Pseudo-Platonica

Start of Eryxias in the Codex Parisinus graecus 1807 from around AD 900. This dialogue was regarded as spurious even in antiquity, but was included in the standard collection of Plato's works.

Those works which have been falsely attributed to Plato, whether through error or forgery, are collectively known as Pseudo-Platonica. There are two main groups of such works.

The first is those Greek works which were attributed to Plato in antiquity and circulated alongside his authentic writings. These can be subdivided into two groups: the spuria, which were considered spurious already in antiquity, and the dubia, the authenticity of which has been doubted only since the rise of modern scholarship. While there is broad agreement regarding some dubia, others are more disputed.

The second major group is the Arabic Pseudo-Platonica of the Middle Ages. These range from false quotations of Plato in the wisdom literature and works of theology based on Plotinus and Proclus to whole works attributed to Plato on morality, economics and occult science. The last category—works on the occult, magic, alchemy, etc.—is the most remote from the historical Plato.


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