Plato’s Laws in Musonius Rufus and Clement of Alexandria

Abstract

Clement of Alexandria’s Paedagogus contains many quotations and paraphrases of Plato’s Laws. Meanwhile, it is well established that Clement’s Paedagogus owes much of its material to Musonius Rufus and that Musonius’ Discourses also sometimes make allusions to Plato’s Laws. This paper explores the intertextual relations of the three by closely analyzing some passages (especially on sexual morality and on frugal ways of living) and shows that some of the references to Plato’s Laws in Clement’s Paedagogus, though not directly drawn from Musonius, can only have been made under his influence, while Musonius himself had presumably followed the Stoic tradition of utilizing Plato’s Laws in the sphere of practical ethics.