1894 Brewer’s / P / Plato and the Bees
When Plato was an infant, some bees settled on his lips when he was asleep, indicating that he would become famous for his honeyed words. The same is said of Sophŏclēs, Pindar, St. Ambrose, St. Chrysostom, and others.
“And as when Plato did iʹ the cradle thrive,
Bees to his lips brought honey from their hive.”
W. Browne: Britannia’s Pastorals, ii.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.