Quote:
Originally Posted by troymc
Poor? He served as a hoplite during the Peloponnesian wars. From my understanding that would put him at the equivalent of upper-middle class at least (he would have had to buy his own weapons/armour.) He was also a property owner with a wife and at least 2 sons - and supported them all for decades with no occupation to speak of (granted they weren't dressed in finery.)
Of course he might be considered poor when compared with the people he hung out with. Plato, among others, was from an aristocratic family.
And there was some story about him losing some money in an investment deal.
Troy
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Russell writes that
he was undoubtedly an Athenian citizen of moderate means. The undoubtedly refers to the
uncertainty whether we know very little or a great deal.
Always according to Russell
he was always dressed in shabby old clothes, and went barefoot everywhere.
I think it is from these very fragments that I drew the word poor.
But Plato would have liked very much to be shown how to ride a bicycle. That was a great image you built. There is no reason to kill him in the traffic. I would take him on the Esplanade and he would marvel at the Tour, and maybe have a beer with us, a Pelfort brune. And accustomed to resinous wine in which they grated goat cheese, he would certainly drink at least two.