Plato. Historical portrait of the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 BC). Plato is one of the most important philosophers of antiquity. He helped to establish the Pythagorean tradition of the mathematical and geometrical analysis of nature. This spirit of rational inquiry led to today's scientific method. His writings shaped and continue to have a profound influence on Western thought. A pupil of Socrates, he travelled through Greece, Italy and Egypt following Socrates death in 399 BC. He returned to Athens in c.387 BC to found the Academy, a famous centre of learning, where Aristotle was one of his pupils. Engraving from a book published in 1702.