 Comparisons between the Ikhwân's quotations and the extant Arabic versions of classical works often show that they might have used the same translations at our disposal now. When such comparisons are not possible, the ancient excerpta usually correspond to the extant original texts. We should conclude, then, that in quoting, reporting – and, perhaps, translating – ancient sources the Ikhwân display the same philological and philosophical expertise associated with the scholars to whom we owe the flourishing of the translation movement in Baghdâd. In some cases, they have even preserved the only Arabic fragments of Greek authors known to us, as exemplified by the well-known case of the story of Giges from Plato's Republic in Epistle 52. (The story of Giges is analyzed in Baffioni 2001, 168–170, 175–178). Platonic references in the encyclopedia are also scarce. The majority of them are found in the fourth section and concern the trial and death of Socrates. There is also a hint at the doctrine of reminiscence, that is seldom mentioned in Muslim sources (cf. for the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ Epistle 42, III, 424, 15). The Ikhwân are also informed about the Platonic view on pleasures and about Plato's conception of the soul as consisting of three distinct parts: the rational soul, which resides in the head; the irascible soul, which resides in the heart and is the seat of courage; and the appetitive soul, the seat of desire, which resides in the abdomen (III, 68, 4–6). The Platonic references are religiously rather than philosophically oriented. That can perhaps be explained by the influence of the Hellenistic curricula scientiarum (courses of study) designed for philosophers. These began by a reflection on the Stoic bios theoretikòs (the philosophical attitude towards life), continued with Aristotelian works representing the “scientific” side of knowledge, and ended with Platonic writings, representing the “theological” knowledge (D’Ancona Costa 1996, 30–31). The religious approach to ancient heritage leads the Ikhwân to consider philosophy as an “imitation of God according to human capacity.” This definition immediately clarifies Hellenism as the authors' first theoretical and historical reference. Their source is here Plato or, rather, his Hellenistic reading (Kraus 1986, 99, note 4).