Critias
by
Plato
Critias
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[2] PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Critias, Hermocrates, Timaeus, Socrates.
[3]
[4]
[5] TIMAEUS: How thankful I am, Socrates, that I have arrived at last, and,
[6] like a weary traveller after a long journey, may be at rest! And I pray
[7] the being who always was of old, and has now been by me revealed, to grant
[8] that my words may endure in so far as they have been spoken truly and
[9] acceptably to him; but if unintentionally I have said anything wrong, I
[10] pray that he will impose upon me a just retribution, and the just
[11] retribution of him who errs is that he should be set right. Wishing, then,
[12] to speak truly in future concerning the generation of the gods, I pray him
[13] to give me knowledge, which of all medicines is the most perfect and best.
[14] And now having offered my prayer I deliver up the argument to Critias, who
[15] is to speak next according to our agreement. (Tim.)
[16]
[17] CRITIAS: And I, Timaeus, accept the trust, and as you at first said that
[18] you were going to speak of high matters, and begged that some forbearance
[19] might be shown to you, I too ask the same or greater forbearance for what I
[20] am about to say. And although I very well know that my request may appear
[21] to be somewhat ambitious and discourteous, I must make it nevertheless.
[22] For will any man of sense deny that you have spoken well? I can only
[23] attempt to show that I ought to have more indulgence than you, because my
[24] theme is more difficult; and I shall argue that to seem to speak well of
[25] the gods to men is far easier than to speak well of men to men: for the
[26] inexperience and utter ignorance of his hearers about any subject is a
[27] great assistance to him who has to speak of it, and we know how ignorant we
[28] are concerning the gods. But I should like to make my meaning clearer, if
[29] you will follow me. All that is said by any of us can only be imitation
[30] and representation. For if we consider the likenesses which painters make
[31] of bodies divine and heavenly, and the different degrees of gratification
[32] with which the eye of the spectator receives them, we shall see that we are
[33] satisfied with the artist who is able in any degree to imitate the earth
[34] and its mountains, and the rivers, and the woods, and the universe, and the
[35] things that are and move therein, and further, that knowing nothing precise
[36] about such matters, we do not examine or analyze the painting; all that is
[37] required is a sort of indistinct and deceptive mode of shadowing them
[38] forth. But when a person endeavours to paint the human form we are quick
[39] at finding out defects, and our familiar knowledge makes us severe judges
[40] of any one who does not render every point of similarity. And we may
[41] observe the same thing to happen in discourse; we are satisfied with a
[42] picture of divine and heavenly things which has very little likeness to
[43] them; but we are more precise in our criticism of mortal and human things.
[44] Wherefore if at the moment of speaking I cannot suitably express my
[45] meaning, you must excuse me, considering that to form approved likenesses
[46] of human things is the reverse of easy. This is what I want to suggest to
[47] you, and at the same time to beg, Socrates, that I may have not less, but
[48] more indulgence conceded to me in what I am about to say. Which favour, if
[49] I am right in asking, I hope that you will be ready to grant.
[50]
[51] SOCRATES: Certainly, Critias, we will grant your request, and we will
[52] grant the same by anticipation to Hermocrates, as well as to you and
[53] Timaeus; for I have no doubt that when his turn comes a little while hence,
[54] he will make the same request which you have made. In order, then, that he
[55] may provide himself with a fresh beginning, and not be compelled to say the
[56] same things over again, let him understand that the indulgence is already
[57] extended by anticipation to him. And now, friend Critias, I will announce
[58] to you the judgment of the theatre. They are of opinion that the last
[59] performer was wonderfully successful, and that you will need a great deal
[60] of indulgence before you will be able to take his place.
[61]
[62] HERMOCRATES: The warning, Socrates, which you have addressed to him, I
[63] must also take to myself. But remember, Critias, that faint heart never
[64] yet raised a trophy; and therefore you must go and attack the argument like
[65] a man. First invoke Apollo and the Muses, and then let us hear you sound
[66] the praises and show forth the virtues of your ancient citizens.
[67]
[68] CRITIAS: Friend Hermocrates, you, who are stationed last and have another
[69] in front of you, have not lost heart as yet; the gravity of the situation
[70] will soon be revealed to you; meanwhile I accept your exhortations and
[71] encouragements. But besides the gods and goddesses whom you have
[72] mentioned, I would specially invoke Mnemosyne; for all the important part
[73] of my discourse is dependent on her favour, and if I can recollect and
[74] recite enough of what was said by the priests and brought hither by Solon,
[75] I doubt not that I shall satisfy the requirements of this theatre. And
[76] now, making no more excuses, I will proceed.
[77]
[78] Let me begin by observing first of all, that nine thousand was the sum of
[79] years which had elapsed since the war which was said to have taken place
[80] between those who dwelt outside the pillars of Heracles and all who dwelt
[81] within them; this war I am going to describe. Of the combatants on the one
[82] side, the city of Athens was reported to have been the leader and to have
[83] fought out the war; the combatants on the other side were commanded by the
[84] kings of Atlantis, which, as I was saying, was an island greater in extent
[85] than Libya and Asia, and when afterwards sunk by an earthquake, became an
[86] impassable barrier of mud to voyagers sailing from hence to any part of the
[87] ocean. The progress of the history will unfold the various nations of
[88] barbarians and families of Hellenes which then existed, as they
[89] successively appear on the scene; but I must describe first of all the
[90] Athenians of that day, and their enemies who fought with them, and then the
[91] respective powers and governments of the two kingdoms. Let us give the
[92] precedence to Athens.
[93]
[94] In the days of old, the gods had the whole earth distributed among them by
[95] allotment (Cp. Polit.) There was no quarrelling; for you cannot rightly
[96] suppose that the gods did not know what was proper for each of them to
[97] have, or, knowing this, that they would seek to procure for themselves by
[98] contention that which more properly belonged to others. They all of them
[99] by just apportionment obtained what they wanted, and peopled their own
[100] districts; and when they had peopled them they tended us, their nurselings
[101] and possessions, as shepherds tend their flocks, excepting only that they
[102] did not use blows or bodily force, as shepherds do, but governed us like
[103] pilots from the stern of the vessel, which is an easy way of guiding
[104] animals, holding our souls by the rudder of persuasion according to their
[105] own pleasure;--thus did they guide all mortal creatures. Now different
[106] gods had their allotments in different places which they set in order.
[107] Hephaestus and Athene, who were brother and sister, and sprang from the
[108] same father, having a common nature, and being united also in the love of
[109] philosophy and art, both obtained as their common portion this land, which
[110] was naturally adapted for wisdom and virtue; and there they implanted brave
[111] children of the soil, and put into their minds the order of government;
[112] their names are preserved, but their actions have disappeared by reason of
[113] the destruction of those who received the tradition, and the lapse of ages.
[114] For when there were any survivors, as I have already said, they were men
[115] who dwelt in the mountains; and they were ignorant of the art of writing,
[116] and had heard only the names of the chiefs of the land, but very little
[117] about their actions. The names they were willing enough to give to their
[118] children; but the virtues and the laws of their predecessors, they knew
[119] only by obscure traditions; and as they themselves and their children
[120] lacked for many generations the necessaries of life, they directed their
[121] attention to the supply of their wants, and of them they conversed, to the
[122] neglect of events that had happened in times long past; for mythology and
[123] the enquiry into antiquity are first introduced into cities when they begin
[124] to have leisure (Cp. Arist. Metaphys.), and when they see that the
[125] necessaries of life have already been provided, but not before. And this
[126] is the reason why the names of the ancients have been preserved to us and
[127] not their actions. This I infer because Solon said that the priests in
[128] their narrative of that war mentioned most of the names which are recorded
[129] prior to the time of Theseus, such as Cecrops, and Erechtheus, and
[130] Erichthonius, and Erysichthon, and the names of the women in like manner.
[131] Moreover, since military pursuits were then common to men and women, the
[132] men of those days in accordance with the custom of the time set up a figure
[133] and image of the goddess in full armour, to be a testimony that all animals
[134] which associate together, male as well as female, may, if they please,
[135] practise in common the virtue which belongs to them without distinction of
[136] sex.
[137]
[138] Now the country was inhabited in those days by various classes of
[139] citizens;--there were artisans, and there were husbandmen, and there was
[140] also a warrior class originally set apart by divine men. The latter dwelt
[141] by themselves, and had all things suitable for nurture and education;
[142] neither had any of them anything of their own, but they regarded all that
[143] they had as common property; nor did they claim to receive of the other
[144] citizens anything more than their necessary food. And they practised all
[145] the pursuits which we yesterday described as those of our imaginary
[146] guardians. Concerning the country the Egyptian priests said what is not
[147] only probable but manifestly true, that the boundaries were in those days
[148] fixed by the Isthmus, and that in the direction of the continent they
[149] extended as far as the heights of Cithaeron and Parnes; the boundary line
[150] came down in the direction of the sea, having the district of Oropus on the
[151] right, and with the river Asopus as the limit on the left. The land was
[152] the best in the world, and was therefore able in those days to support a
[153] vast army, raised from the surrounding people. Even the remnant of Attica
[154] which now exists may compare with any region in the world for the variety
[155] and excellence of its fruits and the suitableness of its pastures to every
[156] sort of animal, which proves what I am saying; but in those days the
[157] country was fair as now and yielded far more abundant produce. How shall I
[158] establish my words? and what part of it can be truly called a remnant of
[159] the land that then was? The whole country is only a long promontory
[160] extending far into the sea away from the rest of the continent, while the
[161] surrounding basin of the sea is everywhere deep in the neighbourhood of the
[162] shore. Many great deluges have taken place during the nine thousand years,
[163] for that is the number of years which have elapsed since the time of which
[164] I am speaking; and during all this time and through so many changes, there
[165] has never been any considerable accumulation of the soil coming down from
[166] the mountains, as in other places, but the earth has fallen away all round
[167] and sunk out of sight. The consequence is, that in comparison of what then
[168] was, there are remaining only the bones of the wasted body, as they may be
[169] called, as in the case of small islands, all the richer and softer parts of
[170] the soil having fallen away, and the mere skeleton of the land being left.
[171] But in the primitive state of the country, its mountains were high hills
[172] covered with soil, and the plains, as they are termed by us, of Phelleus
[173] were full of rich earth, and there was abundance of wood in the mountains.
[174] Of this last the traces still remain, for although some of the mountains
[175] now only afford sustenance to bees, not so very long ago there were still
[176] to be seen roofs of timber cut from trees growing there, which were of a
[177] size sufficient to cover the largest houses; and there were many other high
[178] trees, cultivated by man and bearing abundance of food for cattle.
[179] Moreover, the land reaped the benefit of the annual rainfall, not as now
[180] losing the water which flows off the bare earth into the sea, but, having
[181] an abundant supply in all places, and receiving it into herself and
[182] treasuring it up in the close clay soil, it let off into the hollows the
[183] streams which it absorbed from the heights, providing everywhere abundant
[184] fountains and rivers, of which there may still be observed sacred memorials
[185] in places where fountains once existed; and this proves the truth of what I
[186] am saying.
[187]
[188] Such was the natural state of the country, which was cultivated, as we may
[189] well believe, by true husbandmen, who made husbandry their business, and
[190] were lovers of honour, and of a noble nature, and had a soil the best in
[191] the world, and abundance of water, and in the heaven above an excellently
[192] attempered climate. Now the city in those days was arranged on this wise.
[193] In the first place the Acropolis was not as now. For the fact is that a
[194] single night of excessive rain washed away the earth and laid bare the
[195] rock; at the same time there were earthquakes, and then occurred the
[196] extraordinary inundation, which was the third before the great destruction
[197] of Deucalion. But in primitive times the hill of the Acropolis extended to
[198] the Eridanus and Ilissus, and included the Pnyx on one side, and the
[199] Lycabettus as a boundary on the opposite side to the Pnyx, and was all well
[200] covered with soil, and level at the top, except in one or two places.
[201] Outside the Acropolis and under the sides of the hill there dwelt artisans,
[202] and such of the husbandmen as were tilling the ground near; the warrior
[203] class dwelt by themselves around the temples of Athene and Hephaestus at
[204] the summit, which moreover they had enclosed with a single fence like the
[205] garden of a single house. On the north side they had dwellings in common
[206] and had erected halls for dining in winter, and had all the buildings which
[207] they needed for their common life, besides temples, but there was no
[208] adorning of them with gold and silver, for they made no use of these for
[209] any purpose; they took a middle course between meanness and ostentation,
[210] and built modest houses in which they and their children's children grew
[211] old, and they handed them down to others who were like themselves, always
[212] the same. But in summer-time they left their gardens and gymnasia and
[213] dining halls, and then the southern side of the hill was made use of by
[214] them for the same purpose. Where the Acropolis now is there was a
[215] fountain, which was choked by the earthquake, and has left only the few
[216] small streams which still exist in the vicinity, but in those days the
[217] fountain gave an abundant supply of water for all and of suitable
[218] temperature in summer and in winter. This is how they dwelt, being the
[219] guardians of their own citizens and the leaders of the Hellenes, who were
[220] their willing followers. And they took care to preserve the same number of
[221] men and women through all time, being so many as were required for warlike
[222] purposes, then as now--that is to say, about twenty thousand. Such were
[223] the ancient Athenians, and after this manner they righteously administered
[224] their own land and the rest of Hellas; they were renowned all over Europe
[225] and Asia for the beauty of their persons and for the many virtues of their
[226] souls, and of all men who lived in those days they were the most
[227] illustrious. And next, if I have not forgotten what I heard when I was a
[228] child, I will impart to you the character and origin of their adversaries.
[229] For friends should not keep their stories to themselves, but have them in
[230] common.
[231]
[232] Yet, before proceeding further in the narrative, I ought to warn you, that
[233] you must not be surprised if you should perhaps hear Hellenic names given
[234] to foreigners. I will tell you the reason of this: Solon, who was
[235] intending to use the tale for his poem, enquired into the meaning of the
[236] names, and found that the early Egyptians in writing them down had
[237] translated them into their own language, and he recovered the meaning of
[238] the several names and when copying them out again translated them into our
[239] language. My great-grandfather, Dropides, had the original writing, which
[240] is still in my possession, and was carefully studied by me when I was a
[241] child. Therefore if you hear names such as are used in this country, you
[242] must not be surprised, for I have told how they came to be introduced. The
[243] tale, which was of great length, began as follows:--
[244]
[245] I have before remarked in speaking of the allotments of the gods, that they
[246] distributed the whole earth into portions differing in extent, and made for
[247] themselves temples and instituted sacrifices. And Poseidon, receiving for
[248] his lot the island of Atlantis, begat children by a mortal woman, and
[249] settled them in a part of the island, which I will describe. Looking
[250] towards the sea, but in the centre of the whole island, there was a plain
[251] which is said to have been the fairest of all plains and very fertile.
[252] Near the plain again, and also in the centre of the island at a distance of
[253] about fifty stadia, there was a mountain not very high on any side. In
[254] this mountain there dwelt one of the earth-born primeval men of that
[255] country, whose name was Evenor, and he had a wife named Leucippe, and they
[256] had an only daughter who was called Cleito. The maiden had already reached
[257] womanhood, when her father and mother died; Poseidon fell in love with her
[258] and had intercourse with her, and breaking the ground, inclosed the hill in
[259] which she dwelt all round, making alternate zones of sea and land larger
[260] and smaller, encircling one another; there were two of land and three of
[261] water, which he turned as with a lathe, each having its circumference
[262] equidistant every way from the centre, so that no man could get to the
[263] island, for ships and voyages were not as yet. He himself, being a god,
[264] found no difficulty in making special arrangements for the centre island,
[265] bringing up two springs of water from beneath the earth, one of warm water
[266] and the other of cold, and making every variety of food to spring up
[267] abundantly from the soil. He also begat and brought up five pairs of twin
[268] male children; and dividing the island of Atlantis into ten portions, he
[269] gave to the first-born of the eldest pair his mother's dwelling and the
[270] surrounding allotment, which was the largest and best, and made him king
[271] over the rest; the others he made princes, and gave them rule over many
[272] men, and a large territory. And he named them all; the eldest, who was the
[273] first king, he named Atlas, and after him the whole island and the ocean
[274] were called Atlantic. To his twin brother, who was born after him, and
[275] obtained as his lot the extremity of the island towards the pillars of
[276] Heracles, facing the country which is now called the region of Gades in
[277] that part of the world, he gave the name which in the Hellenic language is
[278] Eumelus, in the language of the country which is named after him, Gadeirus.
[279] Of the second pair of twins he called one Ampheres, and the other Evaemon.
[280] To the elder of the third pair of twins he gave the name Mneseus, and
[281] Autochthon to the one who followed him. Of the fourth pair of twins he
[282] called the elder Elasippus, and the younger Mestor. And of the fifth pair
[283] he gave to the elder the name of Azaes, and to the younger that of
[284] Diaprepes. All these and their descendants for many generations were the
[285] inhabitants and rulers of divers islands in the open sea; and also, as has
[286] been already said, they held sway in our direction over the country within
[287] the pillars as far as Egypt and Tyrrhenia. Now Atlas had a numerous and
[288] honourable family, and they retained the kingdom, the eldest son handing it
[289] on to his eldest for many generations; and they had such an amount of
[290] wealth as was never before possessed by kings and potentates, and is not
[291] likely ever to be again, and they were furnished with everything which they
[292] needed, both in the city and country. For because of the greatness of
[293] their empire many things were brought to them from foreign countries, and
[294] the island itself provided most of what was required by them for the uses
[295] of life. In the first place, they dug out of the earth whatever was to be
[296] found there, solid as well as fusile, and that which is now only a name and
[297] was then something more than a name, orichalcum, was dug out of the earth
[298] in many parts of the island, being more precious in those days than
[299] anything except gold. There was an abundance of wood for carpenter's work,
[300] and sufficient maintenance for tame and wild animals. Moreover, there were
[301] a great number of elephants in the island; for as there was provision for
[302] all other sorts of animals, both for those which live in lakes and marshes
[303] and rivers, and also for those which live in mountains and on plains, so
[304] there was for the animal which is the largest and most voracious of all.
[305] Also whatever fragrant things there now are in the earth, whether roots, or
[306] herbage, or woods, or essences which distil from fruit and flower, grew and
[307] thrived in that land; also the fruit which admits of cultivation, both the
[308] dry sort, which is given us for nourishment and any other which we use for
[309] food--we call them all by the common name of pulse, and the fruits having a
[310] hard rind, affording drinks and meats and ointments, and good store of
[311] chestnuts and the like, which furnish pleasure and amusement, and are
[312] fruits which spoil with keeping, and the pleasant kinds of dessert, with
[313] which we console ourselves after dinner, when we are tired of eating--all
[314] these that sacred island which then beheld the light of the sun, brought
[315] forth fair and wondrous and in infinite abundance. With such blessings the
[316] earth freely furnished them; meanwhile they went on constructing their
[317] temples and palaces and harbours and docks. And they arranged the whole
[318] country in the following manner:--
[319]
[320] First of all they bridged over the zones of sea which surrounded the
[321] ancient metropolis, making a road to and from the royal palace. And at the
[322] very beginning they built the palace in the habitation of the god and of
[323] their ancestors, which they continued to ornament in successive
[324] generations, every king surpassing the one who went before him to the
[325] utmost of his power, until they made the building a marvel to behold for
[326] size and for beauty. And beginning from the sea they bored a canal of
[327] three hundred feet in width and one hundred feet in depth and fifty stadia
[328] in length, which they carried through to the outermost zone, making a
[329] passage from the sea up to this, which became a harbour, and leaving an
[330] opening sufficient to enable the largest vessels to find ingress.
[331] Moreover, they divided at the bridges the zones of land which parted the
[332] zones of sea, leaving room for a single trireme to pass out of one zone
[333] into another, and they covered over the channels so as to leave a way
[334] underneath for the ships; for the banks were raised considerably above the
[335] water. Now the largest of the zones into which a passage was cut from the
[336] sea was three stadia in breadth, and the zone of land which came next of
[337] equal breadth; but the next two zones, the one of water, the other of land,
[338] were two stadia, and the one which surrounded the central island was a
[339] stadium only in width. The island in which the palace was situated had a
[340] diameter of five stadia. All this including the zones and the bridge,
[341] which was the sixth part of a stadium in width, they surrounded by a stone
[342] wall on every side, placing towers and gates on the bridges where the sea
[343] passed in. The stone which was used in the work they quarried from
[344] underneath the centre island, and from underneath the zones, on the outer
[345] as well as the inner side. One kind was white, another black, and a third
[346] red, and as they quarried, they at the same time hollowed out double docks,
[347] having roofs formed out of the native rock. Some of their buildings were
[348] simple, but in others they put together different stones, varying the
[349] colour to please the eye, and to be a natural source of delight. The
[350] entire circuit of the wall, which went round the outermost zone, they
[351] covered with a coating of brass, and the circuit of the next wall they
[352] coated with tin, and the third, which encompassed the citadel, flashed with
[353] the red light of orichalcum. The palaces in the interior of the citadel
[354] were constructed on this wise:--In the centre was a holy temple dedicated
[355] to Cleito and Poseidon, which remained inaccessible, and was surrounded by
[356] an enclosure of gold; this was the spot where the family of the ten princes
[357] first saw the light, and thither the people annually brought the fruits of
[358] the earth in their season from all the ten portions, to be an offering to
[359] each of the ten. Here was Poseidon's own temple which was a stadium in
[360] length, and half a stadium in width, and of a proportionate height, having
[361] a strange barbaric appearance. All the outside of the temple, with the
[362] exception of the pinnacles, they covered with silver, and the pinnacles
[363] with gold. In the interior of the temple the roof was of ivory, curiously
[364] wrought everywhere with gold and silver and orichalcum; and all the other
[365] parts, the walls and pillars and floor, they coated with orichalcum. In
[366] the temple they placed statues of gold: there was the god himself standing
[367] in a chariot--the charioteer of six winged horses--and of such a size that
[368] he touched the roof of the building with his head; around him there were a
[369] hundred Nereids riding on dolphins, for such was thought to be the number
[370] of them by the men of those days. There were also in the interior of the
[371] temple other images which had been dedicated by private persons. And
[372] around the temple on the outside were placed statues of gold of all the
[373] descendants of the ten kings and of their wives, and there were many other
[374] great offerings of kings and of private persons, coming both from the city
[375] itself and from the foreign cities over which they held sway. There was an
[376] altar too, which in size and workmanship corresponded to this magnificence,
[377] and the palaces, in like manner, answered to the greatness of the kingdom
[378] and the glory of the temple.
[379]
[380] In the next place, they had fountains, one of cold and another of hot
[381] water, in gracious plenty flowing; and they were wonderfully adapted for
[382] use by reason of the pleasantness and excellence of their waters. They
[383] constructed buildings about them and planted suitable trees, also they made
[384] cisterns, some open to the heaven, others roofed over, to be used in winter
[385] as warm baths; there were the kings' baths, and the baths of private
[386] persons, which were kept apart; and there were separate baths for women,
[387] and for horses and cattle, and to each of them they gave as much adornment
[388] as was suitable. Of the water which ran off they carried some to the grove
[389] of Poseidon, where were growing all manner of trees of wonderful height and
[390] beauty, owing to the excellence of the soil, while the remainder was
[391] conveyed by aqueducts along the bridges to the outer circles; and there
[392] were many temples built and dedicated to many gods; also gardens and places
[393] of exercise, some for men, and others for horses in both of the two islands
[394] formed by the zones; and in the centre of the larger of the two there was
[395] set apart a race-course of a stadium in width, and in length allowed to
[396] extend all round the island, for horses to race in. Also there were guard-
[397] houses at intervals for the guards, the more trusted of whom were appointed
[398] to keep watch in the lesser zone, which was nearer the Acropolis; while the
[399] most trusted of all had houses given them within the <