Plato (l. c. 424/423 to 348/347 BCE), the Greek philosopher whose works have significantly shaped Western thought and religion, is said to have initially been a poet and playwright and, even if the primary source of this claim (the often unreliable Diogenes Laertius, l. 3rd century) is challenged, Plato's works themselves argue in favor of it.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/33/plato-the-name-and-the-poet/.