Announcing: Plato's Academy Walk and Talk
Update on our first meetup among the ruins of Plato's Academy
Since founding the Plato’s Academy Centre nonprofit, it’s been our dream to reintroduce philosophical activities, open to everyone, to the original location of Plato’s Academy, the park known today as Akadimia Platonos in Athens. We’ve been involved in organizing several major events in the park already, with around 100 attendees each, although these were private, for other organizations.
On Thursday (19th June) we held our first informal philosophy “Walk and Talk”, which was open to anyone to attend. (Sign up here to join the community and receive notifications about future meetups.) We chose to have a “soft launch”, spreading the word online and among a few friends. We expected a small group, maybe six people, but on the day there were actually twelve of us in total.
In this park, which is near the centre of Athens, we can discuss philosophy while walking in the footsteps of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and even Zeno, the founder of Stoicism…
I facilitated the conversation at our first gathering, assisted by another PAC director, Lalya Lloyd, and Benny Voncken, of the Via Stoica podcast, for whose support we’re very grateful. We were also pleased to have Prof. Massimo Pigliucci join us, who is running a workshop in Athens at the moment. In this public park, which is near the centre of Athens, we can discuss philosophy informally while walking in the footsteps of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and even Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, who studied here. Plato was buried here somewhere — his remains could still be under our very feet. Yet it’s an area most tourists don’t hear about, and seldom visit.
The group gathered at a cafe in the square beside Plato’s Academy Park, at 19.30, and after introductions, we began casually walking around some of the interesting locations, including the nearby statue of Plato, and the ruins of a philosophical school, believed possibly to be associated with Plato’s academy.
As we walked, five volunteers from the group spoke about the quotes chosen for discussion. These were two very famous maxims from the Seven Sages and the Delphic Temple of Apollo: “Know Thyself” and “Nothing in Excess”. The speakers had two minutes each to explain what they took the sayings to mean, and their initial thoughts. Then after a short stroll through the park, they had another two minutes each to discuss what they considered to be the strengths and weaknesses of the sayings. We concluded with drinks at a local bar beside the park.
We already plan to hold another philosophy Walk and Talk next week, on Thursday 26th June. Our hope is that these will become regular ongoing meetups, occurring perhaps every two weeks, attended by a mixture of local Greeks and visitors from other countries.
If you’re in Athens, and want to stay updated about about future philosophy walk and talks being held in Akadimia Platonos you can join our WhatsApp community to receive notifications.
I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended our first meetup, especially Lalya and Benny for their assistance, and Massimo and Traci for sending us the photos below. We look forward to seeing you there!
Can you tell me when and where the next meeting will be?
I am in Athens for a month, writing. I would love to meet but cannot seem to get onto What's App on my computer, although I have it already on my phone. If you tell me where and when the next meeting is, we can discuss this. I have spent my career reflecting and writing about Greece. I have a YouTube channel, "Dr. Martha Catherine Beck, Greek Philosophy," with 76 videos and 10 Playlists all related to the theme, "The Legacy of Ancient Greek Civilization in the Era of Globalization." I hope we can connect in the next month. I am fairly near the Center, on Pergamou 44.