place
The Academy (Athens)
the Academy
also: Academia, shady Academy
The grove and gymnasium outside Athens where Plato taught, named in Cicero's consular poem (the 'shady Academy') as a seat of liberal study.
Reading notes
- On the Ends of Good and Evil §5.1 the Academy
The grove and gymnasium sacred to the hero Academus, about a mile north-west of Athens, where Plato taught and which gave its name to his school. The setting is chosen for its associations with the philosophers Piso will discuss.
- Tusculan Disputations §2.9 we went down to the Academy
Cicero named exercise-grounds at his Tusculan villa after the famous Athenian philosophical schools; here 'the Academy' is the lower gymnasium of his estate, not the original Athenian Academy. Cf. the 'Lyceum' similarly named.