trio of ancient Greek philosophers Sokrates, Plato and Aristotle

Thought to be the son of a stone-mason, this famous Athenian philosopher believed in teaching through encouraging and challenging others to question their beliefs, preconceptions and prejudices.

Sokrates (also Socrates) wrote nothing himself: it is mainly through his pupil Plato's early dialogues and Xenophon's memoirs that we know about his teaching methods and personality. He condemned the often glib, ready-made rules for success as offered by the Sophists, and regarded it as his duty to shake people out of ill-founded complacency.

He chose death over silencing his beliefs, becoming philosophy’s 'secular martyr'. He was condemned to death in Athens in 399BCE, aged 70, and forced to drink hemlock.

Socrates’ ultimate legacy is turning philosophy from a study of the cosmos into the interrogation of the human soul. He invented the Socratic Method—a system of cooperative argumentative dialogue using targeted questions to expose underlying beliefs and contradictions. By claiming he only knew that he knew nothing, he redefined wisdom as intellectual humility.

His legacy is a revolutionary way of thinking that forces humanity to constantly question authority, assumptions, and itself.

Together with his teacher Sokrates and his pupil Aristotle, Plato was one of the great trio of ancient Greek philosophers.

Plato’s primary legacy is founding western metaphysics and idealism. By introducing the Theory of Forms, he argued that our physical world is merely a shadow of a higher, unchangeable reality of perfect concepts like Justice and Beauty.

He established The Academy, the Western world’s first institution of higher learning, ensuring philosophy became a rigorous academic discipline. Through his Dialogues, he preserved Sokrates' voice and pioneered the blueprint for the ideal state in The Republic.

Ultimately, Plato shifted human thought away from pure physics and toward the permanent, intellectual pursuit of transcendent truth.

Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. 384-322 BCE. His writings covered a broad range of subjects, spanning the natural sciences, logic, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, rhetoric, psychology, and the arts.

At 18, he moved to Athens from his birthplace in northern Greece, and joined Plato's Academy in Athens, where he stayed until he was 37, when he was asked by Philip of Macedon to go and tutor his son, Alexander the Great. At 50, he returned to Athens and founded the Peripatetic School at the Lyceum. Aristotle's works filtered through into Roman philosophy and beyond. Even into aspects of Islamic philosophical tradition, and into Scholastic philosophy under, for example, Thomas Aquinas.

Aristotle’s most significant legacy is inventing the structured framework of Western thought. He created the first formal system of logic (syllogisms), laying the groundwork for the modern scientific method by insisting on observation and empirical data over abstract theory.

By categorizing human knowledge into distinct disciplines—like biology, ethics, politics, and physics—he shaped how universities organize learning today. His concept of Virtue Ethics, which defines happiness as a habit of moral excellence and moderation, remains a foundational pillar of philosophy. Ultimately, Aristotle taught us how systematically to observe, classify, and understand the world around us.

Aristotle’s Golden Mean theory suggests that happiness and moral virtue are found at the ideal midpoint between two extremes: deficiency and excess. To Aristotle, a virtue is not the opposite of a vice, but the perfect balance between two different vices.

He argued that finding this balance is not a rigid rule, but a practical habit tailored to each situation. By consistently choosing the middle path, we achieve eudaimonia—a state of lifelong human flourishing and true fulfillment.

(note from Elinor: the Lyceum was a temple in Athens dedicate to Apollo Lykaios. The remains of the Lyceum were discovered in 1996 and you can now go and visit the site. It's calm and peaceful, and beautifully landscaped. Some lovely olive trees there. And it's within easy walking distance of the Cycladic Museum!)

The material is keramin, a heavy, durable plaster polymer compound, with a light ochre finish applied by hand. There may, therefore, be a slight variation in colour from piece to piece. Bases are made of solid dark grey or black marble.

Made in Greece in the workshop of the Semitekolo family with whom It's All Greek is proud to have been working since 1999, and who produce It's All Greek's bedrock bronze collection.