|Diogenes]] (both from Phoenicia), [[Isidore of Alexandria|Isidorus]] of Gaza, [[Damascius]] of Syria, [[Iamblichus of Apameia|Iamblichus]] of Coele-Syria and perhaps even [[Simplicius of Cilicia]].<ref name="bechtle"/>

Christianity had gained power in the Roman empire and had been the state religion since the late fourth century, and so the demise of this [[Late antiquity|late antique]] Platonic school was only a matter of time. Although the Athenian Neoplatonists clearly rejected [[Christianity]] and their school was a center of intellectual resistance to the prevailing religion, they remained unchallenged for a surprisingly long time. It was not until 529 that the Eastern Roman Emperor [[Justinian I]] banned the teaching; somewhat later he repeated and tightened the ban.<ref>Johannes Malalas, ''Chronicle'' 18.47; cf. Edward Watts, ''Justinian, Malalas, and the End of Athenian Philosophical Teaching in A.D. 529''. In ''The Journal of Roman Studies'' 94, 2004, pp. 168-182, here: pp. 171-172.; on the dating and background James Allan Stewart Evans: ''The Age of Justinian'', London 1996, pp. 67-71.</ref> Controversial in research is whether there was – as the chronicler [[John Malalas|Ioannes Malalas]] claims – a special imperial decree ordering an end to the teaching of philosophy in Athens, or whether it was just a matter of implementing a general ban on teaching people who resisted baptism.<ref>Cf. Edward Watts: ''Justinian, Malalas, and the End of Athenian Philosophical Teaching in A.D. 529''. In: ''The Journal of Roman Studies'' 94, 2004, pp. 168–182, here pp. 172-173.</ref>

The last scholarch of the Neoplatonic Academy was [[Damascius]] (d. 540). According to [[Agathias]], its remaining members looked for protection under the rule of [[Sassanid dynasty|Sassanid]] king [[Khosrau I of Persia|Khosrau I]] in his capital at [[Ctesiphon]], carrying with them precious scrolls of literature and philosophy, and to a lesser degree of science. After a peace treaty between the Persian and the [[Byzantine Empire]] [[Eternal Peace (532)|in 532]], their personal security (an early document in the history of [[freedom of religion]]) was guaranteed.

It has been speculated that the Neoplatonic Academy did not altogether disappear.<ref name="bechtle"/><ref name="sorabji11">Richard Sorabji, (2005), ''The Philosophy of the Commentators, 200–600 AD: Psychology (with Ethics and Religion)'', p. 11. Cornell University Press</ref> After his exile, Simplicius (and perhaps some others) may have travelled to [[Carrhae]] near [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]]. From there, the students of an Academy-in-exile could have survived into the ninth century, long enough to facilitate an Arabic revival of the neoplatonist commentary tradition in [[Baghdad]],<ref name="sorabji11"/> beginning with the foundation of the [[House of Wisdom]] in 832.

[[File:Athens - Ancient road to Academy 1.jpg|thumb|left|Ancient road to the Academy.]]
[[Image:AtheneOudheid.JPG|thumb|right|260px|Map of [[Ancient Athens]]. The Academy is north of Athens.]]

==Modern times==
The site was rediscovered in the twentieth century, in the modern [[Akadimia Platonos]] neighbourhood; considerable excavation has been accomplished and visiting the site is free.<ref>[http://www.greeceathensaegeaninfo.com/h-athens/ancient/plato-academy.htm greeceathensaegeaninfo.com Plato academy, at GreeceAthensAegeanInfo.com]</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2007}} The site of the Academy<ref>Herbert Ernest Cushma. (1910). ''A Beginner's History of Philosophy'', Volume&nbsp;1, [https://books.google.com/books?id=33QBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA219 p.&nbsp;219]. Houghton Mifflin.</ref> is located near [[Kolonos|Colonus]], approximately {{Convert|1.5|km|}} north of Athens' [[Kerameikos|Dipylon gates]].<ref>Ainian, A.M. & Alexandridou, A. (2007). [https://www.academia.edu/1133686/Mazarakis_Ainian_A._-_Alexandridou_A._The_Sacred_House_of_the_Academy_Revisited "The 'sacred house' of the Academy Revisited"]. ''Acts of an International Symposium in Memory of William D. E. Coulson''. [[Volos, Greece]]: [[University of Thessaly]].</ref> 

Visitors today can visit the archaeological site of the Academy located on either side of the Cratylus street in the area of Colonos and Plato's Academy (Postal Code GR&nbsp;10442). On either side of the Cratylus street are important monuments, including the Sacred House Geometric Era, the Gymnasium (first&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC &ndash; first&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD), the Proto-Helladic Vaulted House and the Peristyle Building (fourth century BC), which is perhaps the only major building that belonged to the actual Academy of Plato.

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Academy of Athens (modern)]]
*[[Agora]]
*[[Cyrenaics]]
*[[Epicureanism]]
*[[Hellenistic philosophy]]
*[[Lyceum (classical)]]
*[[Peripatetic school]]
*[[Plato's Academy mosaic]]
*[[Platonic Academy (Florence)]]
*[[Platonism]]
*[[Stoicism]]
{{colend}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
* Bartninkas, V. (2023). ''[https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009322638 Traditional and Cosmic Gods in Later Plato and the Early Academy]'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9781009322591}}
* Baltes, M. 1993. "Plato's School, the Academy". ''Hermathena'', (155): 5–26.
* Brunt, P. A. 1993. "Plato's Academy and Politics". In ''Studies in Greek History and Thought''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, Chapter 10, 282–342.
* Cherniss, H. 1945. ''The Riddle of the Early Academy''. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
* Dancy, R. M. 1991. ''Two Studies in the Early Academy''. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
* Dillon, J. M. 1979. "The Academy in the Middle Platonic Period". ''Dionysius'', 3: 63–77.
* Dillon, J. 2003. ''The Heirs of Plato. A Study of the Old Academy, 347–274 BC''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* Dillon, John. 2009. "How Does the Soul Direct the Body, After All? Traces of a Dispute on Mind-Body Relations in the Old Academy". In ''Body and Soul in Ancient Philosophy'', edited by D. Frede and B. Reis, 349–356. Berlin: De Gruyter.
* Dorandi, T. 1999. "Chronology: The Academy". In ''The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy''. Edited by Keimpe Algra, Jonathan Barnes, Jaap Mansfeld, and Malcolm Schofield, 31–35. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* Glucker, J.  1978. ''Antiochus and the Late Academy''. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
* {{cite book |last=Hartmann |first=Udo |date=2018 |lang=de |title=Der spätantike Philosoph. Die Lebenswelten der paganen Gelehrten und ihre hagiographische Ausgestaltung in den Philosophenviten von Porphyrios bis Damaskios |trans-title=The late antique philosopher. The lifeworlds of pagan scholars and their hagiographic treatment in the philosophical vitae from Porphyrius to Damascius |publisher=Habelt | location=Bonn |isbn=978-3-7749-4172-4 |pages=653–920}} (on the Neoplatonic academy).
* Lynch, J. P. 1972. ''Aristotle's School: A Study of a Greek Educational Institution''. Berkeley: University of California Press.
* Murray, J. S. 2006. "Searching for Plato's Academy, 1929–1940". ''Mouseion: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada'', 6 (2): 219–256
* Russell, J. H. 2012. "When Philosophers Rule: The Platonic Academy and Statesmanship". ''History of Political Thought'', 33 (2): 209–230.
* Trampedach, Kai (1994). ''Platon, die Akademie und die zeitgenössische Politik'' [Plato, the Academy, and contemporary politics]. ''[[Hermes (classical philology journal)|Hermes]]'' Einzelschriften, vol. 66. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, {{ISBN|3-515-06453-2}}.
* Wallach, J. R. 2002. "The Platonic Academy and Democracy". ''Polis (Exeter)'', 19 (1-2): 7–27
* Watts, E.  2007.  "Creating the Academy: Historical Discourse and the Shape of Community in the Old Academy". ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', 127: 106–122.
* Wycherley, R. 1961. "Peripatos: The Athenian Philosophical Scene{{snd}}I". ''Greece & Rome'', 8(2), 152–163.
* Wycherley, R. 1962. "Peripatos: The Athenian Philosophical Scene{{snd}}II". ''Greece & Rome'', 9(1), 2–21.
* Zhmud, Leonid. 2006. "Science in the Platonic Academy". In ''The Origin of the History of Science in Classical Antiquity''. pp.&nbsp;82–116. Berlin: De Gruyter.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Platonic Academy}}
{{EB1911 poster|Academy, Greek|Platonic Academy}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Platonic Academy |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Academy |short=x}}
* [http://www.iep.utm.edu/academy/ The Academy], entry in the ''[[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]''
* [http://rainerebert.com/2015/06/18/the-archaeological-site-of-platos-academy-in-athens/ Directions to the archaeological site of Plato's Academy, other useful information, and some photos]

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