Python of
Aenus (; el, Πύθων Αἴνιος; fl. 4th-century BCE) was a
Greek philosopher
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empire ...
and a former student of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institutio ...
. Around 360 BC, he and his brother
Heraclides assassinated
Cotys I, the ruler of
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...
.
Based on
Demosthenes
Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pro ...
's ''Against Aristocrates'', Python of Aenus was identified as
Python of Byzantium, a Greek statesman. However, it is highly unlikely that both names are attributed to the same person.
[Natoli, Anthony Francis. ''The Letter of Speusippus to Philip II: Introduction, Text, Translation and Commentary ; with an Appendix on the Thirty-first Socratic Letter Attributed to Plato''. Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004, , p. 54. ootnote"On the basis of Demosthenes ''Against Aristocrates'' 127; 119, Python of Byzantium has been identified with Python of Aenus, the slayer of the Odrysian king Cotys I, but this is highly unlikely."]
References
4th-century BC Greek people
4th-century BC philosophers
Academic philosophers
Ancient Thracian Greeks
Students of Plato
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