# Plato — The City of God character guide > Plato in The City of God by Augustine of Hippo. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** the good Plato **First appearance:** 0002-part-i-book-i ## Snapshot The Greek philosopher Augustine treats as the closest pagan to the truth, whose glimpses of the supreme God still fall short of the mediator men need. ## Who they are Plato is granted real insight: his wise men, momentarily freed from the body, catch the supreme God's presence like a flash of lightning in darkness. But Augustine presses the gap, asking why Plato's lesser gods must remain so sublimely remote from human contact, as if men would pollute them. If the stars are visible gods and are not contaminated by our gaze, the excuse collapses, and with it the need for demons as mediators. Plato's philosophy, admirable as it is, cannot bridge the distance it describes. ## Relationships ### [Jupiter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jupiter) _professional_ Jupiter and Plato are linked in philosophical discourse, with Plato's ideas sometimes used to critique or contextualize pagan worship. ### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jesus_christ) _friendship_ Jesus Christ and Plato are compared philosophically, with Plato's ideas sometimes seen as anticipating Christian truths. ### [Jupiter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jupiter) _professional_ Jupiter and Plato are linked in philosophical discourse, with Plato's ideas sometimes used to critique or contextualize pagan worship. ### [Jupiter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jupiter) _professional_ Jupiter and Plato are linked in philosophical discourse, with Plato's ideas sometimes used to critique or contextualize pagan worship. ## In the story ### [Editor's Preface](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/editor-s-preface) Augustine handles metaphysical problems with the unembarrassed ease of Plato. ### [On the City of God Against the Pagans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/on-the-city-of-god-against-the-pagans) Philosopher whose ideas on the soul and the ideal state are engaged with in the critique of pagan thought. ### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxii) Referenced as the author of a book on the immortality of the soul that inspired Cleombrotus's suicide. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-vii) Mentioned as a philosopher whose writings would be more virtuous to read than to attend pagan rituals. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xiv) Greek philosopher who excluded poets from his ideal republic to prevent moral harm, contrasted with the gods who demand theatrical plays. ### [Chapter XV: That it was vanity, not reason, which created some of the Roman gods.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xv) Mentioned as a demigod who was not given a shrine despite his eloquence. ### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xviii) Cited as an authority that all gods are only good, used to challenge the concept of a capricious Fortune. ### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxviii) Plato's ideas are referenced; Varro interprets the Samothracian mysteries using Plato's concept of ideas. ### [Book VIII: Natural Theology and the Platonists](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-book-viii) Founder of the Platonic school; his philosophy is considered the nearest to Christian truth. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-i) Founder of the Platonic school, whose followers are the primary interlocutors in this discussion. ### [Concerning the two schools of philosophers, that is, the Italic and Ionic, and their founders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ii) Mentioned as the disciple of Socrates, for whose sake Augustine gives the historical sketch. ### [Concerning Plato, the chief among the disciples of Socrates, and his threefold division of philosophy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-iv) Chief among Socrates' disciples; traveled to Egypt and Italy to learn from Pythagoreans; combined active and contemplative philosophy; divided philosophy into moral, natural, and rational parts. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-v) Cited as defining the wise man as one who imitates, knows, and loves God, and is blessed through fellowship with Him. ### [Concerning the meaning of the Platonists in that part of philosophy called physical](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-vi) Plato is referenced as the foundational philosopher whose ideas the Platonists developed, particularly regarding the intelligible and sensible realms. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-vii) Referenced indirectly through the Platonists, who are praised for their rational philosophy. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-viii) Cited as determining the final good to be living according to virtue through knowing and imitating God. ### [Concerning that philosophy which has come nearest to the Christian faith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ix) Chief of the Ionic school, whose thought is closest to Christian doctrine. ### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-x) Founder of Platonism, whose followers are discussed as agreeing with Christians on the one God. ### [How Plato has been able to approach so nearly to Christian knowledge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xi) Greek philosopher whose ideas about God and creation resemble Christian scripture. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xii) Founder of the Platonic school, whose juster thoughts about the one God made his followers illustrious. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xiii) Cited for his opinion that all gods are good and that poets defaming them should be banished from the state. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xiv) His tripartite division of rational souls into gods, demons, and men is discussed and questioned. ### [XV That the demons are not better than men because of their aerial bodies, or on account of their superior place of abode.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xv) Referenced for his law ordering the four elements (fire, air, water, earth) and the implication that element gradation does not determine moral worth. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xviii) Cited as the highest authority who held that no god has intercourse with man. ### [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxi) Philosopher whose opinion that poetic fictions about the gods should be removed from a well-regulated republic is contrasted with the demons' delight in those fictions. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-i) Referenced indirectly through the Platonists, whose opinion is the focus of the chapter. ### [Whether Among the Demons There Are Any Good Spirits](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ii) Referenced as the source of the Platonist view that all gods are good and demons are intermediate beings. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-viii) Referenced as a Platonist whose views on the eternal human soul are contrasted with Apuleius' demonology. ### [Of the three opposite qualities by which the Platonists distinguish between the nature of men and that of demons](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xii) Plato's philosophical framework underpins the Platonist distinctions discussed, though he is not directly quoted in this excerpt. ### [Chapter XIII: How the Demons Can Mediate Between Gods and Men if They Have Nothing in Common with Both](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xiii) Referenced as the source of the Platonic views on demons and the hierarchy of beings. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xvi) Cited for the claim that no god holds intercourse with men. ### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxiii) Referenced as the founder and master of the Platonists, who taught that gods were created by the supreme God. ### [Book X: True Worship and the Way to Blessedness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-book-x) Referenced as a Platonist philosopher whose school is selected for discussion on happiness. ### [Chapter I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-i) Representative of the Platonists, who correctly identify God as the source of happiness. ### [The Opinion of Plotinus the Platonist Regarding Enlightenment from Above](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ii) Referenced as the philosopher on whom Plotinus comments regarding the soul's illumination. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ix) Referenced as the authority for the sublimity of the gods' residence, free from passions. ### [Of Porphyry’s weakness in wavering between the confession of the true God and the worship of demons](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxvi) Referenced indirectly through the term 'Platonist' to describe Porphyry's philosophical background. ### [Of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which the Platonists in their impiety blush to acknowledge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxix) Plato's opinion is referenced regarding the impossibility of attaining perfect wisdom in this life without God's grace. ### [Porphyry's Emendations of Platonism on the Soul's Return](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxx) His doctrine of souls returning to beasts is rejected by Porphyry and criticized by Augustine. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxxi) Referenced for his statements about the world and the gods having a beginning but no end. ### [Of God's Eternal and Unchangeable Knowledge and Will](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxi) Cited for his assertion that God was elated with joy at the completion of the universe and for his reason that good works were made by a good God. ### [Of the division of philosophy into three parts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxv) Said to be the first to discover and promulgate the threefold division of philosophy. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xii) Mentioned as having declared that the world had a beginning, though some think his statement inconsistent with his real opinion. ### [Of the revolution of the ages, which some philosophers believe will bring all things round again, after a certain fixed cycle, to the same order and form as at first.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xiii) Mentioned as an example of the philosopher whose teachings would supposedly recur in endless cycles according to pagan theory. ### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xviii) Cited as an authority who held that God framed the world on numerical principles. ### [Whether the angels can be said to be the creators of any, even the least creature](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxiv) Mentioned as the source of the belief that mortal animals were created by lesser gods. ### [Of that opinion of the Platonists, that the angels were themselves indeed created by God, but that afterwards they created man’s body.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvi) Cited for his views on the world's beauty and the eternal ideas of all creatures. ### [Book XIII: Of the Good of Death, the Resurrection of the Flesh, and the Paradise of the First Parents](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-book-xiii) Mentioned in contrast to Christian hope; Plato thinks souls should forget their bodies, but Christians await the resurrection. ### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xvi) Cited as the founder of Platonism; his words (translated by Cicero) show the Supreme Deity promising the inferior gods eternal union with their bodies. ### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xvii) Mentioned as the philosopher who acknowledges God's power to prevent dissolution and who describes the world as a blessed immortal animal with a soul. ### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xviii) Referenced for his views on the power of the supreme God to preserve things from death and dissolution, and for the lesser gods' ability to modify fire's properties. ### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xix) Cited for his view that souls alternate between embodied and disembodied states, which Augustine contrasts with Christian teaching. ### [Chapter XX: The Resurrection of the Flesh and the Perfection of the Spiritual Body](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xx) Mentioned as holding the view that souls forget their bodies, which Augustine refutes. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iii) Mentioned as the philosopher whose views on the body are expressed by Virgil. ### [XXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxxvii) Born not much later than Socrates, surpassing his disciples. ### [XLI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xli) Implied as a source of philosophical schools that disagreed among themselves. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-i) Founder of the Old Academy, which Varro selects as the best philosophical school, distinguished from the New Academy by its claim to certainty. ### [Book XXI: The Eternal Punishment of the Damned](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-book-xxi) Referenced indirectly through the Platonists who maintain that all punishment is remedial. ### [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iii) Referenced indirectly through the Platonists' views on the soul and body. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-vii) Mentioned as an example of a philosopher whose flesh, unlike the peacock's, is subject to corruption. ### [Chapter XIII: Against the Opinion of Those Who Think That the Punishments of the Wicked After Death Are Purgatorial](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xiii) Referenced indirectly as the source of the Platonist opinion that all punishment is remedial, which Augustine challenges. ### [Chapter XI: Against the Platonists' Arguments from the Elements](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xi) Mentioned as the master who taught the order of the elements. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xii) His theory of alternations of misery and happiness is referenced as a pagan alternative to resurrection. ### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvi) Cited as the master who said the supreme God promised the gods immortality in their bodies, overturning Porphyry's assertion. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvii) Held that souls cannot exist eternally without bodies and that even wise souls must return to bodies. ### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxviii) Mentioned for his opinion on resurrection, which Cicero considered a playful fancy. ### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/endnotes) Mentioned in relation to the Timaeus and the threefold division of the soul. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/plato - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters