An academy is an institution for the study of higher learning.

The name Academy became known for the school of philosophy and learning that Plato founded in the gymnasium there, in approximately 385 BC. Philosophy (from a combination of the Greek words philos meaning love and sophia meaning wisdom), as a practice, aims at some kind of understanding, knowledge, or wisdom about fundamental matters such as reality, knowledge, meaning, value, being, and truth. ... Statue of a philosopher, presumely Plato, in Delphi. ... The gymnasium of the Greeks originally functioned as the school where competitors in the public games received their training, and was so named from the circumstance that these competitors exercised naked (gymnos). ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC - 380s BC - 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC Years: 390 BC 389 BC 388 BC 387 BC 386 BC - 385 BC - 384 BC 383 BC...

The term is also used for various other institutions in modern times.

The original Academy

The revived Academy in Athens, housed in neoclassical splendor

Before the Akademeia was a school, however, even before Cimon enclosed its precincts with a wall (Plutarch Life of Cimon xiii:7), it contained a sacred grove of olive trees outside the city walls of ancient Athens (Thucydides ii:34). The archaic name for the site was Hekademeia, which by classical times evolved into Akademeia and was explained, at least as early as the beginning of the 6th century BC, by linking it to an eponymous Athenian hero, a legendary "Akademos". athens trilogy File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... athens trilogy File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture. ... This article or section should include material fromKimon Cimon (died 450 BC?) was a major figure of the 470s BC and 460s BC in Athens, and the son of Miltiades. ... Mestrius Plutarch (c. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Thucydides (between 460 and 455 BC–circa 400 BC) was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. ... (7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC - other centuries) (600s BC - 590s BC - 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - other decades) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Cyrus the Great conquered many... An eponym is a person (real or fictitious) whose name has become identified with a particular object or activity. ... Hero cult was one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. ... A legendary hero in Greek mythology, Akademos (originally Hekademos) or, less correctly, Academus was linked to the archaic name for the site of Platos Academy, the Hekademeia, outside the walls of Athens. ...

The site of the Academy was sacred to Athena and other immortals; it had sheltered a religious cult since the Bronze Age, a cult that was perhaps associated with the hero-gods the Dioskouroi (Castor and Polydeukes), for the hero Akademos associated with the site was credited with revealing to the Divine Twins where Theseus had hidden Helen. Out of respect for its association with the Dioskouri, the Spartans would not ravage these original "groves of Academe" when they invaded Attica (Plutarch, Life of Theseus xxxii), a piety not shared by the Roman Sulla, who axed the sacred olive trees in 86 BC to build siege engines. Hero cult was one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. ... Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux), were in Greek mythology the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ... Theseus (Θησευς) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aegeus (or of Poseidon). ... Helen was the wife of Menelaus and reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the world, and her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War. ... This page is about the Roman dictator Sulla, for the Brythonic goddess sometimes called Sulla, see Sul. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC - 80s BC - 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC Years: 91 BC 90 BC 89 BC 88 BC 87 BC - 86 BC - 85 BC 84 BC 83...

Among the religious observations that took place at the Akademeia was a torchlit night race from altars within the city to the Promemeikos altar in the Akademeia. Funeral games also took place in the area as well as a Dionysiac procession from Athens to the Hekademeia and then back to the polis (Paus. i 29.2, 30.2; Plut. Vit. Sol. i 7). The road to Akademeia was lined with the gravestones of Athenians.

The Platonic Academy is usually contrasted with Aristotle's own creation, the Peripatetics. Aristotle (sculpture) Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης Aristotelēs) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher. ... The Peripatetics were a school of philosophy in ancient Greece. ...

Famous philosophers entrusted with running the Academy include Arcesilaus, Speusippus, Xenocrates and Proclus. Arcesilaus (Ἀρκεσίλαος) (316_241 BC) was a Greek philosopher and founder of the New, or Middle, Academy. ... Speusippus was an ancient Greek philosopher, nephew and successor of Plato. ... Xenocrates, of Chalcedon (396 - 314 BC) was a Greek philosopher and scholarch or rector of the Academy from 339 to 314 BC. Removing to Athens in early youth, he became the pupil of the Socratic Aeschines, but presently joined himself to Plato, whom he attended to Sicily in 361. ... Proclus Lycaeus (February 8, 412 - April 17, 487), surnamed The Successor (Greek Πρόκλος ὁ Διάδοχος Próklos ho Diádokhos), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher. ...

The revived neoplatonic Academy of Late Antiquity

After a lapse during the early Roman occupation, the Academy was refounded (Cameron 1965) as a new institution of some outstanding Platonists of late antiquity who called themselves "successors" (diadochoi, but of Plato) and presented themselves as an uninterrupted tradition reaching back to Plato. There cannot really have been any geographical, institutional, economical or personal continuity within one organizational entity (Bechtle). The word Diadochi means successors in Greek. ...

The last "Greek" philosophers of the revived Academy in the 6th century were drawn from variouis parts of the Hellenistic cultural world and suggest the broad syncretism of the common culture (see koine): Five of the seven Academy philosophers mentioned by Agathias were Syriac in their cultural origin: Hermias and Diogenes (both from Phoenicia), Isidorus of Gaza, Damascius of Syria, Iamblichus of Coele-Syria and perhaps even Simplicius of Cilicia himself (Thiele). The term Hellenistic (established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen) in the history of the ancient world is used to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, however scattered geographically, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance... Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ... The Greek language (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA // – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of some 3,000 years. ... Syriac is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. ...

The emperor Justinian closed the school in AD 529, a date that is often cited for the end of Antiquity. According to the sole witness, the historian Agathias, its remaining members looked for protection under the rule of Sassanid king Khosrau I in his capital at Ctesiphon, carrying with them precious scrolls of literature and philosophy, and to a lesser degree of science. After a peace treaty between the Persian and the Byzantine empire in 532 guaranteed their personal security (an early document in the history of freedom of religion), some members found sanctuary in the pagan stronghold of Harran, near Edessa. One of the last leading figures of this group was Simplicius, a pupil of Damascius, the last head of the Athenian school. The students of the Academy-in-exile, an authentic and important Neoplatonic school surviving at least until the 10th century, contributed to the Islamic preservation of Greek science and medicine, when Islamic forces took the area in the 7th century (Thiele). One of the earliest academies established in the east was the 7th century Academy of Gundishapur in Sassanid Persia. The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Justinian may refer to: Justinian I, a Roman Emperor; Justinian, a storeship sent to the convict settlement at New South Wales in 1790. ... For other uses, see number 529. ... Antiquity means ancient times, and may be used of any period before the Middle Ages. ... Agathias (c. ... Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... Khosrau I, the Blessed (Anushirvan), (531 - 579) was the favourite son and successor of Kavadh I, and the most famous of the Sassanid kings. ... Taq-i-Kasra, Ctesiphon, today. ... Freedom of religion is the individuals right or freedom to hold whatever religious beliefs he or she wishes, or none at all. ... Within a European Christian context, paganism is a catch-all term which has come to connote a broad set of not necessarily compatible religious beliefs and practices (see Cult (religion)) of a natural religion (as opposed to a revealed religion of a text), which are usually, but not necessarily, characterized... Harran, also known as Carrhae, is an archeological site in present day southeastern Turkey, 24 miles (39 kilometers) southeast of Sanli Urfa. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Islam ( Arabic al-islām الإسلام,  listen?) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ... (6th century - 7th century - 8th century - other centuries) Events Islam starts in Arabia, the Quran is written, and Arabs subjugate Syria, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, North Africa and Central Asia to Islam. ... The Academy of Gundishapur (also Jondishapoor, Jondishapur, and Jondishapour) founded in 271 AD by the Sassanid dynasty, is the oldest known teaching hospital. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate...

Raphael's portrait of Plato, a detail of The School of Athens fresco

Raphael painted a famous fresco depicting "The School of Athens" in the 16th century. Raphael, The school of Athens (detail) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Raphael, The school of Athens (detail) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This page is about the artist. ... A XIV Century fresco featuring Saint Sebastian Note: Fresco is the NATO reporting name of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...

The site of the Academy was rediscovered in the 20th century; considerable excavation has been accomplished. The Church of St. Triton on Kolokynthou Street, Athens, occupies the southern corner of the Academy, confirmed in 1966 by the discovery of a boundary stone dated to 500 BC. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created...

Modern use of the term academy

Because of the tradition of intellectual brilliance associated with this institution, many groups have chosen to use the word "Academy" in their name.

During the Florentine Renaissance, Cosimo de' Medici took a personal interest in the new Platonic Academy that he determined to re-establish in 1439, centered on the marvellous promise shown by Marsilio Ficino, scarcely more than a lad. Cosimo had been inspired by the arrival at the otherwise ineffective Council of Florence of Gemistos Plethon, who seemed like a Plato reborn to the Florentine intellectuals. In 1462 Cosimo gave Ficino a villa at Careggi for the Academy's use, situated where Cosimo could descry it from his own villa. The Renaissance drew potent intellectual and spiritual strength from the academy at Careggi. During the course of the following century many Italian cities established an Academy, of which the oldest survivor is the Accademia dei Lincei of Rome, which became a national academy for a reunited Italy. By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance -French Renaissance -German Renaissance -English Renaissance The Renaissance was a great cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... Cosimo di Giovanni de Medici (April 10, 1389 – August 1, 1464), was the first of the Medici political dynasty, rulers of Florence during most of the Italian Renaissance; also know as Cosimo the Elder and Cosimo Pater Patriae. ... Marsilio Ficino (also known by his Latin name, Marsilius Ficinus) (1433 – 1499) was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance, astrologer, and a reviver of Neoplatonism who was in touch with every major academic thinker and writer of his day. ... A decree of the Council of Constance (9 October 1417), sanctioned by Pope Martin V obliged the papacy to summon general councils periodically. ... This article or section should include material from Lincean Academy The Accademia dei Lincei (Academy of the Lynxes, also known as The Lincean Academy), founded in Rome 1603, is the worlds oldest scientific society. ...

Other national academies include the Académie Francaise; the Royal Academy of the United Kingdom; the International Academy of Science, the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY; the United States Naval Academy, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who give the Academy awards. The Académie française, or French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. ... This article refers to an art institution in London. ... The International Academy of Science (IAS) is the renowned inter- and transnational academy of science. ... Alternate meanings: West Point (disambiguation). ... Teamwork: Fourth Class Midshipmen lock arms and use ropes made from uniform items as they brace themselves climbing the Herndon Monument The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. ... The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is a professional honorary organization, founded on May 11, 1927 in California to advance the arts and sciences of motion pictures. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ...

In the early 19th century "academy" took the connotations that "gymnasium" was acquiring in German-speaking lands, of school that was less advanced than a college (for which it might prepare students) but considerably more than elementary. An early example are the two academies founded at Andover and Phillips Academy Exeter. Amherst Academy expanded with time to form Amherst College. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Phillips Academy (also known as Andover and Phillips Andover) is a coed high school for flagrant metrosexuals grades 9-12 located in Andover, Massachusetts, near Boston. ... Amherst College is an independent liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. It is the third oldest college in Massachusetts. ...

Mozart organized public subscription performances of his music in Vienna in the 1780s and 1790s, he called the concerts "academies." This usage in musical terms survives in the concert orchestra Academy of St Martin in the Fields and in the Brixton Academy, a concert hall in Brixton, South London. W.A. Mozart at the age of 21 W.A. Mozart at the age of 34 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) is considered one of the greatest composers of European classical music. ... Events and Trends 1787 United States Constitution 1788 Great Britain established the prison colony of New South Wales in Australia. ... Events and Trends French Revolution ( 1789 - 1799). ... A concert comprises a performance, usually involving some degree of formality, and particularly a performance featuring music. ... The Academy of St. ... Brixton Academy The Brixton Academy is a large music venue in Brixton, South London with a capacity of 4921. ...

The fictional Starfleet Academy (from the Star Trek TV series) where future Starfleet Commanders are trained might also be mentioned. The official logo of Starfleet Academy, circa 2370. ... The Enterprise boldly going where no man had gone before. ...

Academies proliferated in the 20th century until even a three-week series of lectures and discussions would be termed an "academy." (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

See also: national academy, list of honorary societies, academician, military academy A national academy is a body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates the activities of research in (nearly always) the sciences and (sometimes) other disciplines. ... This is a list of honorary societies to which individuals are elected based on meritorious conduct. ... The title Academician denotes a Full Member of an academy. ... There are three types of military academies: High school level institutions (up to age 19), university level institutions, and those only serving to prepare officer cadets for commissioning into the armed services of a state ( such as RMA Sandhurst ). United States usage The term Military School primarily refers to (middle...

In addition, the generic term "the academy" is sometimes used to refer to all of academia, which is sometimes considered a global successor to the Academy of Athens. Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ...

Honorary Academy

Research Academy

In Imperial Russia and Soviet Union the term "academy", or Academy of Sciences was reserved to denote a state research establishment, see Russian Academy of Sciences. The latter one still exists in the Russian Federation, although other types of academies (study and honorary) appeared as well. Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... Academy of Sciences can refer to a national academy or another learned society dedicated to sciences. ... Russian Academy of Sciences: main building Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. ...

External links

• Christopher Planeaux' history of the site of the Academy (http://php.iupui.edu/~cplaneau/plato_02.html)
• Site of the Academy rediscovered (http://www.harrys-athens-greece-guide.com/ancient-plato.asp) (needs better site linked)
• Site of the Academy (http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21103a/e211ca03.html)
• The Demosion Sema along the road to the Academy (http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/athens/1.html)

Reference

• Allen Cameron, "The last days of the Academy at Athens," in Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society vol 195 (n.s. 15), 1969, pp 7-29.
• Gerald Bechtle, Bryn Mawr Classical Review of of Rainer Thiel, Simplikios und das Ende der neuplatonischen Schule in Athen. Stuttgart, 1999 (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2000/2000-04-19.html) (in English).
• John Glucker, Antiochus and the Late Academy, Göttingen 1978.