Timaeus
by
Plato
Timaeus
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[2] PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Socrates, Critias, Timaeus, Hermocrates.
[3]
[4]
[5] SOCRATES: One, two, three; but where, my dear Timaeus, is the fourth of
[6] those who were yesterday my guests and are to be my entertainers to-day?
[7]
[8] TIMAEUS: He has been taken ill, Socrates; for he would not willingly have
[9] been absent from this gathering.
[10]
[11] SOCRATES: Then, if he is not coming, you and the two others must supply
[12] his place.
[13]
[14] TIMAEUS: Certainly, and we will do all that we can; having been handsomely
[15] entertained by you yesterday, those of us who remain should be only too
[16] glad to return your hospitality.
[17]
[18] SOCRATES: Do you remember what were the points of which I required you to
[19] speak?
[20]
[21] TIMAEUS: We remember some of them, and you will be here to remind us of
[22] anything which we have forgotten: or rather, if we are not troubling you,
[23] will you briefly recapitulate the whole, and then the particulars will be
[24] more firmly fixed in our memories?
[25]
[26] SOCRATES: To be sure I will: the chief theme of my yesterday's discourse
[27] was the State--how constituted and of what citizens composed it would seem
[28] likely to be most perfect.
[29]
[30] TIMAEUS: Yes, Socrates; and what you said of it was very much to our mind.
[31]
[32] SOCRATES: Did we not begin by separating the husbandmen and the artisans
[33] from the class of defenders of the State?
[34]
[35] TIMAEUS: Yes.
[36]
[37] SOCRATES: And when we had given to each one that single employment and
[38] particular art which was suited to his nature, we spoke of those who were
[39] intended to be our warriors, and said that they were to be guardians of the
[40] city against attacks from within as well as from without, and to have no
[41] other employment; they were to be merciful in judging their subjects, of
[42] whom they were by nature friends, but fierce to their enemies, when they
[43] came across them in battle.
[44]
[45] TIMAEUS: Exactly.
[46]
[47] SOCRATES: We said, if I am not mistaken, that the guardians should be
[48] gifted with a temperament in a high degree both passionate and
[49] philosophical; and that then they would be as they ought to be, gentle to
[50] their friends and fierce with their enemies.
[51]
[52] TIMAEUS: Certainly.
[53]
[54] SOCRATES: And what did we say of their education? Were they not to be
[55] trained in gymnastic, and music, and all other sorts of knowledge which
[56] were proper for them?
[57]
[58] TIMAEUS: Very true.
[59]
[60] SOCRATES: And being thus trained they were not to consider gold or silver
[61] or anything else to be their own private property; they were to be like
[62] hired troops, receiving pay for keeping guard from those who were protected
[63] by them--the pay was to be no more than would suffice for men of simple
[64] life; and they were to spend in common, and to live together in the
[65] continual practice of virtue, which was to be their sole pursuit.
[66]
[67] TIMAEUS: That was also said.
[68]
[69] SOCRATES: Neither did we forget the women; of whom we declared, that their
[70] natures should be assimilated and brought into harmony with those of the
[71] men, and that common pursuits should be assigned to them both in time of
[72] war and in their ordinary life.
[73]
[74] TIMAEUS: That, again, was as you say.
[75]
[76] SOCRATES: And what about the procreation of children? Or rather was not
[77] the proposal too singular to be forgotten? for all wives and children were
[78] to be in common, to the intent that no one should ever know his own child,
[79] but they were to imagine that they were all one family; those who were
[80] within a suitable limit of age were to be brothers and sisters, those who
[81] were of an elder generation parents and grandparents, and those of a
[82] younger, children and grandchildren.
[83]
[84] TIMAEUS: Yes, and the proposal is easy to remember, as you say.
[85]
[86] SOCRATES: And do you also remember how, with a view of securing as far as
[87] we could the best breed, we said that the chief magistrates, male and
[88] female, should contrive secretly, by the use of certain lots, so to arrange
[89] the nuptial meeting, that the bad of either sex and the good of either sex
[90] might pair with their like; and there was to be no quarrelling on this
[91] account, for they would imagine that the union was a mere accident, and was
[92] to be attributed to the lot?
[93]
[94] TIMAEUS: I remember.
[95]
[96] SOCRATES: And you remember how we said that the children of the good
[97] parents were to be educated, and the children of the bad secretly dispersed
[98] among the inferior citizens; and while they were all growing up the rulers
[99] were to be on the look-out, and to bring up from below in their turn those
[100] who were worthy, and those among themselves who were unworthy were to take
[101] the places of those who came up?
[102]
[103] TIMAEUS: True.
[104]
[105] SOCRATES: Then have I now given you all the heads of our yesterday's
[106] discussion? Or is there anything more, my dear Timaeus, which has been
[107] omitted?
[108]
[109] TIMAEUS: Nothing, Socrates; it was just as you have said.
[110]
[111] SOCRATES: I should like, before proceeding further, to tell you how I feel
[112] about the State which we have described. I might compare myself to a
[113] person who, on beholding beautiful animals either created by the painter's
[114] art, or, better still, alive but at rest, is seized with a desire of seeing
[115] them in motion or engaged in some struggle or conflict to which their forms
[116] appear suited; this is my feeling about the State which we have been
[117] describing. There are conflicts which all cities undergo, and I should
[118] like to hear some one tell of our own city carrying on a struggle against
[119] her neighbours, and how she went out to war in a becoming manner, and when
[120] at war showed by the greatness of her actions and the magnanimity of her
[121] words in dealing with other cities a result worthy of her training and
[122] education. Now I, Critias and Hermocrates, am conscious that I myself
[123] should never be able to celebrate the city and her citizens in a befitting
[124] manner, and I am not surprised at my own incapacity; to me the wonder is
[125] rather that the poets present as well as past are no better--not that I
[126] mean to depreciate them; but every one can see that they are a tribe of
[127] imitators, and will imitate best and most easily the life in which they
[128] have been brought up; while that which is beyond the range of a man's
[129] education he finds hard to carry out in action, and still harder adequately
[130] to represent in language. I am aware that the Sophists have plenty of
[131] brave words and fair conceits, but I am afraid that being only wanderers
[132] from one city to another, and having never had habitations of their own,
[133] they may fail in their conception of philosophers and statesmen, and may
[134] not know what they do and say in time of war, when they are fighting or
[135] holding parley with their enemies. And thus people of your class are the
[136] only ones remaining who are fitted by nature and education to take part at
[137] once both in politics and philosophy. Here is Timaeus, of Locris in Italy,
[138] a city which has admirable laws, and who is himself in wealth and rank the
[139] equal of any of his fellow-citizens; he has held the most important and
[140] honourable offices in his own state, and, as I believe, has scaled the
[141] heights of all philosophy; and here is Critias, whom every Athenian knows
[142] to be no novice in the matters of which we are speaking; and as to
[143] Hermocrates, I am assured by many witnesses that his genius and education
[144] qualify him to take part in any speculation of the kind. And therefore
[145] yesterday when I saw that you wanted me to describe the formation of the
[146] State, I readily assented, being very well aware, that, if you only would,
[147] none were better qualified to carry the discussion further, and that when
[148] you had engaged our city in a suitable war, you of all men living could
[149] best exhibit her playing a fitting part. When I had completed my task, I
[150] in return imposed this other task upon you. You conferred together and
[151] agreed to entertain me to-day, as I had entertained you, with a feast of
[152] discourse. Here am I in festive array, and no man can be more ready for
[153] the promised banquet.
[154]
[155] HERMOCRATES: And we too, Socrates, as Timaeus says, will not be wanting in
[156] enthusiasm; and there is no excuse for not complying with your request. As
[157] soon as we arrived yesterday at the guest-chamber of Critias, with whom we
[158] are staying, or rather on our way thither, we talked the matter over, and
[159] he told us an ancient tradition, which I wish, Critias, that you would
[160] repeat to Socrates, so that he may help us to judge whether it will satisfy
[161] his requirements or not.
[162]
[163] CRITIAS: I will, if Timaeus, who is our other partner, approves.
[164]
[165] TIMAEUS: I quite approve.
[166]
[167] CRITIAS: Then listen, Socrates, to a tale which, though strange, is
[168] certainly true, having been attested by Solon, who was the wisest of the
[169] seven sages. He was a relative and a dear friend of my great-grandfather,
[170] Dropides, as he himself says in many passages of his poems; and he told the
[171] story to Critias, my grandfather, who remembered and repeated it to us.
[172] There were of old, he said, great and marvellous actions of the Athenian
[173] city, which have passed into oblivion through lapse of time and the
[174] destruction of mankind, and one in particular, greater than all the rest.
[175] This we will now rehearse. It will be a fitting monument of our gratitude
[176] to you, and a hymn of praise true and worthy of the goddess, on this her
[177] day of festival.
[178]
[179] SOCRATES: Very good. And what is this ancient famous action of the
[180] Athenians, which Critias declared, on the authority of Solon, to be not a
[181] mere legend, but an actual fact?
[182]
[183] CRITIAS: I will tell an old-world story which I heard from an aged man;
[184] for Critias, at the time of telling it, was, as he said, nearly ninety
[185] years of age, and I was about ten. Now the day was that day of the
[186] Apaturia which is called the Registration of Youth, at which, according to
[187] custom, our parents gave prizes for recitations, and the poems of several
[188] poets were recited by us boys, and many of us sang the poems of Solon,
[189] which at that time had not gone out of fashion. One of our tribe, either
[190] because he thought so or to please Critias, said that in his judgment Solon
[191] was not only the wisest of men, but also the noblest of poets. The old
[192] man, as I very well remember, brightened up at hearing this and said,
[193] smiling: Yes, Amynander, if Solon had only, like other poets, made poetry
[194] the business of his life, and had completed the tale which he brought with
[195] him from Egypt, and had not been compelled, by reason of the factions and
[196] troubles which he found stirring in his own country when he came home, to
[197] attend to other matters, in my opinion he would have been as famous as
[198] Homer or Hesiod, or any poet.
[199]
[200] And what was the tale about, Critias? said Amynander.
[201]
[202] About the greatest action which the Athenians ever did, and which ought to
[203] have been the most famous, but, through the lapse of time and the
[204] destruction of the actors, it has not come down to us.
[205]
[206] Tell us, said the other, the whole story, and how and from whom Solon heard
[207] this veritable tradition.
[208]
[209] He replied:--In the Egyptian Delta, at the head of which the river Nile
[210] divides, there is a certain district which is called the district of Sais,
[211] and the great city of the district is also called Sais, and is the city
[212] from which King Amasis came. The citizens have a deity for their
[213] foundress; she is called in the Egyptian tongue Neith, and is asserted by
[214] them to be the same whom the Hellenes call Athene; they are great lovers of
[215] the Athenians, and say that they are in some way related to them. To this
[216] city came Solon, and was received there with great honour; he asked the
[217] priests who were most skilful in such matters, about antiquity, and made
[218] the discovery that neither he nor any other Hellene knew anything worth
[219] mentioning about the times of old. On one occasion, wishing to draw them
[220] on to speak of antiquity, he began to tell about the most ancient things in
[221] our part of the world--about Phoroneus, who is called 'the first man,' and
[222] about Niobe; and after the Deluge, of the survival of Deucalion and Pyrrha;
[223] and he traced the genealogy of their descendants, and reckoning up the
[224] dates, tried to compute how many years ago the events of which he was
[225] speaking happened. Thereupon one of the priests, who was of a very great
[226] age, said: O Solon, Solon, you Hellenes are never anything but children,
[227] and there is not an old man among you. Solon in return asked him what he
[228] meant. I mean to say, he replied, that in mind you are all young; there is
[229] no old opinion handed down among you by ancient tradition, nor any science
[230] which is hoary with age. And I will tell you why. There have been, and
[231] will be again, many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes; the
[232] greatest have been brought about by the agencies of fire and water, and
[233] other lesser ones by innumerable other causes. There is a story, which
[234] even you have preserved, that once upon a time Paethon, the son of Helios,
[235] having yoked the steeds in his father's chariot, because he was not able to
[236] drive them in the path of his father, burnt up all that was upon the earth,
[237] and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt. Now this has the form of a
[238] myth, but really signifies a declination of the bodies moving in the
[239] heavens around the earth, and a great conflagration of things upon the
[240] earth, which recurs after long intervals; at such times those who live upon
[241] the mountains and in dry and lofty places are more liable to destruction
[242] than those who dwell by rivers or on the seashore. And from this calamity
[243] the Nile, who is our never-failing saviour, delivers and preserves us.
[244] When, on the other hand, the gods purge the earth with a deluge of water,
[245] the survivors in your country are herdsmen and shepherds who dwell on the
[246] mountains, but those who, like you, live in cities are carried by the
[247] rivers into the sea. Whereas in this land, neither then nor at any other
[248] time, does the water come down from above on the fields, having always a
[249] tendency to come up from below; for which reason the traditions preserved
[250] here are the most ancient. The fact is, that wherever the extremity of
[251] winter frost or of summer sun does not prevent, mankind exist, sometimes in
[252] greater, sometimes in lesser numbers. And whatever happened either in your
[253] country or in ours, or in any other region of which we are informed--if
[254] there were any actions noble or great or in any other way remarkable, they
[255] have all been written down by us of old, and are preserved in our temples.
[256] Whereas just when you and other nations are beginning to be provided with
[257] letters and the other requisites of civilized life, after the usual
[258] interval, the stream from heaven, like a pestilence, comes pouring down,
[259] and leaves only those of you who are destitute of letters and education;
[260] and so you have to begin all over again like children, and know nothing of
[261] what happened in ancient times, either among us or among yourselves. As
[262] for those genealogies of yours which you just now recounted to us, Solon,
[263] they are no better than the tales of children. In the first place you
[264] remember a single deluge only, but there were many previous ones; in the
[265] next place, you do not know that there formerly dwelt in your land the
[266] fairest and noblest race of men which ever lived, and that you and your
[267] whole city are descended from a small seed or remnant of them which
[268] survived. And this was unknown to you, because, for many generations, the
[269] survivors of that destruction died, leaving no written word. For there was
[270] a time, Solon, before the great deluge of all, when the city which now is
[271] Athens was first in war and in every way the best governed of all cities,
[272] is said to have performed the noblest deeds and to have had the fairest
[273] constitution of any of which tradition tells, under the face of heaven.
[274] Solon marvelled at his words, and earnestly requested the priests to inform
[275] him exactly and in order about these former citizens. You are welcome to
[276] hear about them, Solon, said the priest, both for your own sake and for
[277] that of your city, and above all, for the sake of the goddess who is the
[278] common patron and parent and educator of both our cities. She founded your
[279] city a thousand years before ours (Observe that Plato gives the same date
[280] (9000 years ago) for the foundation of Athens and for the repulse of the
[281] invasion from Atlantis (Crit.).), receiving from the Earth and Hephaestus
[282] the seed of your race, and afterwards she founded ours, of which the
[283] constitution is recorded in our sacred registers to be 8000 years old. As
[284] touching your citizens of 9000 years ago, I will briefly inform you of
[285] their laws and of their most famous action; the exact particulars of the
[286] whole we will hereafter go through at our leisure in the sacred registers
[287] themselves. If you compare these very laws with ours you will find that
[288] many of ours are the counterpart of yours as they were in the olden time.
[289] In the first place, there is the caste of priests, which is separated from
[290] all the others; next, there are the artificers, who ply their several
[291] crafts by themselves and do not intermix; and also there is the class of
[292] shepherds and of hunters, as well as that of husbandmen; and you will
[293] observe, too, that the warriors in Egypt are distinct from all the other
[294] classes, and are commanded by the law to devote themselves solely to
[295] military pursuits; moreover, the weapons which they carry are shields and
[296] spears, a style of equipment which the goddess taught of Asiatics first to
[297] us, as in your part of the world first to you. Then as to wisdom, do you
[298] observe how our law from the very first made a study of the whole order of
[299] things, extending even to prophecy and medicine which gives health, out of
[300] these divine elements deriving what was needful for human life, and adding
[301] every sort of knowledge which was akin to them. All this order and
[302] arrangement the goddess first imparted to you when establishing your city;
[303] and she chose the spot of earth in which you were born, because she saw
[304] that the happy temperament of the seasons in that land would produce the
[305] wisest of men. Wherefore the goddess, who was a lover both of war and of
[306] wisdom, selected and first of all settled that spot which was the most
[307] likely to produce men likest herself. And there you dwelt, having such
[308] laws as these and still better ones, and excelled all mankind in all
[309] virtue, as became the children and disciples of the gods.
[310]
[311] Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in our histories.
[312] But one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and valour. For these
[313] histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition
[314] against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end.
[315] This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the
[316] Atlantic was navigable; and there was an island situated in front of the
[317] straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was
[318] larger than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands,
[319] and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which
[320] surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of
[321] Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a
[322] real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless
[323] continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful
[324] empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over
[325] parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected
[326] the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of
[327] Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. This vast power, gathered into one,
[328] endeavoured to subdue at a blow our country and yours and the whole of the
[329] region within the straits; and then, Solon, your country shone forth, in
[330] the excellence of her virtue and strength, among all mankind. She was
[331] pre-eminent in courage and military skill, and was the leader of the
[332] Hellenes. And when the rest fell off from her, being compelled to stand
[333] alone, after having undergone the very extremity of danger, she defeated
[334] and triumphed over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who were
[335] not yet subjugated, and generously liberated all the rest of us who dwell
[336] within the pillars. But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and
[337] floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in
[338] a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner
[339] disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those
[340] parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in
[341] the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island.
[342]
[343] I have told you briefly, Socrates, what the aged Critias heard from Solon
[344] and related to us. And when you were speaking yesterday about your city
[345] and citizens, the tale which I have just been repeating to you came into my
[346] mind, and I remarked with astonishment how, by some mysterious coincidence,
[347] you agreed in almost every particular with the narrative of Solon; but I
[348] did not like to speak at the moment. For a long time had elapsed, and I
[349] had forgotten too much; I thought that I must first of all run over the
[350] narrative in my own mind, and then I would speak. And so I readily
[351] assented to your request yesterday, considering that in all such cases the
[352] chief difficulty is to find a tale suitable to our purpose, and that with
[353] such a tale we should be fairly well provided.
[354]
[355] And therefore, as Hermocrates has told you, on my way home yesterday I at
[356] once communicated the tale to my companions as I remembered it; and after I
[357] left them, during the night by thinking I recovered nearly the whole of it.
[358] Truly, as is often said, the lessons of our childhood make a wonderful
[359] impression on our memories; for I am not sure that I could remember all the
[360] discourse of yesterday, but I should be much surprised if I forgot any of
[361] these things which I have heard very long ago. I listened at the time with
[362] childlike interest to the old man's narrative; he was very ready to teach
[363] me, and I asked him again and again to repeat his words, so that like an
[364] indelible picture they were branded into my mind. As soon as the day
[365] broke, I rehearsed them as he spoke them to my companions, that they, as
[366] well as myself, might have something to say. And now, Socrates, to make an
[367] end of my preface, I am ready to tell you the whole tale. I will give you
[368] not only the general heads, but the particulars, as they were told to me.
[369] The city and citizens, which you yesterday described to us in fiction, we
[370] will now transfer to the world of reality. It shall be the ancient city of
[371] Athens, and we will suppose that the citizens whom you imagined, were our
[372] veritable ancestors, of whom the priest spoke; they will perfectly
[373] harmonize, and there will be no inconsistency in saying that the citizens
[374] of your republic are these ancient Athenians. Let us divide the subject
[375] among us, and all endeavour according to our ability gracefully to execute
[376] the task which you have imposed upon us. Consider then, Socrates, if this
[377] narrative is suited to the purpose, or whether we should seek for some
[378] other instead.
[379]
[380] SOCRATES: And what other, Critias, can we find that will be better than
[381] this, which is natural and suitable to the festival of the goddess, and has
[382] the very great advantage of being a fact and not a fiction? How or where
[383] shall we find another if we abandon this? We cannot, and therefore you
[384] must tell the tale, and good luck to you; and I in return for my
[385] yesterday's discourse will now rest and be a listener.
[386]
[387] CRITIAS: Let me proceed to explain to you, Socrates, the order in which we
[388] have arranged our entertainment. Our intention is, that Timaeus, who is
[389] the most of an astronomer amongst us, and has made the nature of the
[390] universe his special study, should speak first, beginning with the
[391] generation of the world and going down to the creation of man; next, I am
[392] to receive the men whom he has created, and of whom some will have profited
[393] by the excellent education which you have given them; and then, in
[394] accordance with the tale of Solon, and equally with his law, we will bring
[395] them into court and make them citizens, as if they were those very
[396] Athenians whom the sacred Egyptian record has recovered from oblivion, and
[397] thenceforward we will speak of them as Athenians and fellow-citizens.
[398]
[399] SOCRATES: I see that I shall receive in my turn a perfect and splendid
[400] feast of reason. And now, Timaeus, you, I suppose, should speak next,
[401] after duly calling upon the Gods.
[402]
[403] TIMAEUS: All men, Socrates, who have any degree of right feeling, at the
[404] beginning of every enterprise, whether small or great, always call upon
[405] God. And we, too, who are going to discourse of the nature of the
[406] universe, how created or how existing without creation, if we be not
[407] altogether out of our wits, must invoke the aid of Gods and Goddesses and
[408] pray that our words may be acceptable to them and consistent with
[409] themselves. Let this, then, be our invocation of the Gods, to which I add
[410] an exhortation of myself to speak in such manner as will be most
[411] intelligible to you, and will most accord with my own intent.
[412]
[413] First then, in my judgment, we must make a distinction and ask, What is
[414] that which always is and has no becoming; and what is that which is always
[415] becoming and never is? That which is apprehended by intelligence and
[416] reason is always in the same state; but that which is conceived by opinion
[417] with the help of sensation and without reason, is always in a process of
[418] becoming and perishing and never really is. Now everything that becomes or
[419] is created must of necessity be created by some cause, for without a cause
[420] nothing can be created. The work of the creator, whenever he looks to the
[421] unchangeable and fashions the form and nature of his work after an
[422] unchangeable pattern, must necessarily be made fair and perfect; but when
[423] he looks to the created only, and uses a created pattern, it is not fair or
[424] perfect. Was the heaven then or the world, whether called by this or by
[425] any other more appropriate name--assuming the name, I am asking a question
[426] which has to be asked at the beginning of an enquiry about anything--was
[427] the world, I say, always in existence and without beginning? or created,
[428] and had it a beginning? Created, I reply, being visible and tangible and
[429] having a body, and therefore sensible; and all sensible things are
[430] apprehended by opinion and sense and are in a process of creation and
[431] created. Now that which is created must, as we affirm, of necessity be
[432] created by a cause. But the father and maker of all this universe is past
[433] finding out; and even if we found him, to tell of him to all men would be
[434] impossible. And there is still a question to be asked about him: Which of
[435] the patterns had the artificer in view when he made the world--the pattern
[436] of the unchangeable, or of that which is created? If the world be indeed
[437] fair and the artificer good, it is manifest that he must have looked to
[438] that which is eternal; but if what cannot be said without blasphemy is
[439] true, then to the created pattern. Every one will see that he must have
[440] looked to the eternal; for the world is the fairest of creations and he is
[441] the best of causes. And having been created in this way, the world has
[442] been framed in the likeness of that which is apprehended by reason and mind
[443] and is unchangeable, and must therefore of necessity, if this is admitted,
[444] be a copy of something. Now it is all-important that the beginning of
[445] everything should be according to nature. And in speaking of the copy and
[446] the original we may assume that words are akin to the matter which they
[447] describe; when they relate to the lasting and permanent and intelligible,
[448] they ought to be lasting and unalterable, and, as far as their nature
[449] allows, irrefutable and immovable--nothing less. But when they express
[450] only the copy or likeness and not the eternal things themselves, they need
[451] only be likely and analogous to the real words. As being is to becoming,
[452] so is truth to belief. If then, Socrates, amid the many opinions about the
[453] gods and the generation of the universe, we are not able to give notions
[454] which are altogether and in every respect exact and consistent with one
[455] another, do not be surprised. Enough, if we adduce probabilities as likely
[456] as any others; for we must remember that I who am the speaker, and you who
[457] are the judges, are only mortal men, and we ought to accept the tale which
[458] is probable and enquire no further.
[459]
[460] SOCRATES: Excellent, Timaeus; and we will do precisely as you bid us. The
[461] prelude is charming, and is already accepted by us--may we beg of you to
[462] proceed to the strain?
[463]
[464] TIMAEUS: Let me tell you then why the creator made this world of
[465] generation. He was good, and the good can never have any jealousy of
[466] anything. And being free from jealousy, he desired that all things should
[467] be as like himself as they could be. This is in the truest sense the
[468] origin of creation and of the world, as we shall do well in believing on
[469] the testimony of wise men: God desired that all things should be good and
[470] nothing bad, so far as this was attainable. Wherefore also finding the
[471] whole visible sphere not at rest, but moving in an irregular and disorderly
[472] fashion, out of disorder he brought order, considering that this was in
[473] every way better than the other. Now the deeds of the best could never be
[474] or have been other than the fairest; and the creator, reflecting on the
[475] things which are by nature visible, found that no unintelligent creature
[476] taken as a whole was fairer than the intelligent taken as a whole; and that
[477] intelligence could not be present in anything which was devoid of soul.
[478] For which reason, when he was framing the universe, he put intelligence in
[479] soul, and soul in body, that he might be the creator of a work which was by
[480] nature fairest and best. Wherefore, using the language of probability, we
[481] may say that the world became a living creature truly endowed with soul and
[482] intelligence by the providence of God.
[483]
[484] This being supposed, let us proceed to the next stage: In the likeness of
[485] what animal did the Creator make the world? It would be an unworthy thing
[486] to liken it to any nature which exists as a part only; for nothing can be
[487] beautiful which is like any imperfect thing; but let us suppose the world
[488] to be the very image of that whole of which all other animals both
[489] individually and in their tribes are portions. For the original of the
[490] universe contains in itself all intelligible beings, just as this world
[491] comprehends us and all other visible creatures. For the Deity, intending
[492] to make this world like the fairest and most perfect of intelligible
[493] beings, framed one visible animal comprehending within itself all other
[494] animals of a kindred nature. Are we right in saying that there is one
[495] world, or that they are many and infinite? There must be one only, if the
[496] created copy is to accord with the original. For that which includes all
[497] other intelligible creatures cannot have a second or companion; in that
[498] case there would be need of another living being which would include both,
[499] and of which they would be parts, and the likeness would be more truly said
[500] to resemble not them, but that other which included them. In order then
[501] that the world might be solitary, like the perfect animal, the creator made
[502] not two worlds or an infinite number of them; but there is and ever will be
[503] one only-begotten and created heaven.
[504]
[505] Now that which is created is of necessity corporeal, and also visible and
[506] tangible. And nothing is visible where there is no fire, or tangible which
[507] has no solidity, and nothing is solid without earth. Wherefore also God in
[508] the beginning of creation made the body of the universe to consist of fire
[509] and earth. But two things cannot be rightly put together without a third;
[510] there must be some bond of union between them. And the fairest bond is
[511] that which makes the most complete fusion of itself and the things which it
[512] combines; and proportion is best adapted to effect such a union. For
[513] whenever in any three numbers, whether cube or square, there is a mean,
[514] which is to the last term what the first term is to it; and again, when the
[515] mean is to the first term as the last term is to the mean--then the mean
[516] becoming first and last, and the first and last both becoming means, they
[517] will all of them of necessity come to be the same, and having become the
[518] same with one another will be all one. If the universal frame had been
[519] created a surface only and having no depth, a single mean would have
[520] sufficed to bind together itself and the other terms; but now, as the world
[521] must be solid, and solid bodies are always compacted not by one mean but by
[522] two, God placed water and air in the mean between fire and earth, and made
[523] them to have the same proportion so far as was possible (as fire is to air
[524] so is air to water, and as air is to water so is water to earth); and thus
[525] he bound and put together a visible and tangible heaven. And for these
[526] reasons, and out of such elements which are in number four, the body of the
[527] world was created, and it was harmonized by proportion, and therefore has
[528] the spirit of friendship; and having been reconciled to itself, it was
[529] indissoluble by the hand of any other than the framer.
[530]
[531] Now the creation took up the whole of each of the four elements; for the
[532] Creator compounded the world out of all the fire and all the water and all
[533] the air and all the earth, leaving no part of any of them nor any power of
[534] them outside. His intention was, in the first place, that the animal
[535] should be as far as possible a perfect whole and of perfect parts:
[536] secondly, that it should be one, leaving no remnants out of which another
[537] such world might be created: and also that it should be free from old age
[538] and unaffected by disease. Considering that if heat and cold and other
[539] powerful forces which unite bodies surround and attack them from without
[540] when they are unprepared, they decompose them, and by bringing diseases and
[541] old age upon them, make them waste away--for this cause and on these
[542] grounds he made the world one whole, having every part entire, and being
[543] therefore perfect and not liable to old age and disease. And he gave to
[544] the world the figure which was suitable and also natural. Now to the
[545] animal which was to comprehend all animals, that figure was suitable which
[546] comprehends within itself all other figures. Wherefore he made the world
[547] in the form of a globe, round as from a lathe, having its extremes in every
[548] direction equidistant from the centre, the most perfect and the most like
[549] itself of all figures; for he considered that the like is infinitely fairer
[550] than the unlike. This he finished off, making the surface smooth all round
[551] for many reasons; in the first place, because the living being had no need
[552] of eyes when there was nothing remaining outside him to be seen; nor of
[553] ears when there was nothing to be heard; and there was no surrounding
[554] atmosphere to be breathed; nor would there have been any use of organs by
[555] the help of which he might receive his food or get rid of what he had
[556] already digested, since there was nothing which went from him or came into
[557] him: for there was nothing beside him. Of design he was created thus, his
[558] own waste providing his own food, and all that he did or suffered taking
[559] place in and by himself. For the Creator conceived that a being which was
[560] self-sufficient would be far more excellent than one which lacked anything;
[561] and, as he had no need to take anything or defend himself against any one,
[562] the Creator did not think it necessary to bestow upon him hands: nor had
[563] he any need of feet, nor of the whole apparatus of walking; but the
[564] movement suited to his spherical form was assigned to him, being of all the
[565] seven that which is most appropriate to mind and intelligence; and he was
[566] made to move in the same manner and on the same spot, within his own limits
[567] revolving in a circle. All the other six motions were taken away from him,
[568] and he was made not to partake of their deviations. And as this circular
[569] movement required no feet, the universe was created without legs and
[570] without feet.
[571]
[572] Such was the whole plan of the eternal God about the god that was to be, to
[573] whom for this reason he gave a body, smooth and even, having a surface in
[574] every direction equidistant from the centre, a body entire and perfect, and
[575] formed out of perfect bodies. And in the centre he put the soul, which he
[576] diffused throughout the body, making it also to be the exterior environment
[577] of it; and he made the universe a circle moving in a circle, one and
[578] solitary, yet by reason of its excellence able to converse with itself, and
[579] needing no other friendship or acquaintance. Having these purposes in view
[580] he created the world a blessed god.
[581]
[582] Now God did not make the soul after the body, although we are speaking of
[583] them in this order; for having brought them together he would never have
[584] allowed that the elder should be ruled by the younger; but this is a random
[585] manner of speaking which we have, because somehow we ourselves too are very
[586] much under the dominion of chance. Whereas he made the soul in origin and
[587] excellence prior to and older than the body, to be the ruler and mistress,
[588] of whom the body was to be the subject. And he made her out of the
[589] following elements and on this wise: Out of the indivisible and
[590] unchangeable, and also out of that which is divisible and has to do with
[591] material bodies, he compounded a third and intermediate kind of essence,
[592] partaking of the nature of the same and of the other, and this compound he
[593] placed accordingly in a mean between the indivisible, and the divisible and
[594] material. He took the three elements of the same, the other, and the
[595] essence, and mingled them into one form, compressing by force the reluctant
[596] and unsociable nature of the other into the same. When he had mingled them
[597] with the essence and out of three made one, he again divided this whole
[598] into as many portions as was fitting, each portion being a compound of the
[599] same, the other, and the essence. And he proceeded to divide after this
[600] manner:--First of all, he took away one part of the whole (1), and then he
[601] separated a second part which was double the first (2), and then he took
[602] away a third part which was half as much again as the second and three
[603] times as much as the first (3), and then he took a fourth part which was
[604] twice as much as the second (4), and a fifth part which was three times the
[605] third (9), and a sixth part which was eight times the first (8), and a
[606] seventh part which was twenty-seven times the first (27). After this he
[607] filled up the double intervals (i.e. between 1, 2, 4, 8) and the triple
[608] (i.e. between 1, 3, 9, 27) cutting off yet other portions from the mixture
[609] and placing them in the intervals, so that in each interval there were two
[610] kinds of means, the one exceeding and exceeded by equal parts of its
[611] extremes (as for example 1, 4/3, 2, in which the mean 4/3 is one-third of 1
[612] more than 1, and one-third of 2 less than 2), the other being that kind of
[613] mean which exceeds and is exceeded by an equal number (e.g.
[614]
[615] - over 1, 4/3, 3/2, - over 2, 8/3, 3, - over 4, 16/3, 6, - over 8: and
[616] - over 1, 3/2, 2, - over 3, 9/2, 6, - over 9, 27/2, 18, - over 27.).
[617]
[618] Where there were intervals of 3/2 and of 4/3 and of 9/8, made by the
[619] connecting terms in the former intervals, he filled up all the intervals of
[620] 4/3 with the interval of 9/8, leaving a fraction over; and the interval
[621] which this fraction expressed was in the ratio of 256 to 243 (e.g.
[622]
[623] 243:256::81/64:4/3::243/128:2::81/32:8/3::243/64:4::81/16:16/3::242/32:8.).
[624]
[625] And thus the whole mixture out of which he cut these portions was all
[626] exhausted by him. This entire compound he divided lengthways into two
[627] parts, which he joined to one another at the centre like the letter X, and
[628] bent them into a circular form, connecting them with themselves and each
[629] other at the point opposite to their original meeting-point; and,
[630] comprehending them in a uniform revolution upon the same axis, he made the
[631] one the outer and the other the inner circle. Now the motion of the outer
[632] circle he called the motion of the same, and the motion of the inner circle
[633] the motion of the other or diverse. The motion of the same he carried
[634] round by the side (i.e. of the rectangular figure supposed to be inscribed
[635] in the circle of the Same) to the right, and the motion of the diverse
[636] diagonally (i.e. across the rectangular figure from corner to corner) to
[637] the left. And he gave dominion to the motion of the same and like, for
[638] that he left single and undivided; but the inner motion he divided in
[639] six places and made seven unequal circles having their intervals in
[640] ratios of two and three, three of each, and bade the orbits proceed in a
[641] direction opposite to one another; and three (Sun, Mercury, Venus) he made
[642] to move with equal swiftness, and the remaining four (Moon, Saturn, Mars,
[643] Jupiter) to move with unequal swiftness to the three and to one another,
[644] but in due proportion.
[645]
[646] Now when the Creator had framed the soul according to his will, he formed
[647] within her the corporeal universe, and brought the two together, and united
[648] them centre to centre. The soul, interfused everywhere from the centre to
[649] the circumference of heaven, of which also she is the external envelopment,
[650] herself turning in herself, began a divine beginning of never-ceasing and
[651] rational life enduring throughout all time. The body of heaven is visible,
[652] but the soul is invisible, and partakes of reason and harmony, and being
[653] made by the best of intellectual and everlasting natures, is the best of
[654] things created. And because she is composed of the same and of the other
[655] and of the essence, these three, and is divided and united in due
[656] proportion, and in her revolutions returns upon herself, the soul, when
[657] touching anything which has essence, whether dispersed in parts or
[658] undivided, is stirred through all her powers, to declare the sameness or
[659] difference of that thing and some other; and to what individuals are
[660] related, and by what affected, and in what way and how and when, both in
[661] the world of generation and in the world of immutable being. And when
[662] reason, which works with equal truth, whether she be in the circle of the
[663] diverse or of the same--in voiceless silence holding her onward course in
[664] the sphere of the self-moved--when reason, I say, is hovering around the
[665] sensible world and when the circle of the diverse also moving truly imparts
[666] the intimations of sense to the whole soul, then arise opinions and beliefs
[667] sure and certain. But when reason is concerned with the rational, and the
[668] circle of the same moving smoothly declares it, then intelligence and
[669] knowledge are necessarily perfected. And if any one affirms that in which
[670] these two are found to be other than the soul, he will say the very
[671] opposite of the truth.
[672]
[673] When the father and creator saw the creature which he had made moving and
[674] living, the created image of the eternal gods, he rejoiced, and in his joy
[675] determined to make the copy still more like the original; and as this was
[676] eternal, he sought to make the universe eternal, so far as might be. Now
[677] the nature of the ideal being was everlasting, but to bestow this attribute
[678] in its fulness upon a creature was impossible. Wherefore he resolved to
[679] have a moving image of eternity, and when he set in order the heaven, he
[680] made this image eternal but moving according to number, while eternity
[681] itself rests in unity; and this image we call time. For there were no days
[682] and nights and months and years before the heaven was created, but when he
[683] constructed the heaven he created them also. They are all parts of time,
[684] and the past and future are created species of time, which we unconsciously
[685] but wrongly transfer to the eternal essence; for we say that he 'was,' he
[686] 'is,' he 'will be,' but the truth is that 'is' alone is properly attributed
[687] to him, and that 'was' and 'will be' are only to be spoken of becoming in
[688] time, for they are motions, but that which is immovably the same cannot
[689] become older or younger by time, nor ever did or has become, or hereafter
[690] will be, older or younger, nor is subject at all to any of those states
[691] which affect moving and sensible things and of which generation is the
[692] cause. These are the forms of time, which imitates eternity and revolves
[693] according to a law of number. Moreover, when we say that what has become
[694] IS become and what becomes IS becoming, and that what will become IS about
[695] to become and that the non-existent IS non-existent--all these are
[696] inaccurate modes of expression (compare Parmen.). But perhaps this whole
[697] subject will be more suitably discussed on some other occasion.
[698]
[699] Time, then, and the heaven came into being at the same instant in order
[700] that, having been created together, if ever there was to be a dissolution
[701] of them, they might be dissolved together. It was framed after the pattern
[702] of the eternal nature, that it might resemble this as far as was possible;
[703] for the pattern exists from eternity, and the created heaven has been, and
[704] is, and will be, in all time. Such was the mind and thought of God in the
[705] creation of time. The sun and moon and five other stars, which are called
[706] the planets, were created by him in order to distinguish and preserve the
[707] numbers of time; and when he had made their several bodies, he placed them
[708] in the orbits in which the circle of the other was revolving,--in seven
[709] orbits seven stars. First, there was the moon in the orbit nearest the
[710] earth, and next the sun, in the second orbit above the earth; then came the
[711] morning star and the star sacred to Hermes, moving in orbits which have an
[712] equal swiftness with the sun, but in an opposite direction; and this is the
[713] reason why the sun and Hermes and Lucifer overtake and are overtaken by
[714] each other. To enumerate the places which he assigned to the other stars,
[715] and to give all the reasons why he assigned them, although a secondary
[716] matter, would give more trouble than the primary. These things at some
[717] future time, when we are at leisure, may have the consideration which they
[718] deserve, but not at present.
[719]
[720] Now, when all the stars which were necessary to the creation of time had
[721] attained a motion suitable to them, and had become living creatures having
[722] bodies fastened by vital chains, and learnt their appointed task, moving in
[723] the motion of the diverse, which is diagonal, and passes through and is
[724] governed by the motion of the same, they revolved, some in a larger and
[725] some in a lesser orbit--those which had the lesser orbit revolving faster,
[726] and those which had the larger more slowly. Now by reason of the motion of
[727] the same, those which revolved fastest appeared to be overtaken by those
[728] which moved slower although they really overtook them; for the motion of
[729] the same made them all turn in a spiral, and, because some went one way and
[730] some another, that which receded most slowly from the sphere of the same,
[731] which was the swiftest, appeared to follow it most nearly. That there
[732] might be some visible measure of their relative swiftness and slowness as
[733] they proceeded in their eight courses, God lighted a fire, which we now
[734] call the sun, in the second from the earth of these orbits, that it might
[735] give light to the whole of heaven, and that the animals, as many as nature
[736] intended, might participate in number, learning arithmetic from the
[737] revolution of the same and the like. Thus then, and for this reason the
[738] night and the day were created, being the period of the one most
[739] intelligent revolution. And the month is accomplished when the moon has
[740] completed her orbit and overtaken the sun, and the year when the sun has
[741] completed his own orbit. Mankind, with hardly an exception, have not
[742] remarked the periods of the other stars, and they have no name for them,
[743] and do not measure them against one another by the help of number, and
[744] hence they can scarcely be said to know that their wanderings, being
[745] infinite in number and admirable for their variety, make up time. And yet
[746] there is no difficulty in seeing that the perfect number of time fulfils
[747] the perfect year when all the eight revolutions, having their relative
[748] degrees of swiftness, are accomplished together and attain their completion
[749] at the same time, measured by the rotation of the same and equally moving.
[750] After this manner, and for these reasons, came into being such of the stars
[751] as in their heavenly progress received reversals of motion, to the end that
[752] the created heaven might imitate the eternal nature, and be as like as
[753] possible to the perfect and intelligible animal.
[754]
[755] Thus far and until the birth of time the created universe was made in the
[756] likeness of the original, but inasmuch as all animals were not yet
[757] comprehended therein, it was still unlike. What remained, the creator then
[758] proceeded to fashion after the nature of the pattern. Now as in the ideal
[759] animal the mind perceives ideas or species of a certain nature and number,
[760] he thought that this created animal ought to have species of a like nature
[761] and number. There are four such; one of them is the heavenly race of the
[762] gods; another, the race of birds whose way is in the air; the third, the
[763] watery species; and the fourth, the pedestrian and land creatures. Of the
[764] heavenly and divine, he created the greater part out of fire, that they
[765] might be the brightest of all things and fairest to behold, and he
[766] fashioned them after the likeness of the universe in the figure of a
[767] circle, and made them follow the intelligent motion of the supreme,
[768] distributing them over the whole circumference of heaven, which was to be a
[769] true cosmos or glorious world spangled with them all over. And he gave to
[770] each of them two movements: the first, a movement on the same spot after
[771] the same manner, whereby they ever continue to think consistently the same
[772] thoughts about the same things; the second, a forward movement, in which
[773] they are controlled by the revolution of the same and the like; but by the
[774] other five motions they were unaffected, in order that each of them might
[775] attain the highest perfection. And for this reason the fixed stars were
[776] created, to be divine and eternal animals, ever-abiding and revolving after
[777] the same manner and on the same spot; and the other stars which reverse
[778] their motion and are subject to deviations of this kind, were created in
[779] the manner already described. The earth, which is our nurse, clinging (or
[780] 'circling') around the pole which is extended through the universe, he
[781] framed to be the guardian and artificer of night and day, first and eldest
[782] of gods that are in the interior of heaven. Vain would be the attempt to
[783] tell all the figures of them circling as in dance, and their
[784] juxtapositions, and the return of them in their revolutions upon
[785] themselves, and their approximations, and to say which of these deities in
[786] their conjunctions meet, and which of them are in opposition, and in what
[787] order they get behind and before one another, and when they are severally
[788] eclipsed to our sight and again reappear, sending terrors and intimations
[789] of the future to those who cannot calculate their movements--to attempt to
[790] tell of all this without a visible representation of the heavenly system
[791] would be labour in vain. Enough on this head; and now let what we have
[792] said about the nature of the created and visible gods have an end.
[793]
[794] To know or tell the origin of the other divinities is beyond us, and we
[795] must accept the traditions of the men of old time who affirm themselves to
[796] be the offspring of the gods--that is what they say--and they must surely
[797] have known their own ancestors. How can we doubt the word of the children
[798] of the gods? Although they give no probable or certain proofs, still, as
[799] they declare that they are speaking of what took place in their own family,
[800] we must conform to custom and believe them. In this manner, then,
[801] according to them, the genealogy of these gods is to be received and set
[802] forth.
[803]
[804] Oceanus and Tethys were the children of Earth and Heaven, and from these
[805] sprang Phorcys and Cronos and Rhea, and all that generation; and from
[806] Cronos and Rhea sprang Zeus and Here, and all those who are said to be
[807] their brethren, and others who were the children of these.
[808]
[809] Now, when all of them, both those who visibly appear in their revolutions
[810] as well as those other gods who are of a more retiring nature, had come
[811] into being, the creator of the universe addressed them in these words:
[812] 'Gods, children of gods, who are my works, and of whom I am the artificer
[813] and father, my creations are indissoluble, if so I will. All that is bound
[814] may be undone, but only an evil being would wish to undo that which is
[815] harmonious and happy. Wherefore, since ye are but creatures, ye are not
[816] altogether immortal and indissoluble, but ye shall certainly not be
[817] dissolved, nor be liable to the fate of death, having in my will a greater
[818] and mightier bond than those with which ye were bound at the time of your
[819] birth. And now listen to my instructions:--Three tribes of mortal beings
[820] remain to be created--without them the universe will be incomplete, for it
[821] will not contain every kind of animal which it ought to contain, if it is
[822] to be perfect. On the other hand, if they were created by me and received
[823] life at my hands, they would be on an equality with the gods. In order
[824] then that they may be mortal, and that this universe may be truly
[825] universal, do ye, according to your natures, betake yourselves to the
[826] formation of animals, imitating the power which was shown by me in creating
[827] you. The part of them worthy of the name immortal, which is called divine
[828] and is the guiding principle of those who are willing to follow justice and
[829] you--of that divine part I will myself sow the seed, and having made a
[830] beginning, I will hand the work over to you. And do ye then interweave the
[831] mortal with the immortal, and make and beget living creatures, and give
[832] them food, and make them to grow, and receive them again in death.'
[833]
[834] Thus he spake, and once more into the cup in which he had previously
[835] mingled the soul of the universe he poured the remains of the elements, and
[836] mingled them in much the same manner; they were not, however, pure as
[837] before, but diluted to the second and third degree. And having made it he
[838] divided the whole mixture into souls equal in number to the stars, and
[839] assigned each soul to a star; and having there placed them as in a chariot,
[840] he showed them the nature of the universe, and declared to them the laws of
[841] destiny, according to which their first birth would be one and the same for
[842] all,--no one should suffer a disadvantage at his hands; they were to be
[843] sown in the instruments of time severally adapted to them, and to come
[844] forth the most religious of animals; and as human nature was of two kinds,
[845] the superior race would hereafter be called man. Now, when they