Historian cracks ancient code

MANCHESTER, England, June 29 (UPI) -- A British science historian says he's cracked "The Plato Code," secret messages said to be hidden in the classical Greek philosopher's writings.

Dr. Jay Kennedy of the University of Manchester says Plato used a regular pattern of symbols to give his writing a "musical" structure, a university release said Monday.

"Plato's books played a major role in founding Western culture but they are mysterious and end in riddles," Kennedy said.

"In antiquity, many of his followers said the books contained hidden layers of meaning and secret codes, but this was rejected by modern scholars."

Plato did not use secret patterns in his writing for pleasure, Kennedy said, but for his own safety.

In saying mathematical laws and not gods controlled the universe, Plato's ideas were a threat to Greek religion, and Plato's own teacher had been executed for heresy. Encoding his ideas in secret patterns was the only way for Plato to be safe, Kennedy said.

The importance of Plato's writing cannot be overestimated, Kennedy says.

"He shifted humanity from a warrior society to a wisdom society," Kennedy said. "Today our heroes are Einstein and Shakespeare -- and not knights in shining armor -- because of him."