Nestor - Socrates - Virgil

The first two lines (in Latin) of the inscription on the Shakespeare Monument at Stratford-upon-Avon, erected within a few years of the actor Will Shakespeare's death in 1618, likens Shakespeare to Nestor, Socrates and Virgil:-

'A Pylus in judgement, a Socrates in genius, a Maro in art.'

• Pylus refers to Nestor, king of Pylus, who was renowned for his statesmanship, eloquence and justice as a judge and ruler.
• Socrates was the most celebrated philosopher of Greece, a renowned orator, and the advocate of clarity and the inductive procedure.
• Maro was the surname of Virgil, the greatest of the Roman poets.

None of these great men were known publicly to have written plays, and the only one of them who was a poet (Virgil) was also a great scholar. So why, out of all the great exemplars of classical tradition, were these three chosen?

Do the Shakespeare plays reveal the judgement of a great judge and statesman? Do they show the genius of a great philosopher? Do they show the art of a great scholar-poet?

The answer is certainly yes! But, from all that is known of the life of the actor Will Shakspere, he was not the one who fits this description of the author.

There was only one man living at that time who fits this description, who could have written the plays, who had a motive for writing the plays, who was alive throughout the whole Shakespeare period, and whose life and philosophy is reflected in the plays. That man is Francis Bacon.

Is there a further indication that the actor Shakespeare was not the author Shakespeare but only a mask for the real author? The answer is certainly 'Yes', for Socrates is reputed to have written at least some of the tragedies attributed to his pupil Euripides, and Virgil, according to the poet Edmund Spenser, wrote plays under the pseudonym of Tityrus.

As can be discovered in historical documents, Francis Bacon was known to his friends as a secret poet who wrote plays for the stage. Moreover, he was considered to be the greatest of all the poets - their Apollo and leader - who renovated philosophy using comedy and tragedy; yet none of his plays ever appeared under his own name.

Peter Dawkins, 2006

(See the author's book, The Shakespeare Enigma)

The Francis Bacon Research Trust