XENOCRATES

Platonic philosopher. He was one of the first students of Plato and took over the direction of the Academy immediately after the death of its second master, Speusippus. He dealt mainly with the nature of the gods and their relation to the heavenly bodies and with the practical view of ethics. Acquainted with the Pythagorean doctrine of numbers, he formulated Platonic doctrines with a Pythagorean coating. His students were Polemon, Zeno the Stoic, Epicurus and Crates.