Plato was born in 428 BCE. He did not read, study or teach the Hebrew text. In fact, there is no textual evidence which shows any early Greek philosopher (from Thales to Epicurus) quoting or commenting on The Old Testament. Both Phythagoras and Plato were reported by some to have traveled to Israel and the greater Middle East but there is no reliable textual evidence which proves this.
I believe I'd read this as well, and found it very interesting in relation to our comments.
How unlikely was it that an Athenian (albeit Plato) coul essentially come to the same spiritual philosophical conclusions in regards to the distinction between the physical body and spiritual one as the ones in the Torah as summarized/symbolized by the snake of Genesis?
Plato asserts that the truest reality was in the Forms, and therefore the human being should strive to attain to this enlightenment. The material world was inferior to the spiritual in his philosophy. Plotinus, a self described pure platonist, centuries later goes on to explicitly describe that man's responsibility is to climb the chain of existence until man sheds his inferior material body and his essence incorporates into the same substance as the One or God.
You wouldn't be accused of being farfetched to think that these platonists plagiarized the words of the snake of Genesis. Yet, there's nothing to indicate they had any knowledge of Genesis.
Is this purely coincidental?
Kaleb, in your studies when does this concept of man being compelled to "rise" to be God and godlike first appear? I'm assuming it was neither the Torah or its contemporary authors.