The close relation in which Anaxagoras stood to Perikles is placed beyond the reach of doubt by the testimony of Plato. In the _Phaedrus_[663] he makes Sokrates say: “For all arts that are great, there is need of talk and discussion on the parts of natural science that deal with things on high; for that seems to be the source which inspires high-mindedness and effectiveness in every direction. Perikles added this very acquirement to his original gifts. He fell in, it seems, with Anaxagoras, who was a scientific man; and, satiating himself with the theory of things on high, and having attained to a knowledge of the true nature of intellect and folly, which were just what the discourses of Anaxagoras were mainly about, he drew from that source whatever was of a nature to further him in the art of speech.” Footnote 663: 270 a (R. P. 148 c). A more difficult question is the alleged relation of Euripides to Anaxagoras. The oldest authority for it is Alexander of Aitolia, poet and librarian, who lived at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphos (_c._ 280 B.C.). He referred to Euripides as the “nursling of brave Anaxagoras.”[664] A great deal of ingenuity has been expended in trying to find the system of Anaxagoras in the choruses of Euripides; but, it must now be admitted, without result.[665] The famous fragment on the blessedness of the scientific life might just as well refer to any other cosmologist as to Anaxagoras, and indeed suggests more naturally a thinker of a more primitive type.[666] On the other hand, there is one fragment which distinctly expounds the central thought of Anaxagoras, and could hardly be referred to any one else.[667] We may conclude, then, that Euripides knew the philosopher and his views, but it is not safe to go further. Footnote 664: Gell. xv. 20, “Alexander autem Aetolus hos de Euripide versus composuit”; ὁ δ’ Ἀναξαγόρου τρόφιμος χαιοῦ (so Valckenaer for ἀρχαίου) κ.τ.λ. Footnote 665: The question was first raised by Valckenaer (_Diatribe_, p. 26). Cf. also Wilamowitz, _Analecta Euripidea_, pp. 162 sqq. Footnote 666: See Introd. p. 12, _n._ 14. The fragment is quoted R. P. 148 c. The words ἀθανάτου φύσεως and κόσμον ἀγήρω carry us back rather to the older Milesians. Footnote 667: R. P. 150 b. [Sidenote: The trial.]