Enchanted by the Search for Plato's Academy, 1955–1963

In search of Plato’s Academy during the 1930s, the amateur archaeologist Panagiotis Aristophron uncovered foundations of large ancient buildings in the modern Athenian neighbourhood around the Church of Agios Tryphon. The search continued with excavations from 1955 to 1963 under the direction of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mouseion (Calgary) 2021-03, Vol.17 (2), p.213-239
Main Author: Murray, James Stuart
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:In search of Plato’s Academy during the 1930s, the amateur archaeologist Panagiotis Aristophron uncovered foundations of large ancient buildings in the modern Athenian neighbourhood around the Church of Agios Tryphon. The search continued with excavations from 1955 to 1963 under the direction of the Greek archaeologist Phoibos Stavropoullos. His discoveries greatly enlarged our understanding of the paleohistory of this neighbourhood, but his interpretation of finds as proof of the existence of the Academy far outstripped the physical evidence he found. This paper describes six specific finds and reviews the problems inherent in his interpretations.
ISSN:1496-9343
1913-5416
DOI:10.3138/mous.17.2.002