PUTTING THE PLATONIC LETTERS IN ORDER: A PEN PAL BREAK-UP AND THE LEGACY OF DION

Abstract The article re-evaluates the order of the thirteen Platonic Letters. It argues that the earliest sequence is not that of the Byzantine manuscripts but the addressee-based order proposed by Thrasyllus in the first century a.d. and transmitted by Diogenes Laertius. Interpreting the letters according to the Thrasyllan order resolves several interpretative difficulties encountered in recent scholarship. This arrangement adds narrative plausibility to the story of a deteriorating pen friendship between Plato and Dionysius. At the same time, it reveals a ring composition in which Dion emerges as the central figure, linking the first and last letters. Through this design, the collection’s overarching ethical message is reinforced—an exhortation to apply Dion’s philosophical model to both private and political life—while the reader is given a clear point of identification. In sum, the article advances a deeper understanding of the narrative principles underlying the Platonic Letters as an epistolary novel.