Timaeus and Critias (Penguin Classics)

It is impossible to critique Plato. His train of thought and knowledge, is far beyond the average. However; I was looking for the lost continent of Atlantis. It isn't there. the short and unfinished narrative, could be describing The Hawaiian Island, If you are looking for deep knowledge this is the book for you. If you are looking for Atlantis. Try the yellow pages..D

Pages 32-33 are sealed together. Never had this before in a brand new book. About an inch is free the rest rest of the page cannot be unsealed.

Read Pages 12 and 13, and then consume everything produced by Randall Carlson

The philosophy and conversations were explained and the points were somewhat salient. But, of course, Greek philosophyis understood to be convoluted and controversial. It can be fun.

As usual, Penguin delivered An excellent translation that was a pleasure to read. I recommend this book to all students of the classics.

So much to learn from this great book, so well written and even very hard to stop reading. I wish all students would have to read this great book.

Atlantis. That is what most people are familiar with, from this ancient tale.If one reads carefully, it is easy to tell that this is a fictious work by plato, perhaps with real historic connections. We call such a piece today a historic-fiction, so that would make Timaeus and Critias from Penguin Classics, ancient-fiction.But Atlantis is not the real focus of the work. The real focus is the ancient civilization of Athens. The story provides respectful details of Atlantis because, according to the story, Atlania attacks Athens in an all out invasion. Athens, however, prevails.There are some who would argue that Plato is not refering to the real atlatic ocean because of an island in the south of Greece that seams to fit the details. The problem is that Plato makes a very distinct description: Atlania had a dominating power over much of the world, including a reference to a land far across the ocean, including all of North Africa. That would make Atlantis a very powerful nation indeed.If there was rivalry between Athens and Atlantis, as described in Plato, then they could not both have existed so close as being on the same continent and have Atlantis gain such strength.So, either Atlantis is a fiction in totality (a very real possibility that can be seen in the story's set up) or is a myth that is based on a great deal of truth.How many gods did Greece believe in? I don't know, but even the ancient greeks believed that there was ONE God who made the whole of the universe. Then God made Kronos, who then made the lessor Gods such as Athena and Atlas (the father of Zeus). Plato details all this in the first part of the book, referred to as Timaeus.I recommend this to anyone who is interested in the Atlantis impact on our modern day world.

I'm not sure why Plato ever became so famous based on this book.He states as fact things that are only conjecture really.It makes basically no sense at all based on what we now know about modern science, the human body, etc..But then Plato didn't have access to all that we know now. In that sense it can be interesting to see how someone tried to apply simple ideas to explain everything.And he does try to explain everything in this short book from the creation of the universe to the creation of the human body.However the information about Atlantis is fascinating. In that part of the book it appears to me that Plato really is stating facts but yet that is the part that many people (including the author of the appendix) say is science fiction.To say that mythology including the story of Atlantis is science fiction is "highly unphilosophical, nay rediculous"(Poseidon: A Link Between Semite, Hamite, and Aryan (Paperback)by Robert Brown ).Or people like this guy try to explain mythology by relating it to more conventional places, events, etc.. where it doesn't fit at all. That's because they don't understand mythology is talking about metaphysical and supernatural events.Yes Atlantis was a real place. It was a super race that started I guess about 50,000 years ago and was light years ahead of our current society. Many people today are experiencing past life memories about Atlantis where they see the amazing crystal technology, genetic engineering, time travel, etc..With all the controversy about evolution versus creationism Plato provides some assistance:"Birds were produced by a process of transformation, growing feathers instead of hair, from harmless, empty-headed men, who were interested in the heavens but were silly enough to think that visible evidence is all the foundation astronomy needs.""Land animals came from men who had no use of philosophy... while their skulls were elongated into various shapes as a result of the crushing of their circles. And the reason some have four feet and others many was that the stupider they were the more supports god gave them, to tie them more closely to earth.""But the most unintelligent and ignorant of all turned into the fourth kind of creature that lives in water... their makers thought them unfit to breathe pure clean air, and made them inhale water, into whose turbid depths they plunged them." Poseidon: A Link Between Semite, Hamite, and Aryan The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls: Unlocking the Secrets of the Past, Present, and Future The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Reader's Edition) Edgar Cayce's Atlantis and Lemuria: The Lost Civilizations in the Light of Modern Discoveries Edgar Cayce's Egypt: Psychic Revelations on the Most Fascinating Civilization Ever Known Initiation Initiation in the Great Pyramid (Astara's Library of Mystical Classics)

Written in the 4th century BC, "Timaeus & Critias" are two of Plato’s more famous stories. Considered as the sequel to the Republic, “Timaeus” speculates about cosmology, where the universe as a whole is divine and ruled by mathematical truths. “Critias” is a short, probably incomplete dialogue telling the myth of Atlantis.This must be one of my favourite Plato reads. The explanation of the purpose of the universe, the introduction of a demiurge as the architect of the universe, the detailing of the theory of the four elements and the triangles at molecular level creating the physical world, I found fantastic. The subsequent introduction of the World Soul making the universe a single living thing I found compelling. It does make “Timaeus & Critias” a fantastical journey through the worldview and mindset of some of the ancient Greeks. This is even more so as the Pre-Socratics never seem far away from Plato’s speculations.As always, Plato’s works give the reader a lot to do, but his prose as well as Thomas Johansen’s introduction and excellent explanatory notes make this a great read. Furthermore, listening to Peter Adamson’s podcast and reading his accompanying book,  Classical Philosophy: A history of philosophy without any gaps, Volume 1  is an excellent and enjoyable companion to classical philosophy in general and Plato’s themes, theories and context more specifically. Classical Philosophy: A history of philosophy without any gaps, Volume 1

Amazon advertises this as the Henry Desmond Lee translation (see screenshot). But after you pay for it you find it is the Benjamin Jowett translation That is, the same one YOU CAN GET FOR FREE from Gutenberg, etc. Do not fall for the scam.

It is as a book should be. Plato does not need rafting, he is one of the world’s great est philosophers.

If you are starting to wonder about the origins of the earth, and questioning about our reality this book is perfect for you💪🏼✨ love it and I almost finish it, so I will probably buy more books about Plato

‘Timaeus and Critias’ are treasures that are part of the inheritance of Western thought. Plato is regarded as one of the forefathers of Western democracy. ‘Republic’ is perhaps his most famous and lauded work, but his other writings, such as ‘Timaeus and Critias’, are well worth exploring too. ‘Timaeus’ is obviously a work of its time and in the light of modern scientific knowledge is way off track. But it shows what a deep and intelligent thinker Plato was and how he wrestled with the mysteries of the universe, the world around him and the human body.‘Critias’ is a very different treasure. It is the origin of the story of ancient Atlantis and describes in detail what and where Atlantis was and its eventual destruction. The tragedy is that Plato’s story of Atlantis is incomplete and it cuts off just where he starts to describe the great natural catastrophe that befell it. So we can only speculate on what might have followed in his original writing of the legend. The tantalising thing about the ‘Critias’ is that Plato makes it look as though he is relating a story based on a historical event that actually occurred some 9,000 years before. Scholars have argued about whether it is a fictional story or one based on historical fact. Be that as it may, if you are interested in the story of Atlantis here is the original source document that created the legend.