Hi, thanks for tuning in to ancient Greece, Declassified.

Episode R6.5, Why People Hate Plato.

At some point in the latter part of his career, Plato did people hate Plato.

At some point in the latter part of his career, Plato did something he had never done before and would never do again.

He gave a philosophy lecture to the public.

See, normally he only lectured within the confines of the academy to quite advanced students.

He had come to the idea early on that the masses would not appreciate his ideas, especially

his more technical ones.

It would be like giving a calculus lecture to people who had never learned arithmetic.

But for some reason, and we don't know why, because we only find this story in a few later

writers who obviously weren't there, and they

don't give as many details. For some reason, Plato decided one day to venture out of the academy

and present one of his signature theories to his fellow citizens. He was going to give a public

lecture titled On the Good. On the appointed day, a large crowd gathered. According to one source, even workers

from the farms and the vineyards and the metal workshops started to trickle in. Their curiosity

peaked to hear the famous philosopher. But Plato's lecture on the good was a big flop. The

crowd was disappointed. Some people, we are told, quietly despised what was said, while others openly voiced their disapproval.

It was a PR disaster, and Plato never gave another public lecture again.

Why was this lecture such a failure? That's a mystery that scholars have puzzled over for thousands of years.

The oldest attempted explanation we know of comes from Aristoxinus, who was a student of Aristotle's

and is our most reliable source for what happened on that fateful day.

He suggests that the reason for the crowd's disappointment was unfulfilled expectations.

...