Plato · c. 428/427-348/347 BC
Timaeus
ΤίμαιοςIn the Timaeus Socrates asks his hosts Timaeus, Critias and Hermocrates to show his ideal city in action. Critias tells how Solon heard in Egypt, from the priests of Sais, of Athens nine thousand years ago and of the war against the island of Atlantis, which sank in a day and a night. Timaeus then gives an account of the making of the universe by its Maker, of the world soul, of time, the stars and the young gods, of the elements and their geometry, and of the human body, its diseases, and the origin of women, birds, beasts and fishes.
Contents · 22 passages
- 17a–19eSocrates' summary of yesterday's talk on the ideal city1197 words
- 20a–22eCritias' story from Solon: the priests of Sais and the children of Greece1443 words
- 23a–25eAthens nine thousand years ago and the island of Atlantis1397 words
- 26a–28cThe plan of the speeches; Being and Becoming1167 words
- 29a–31cThe Maker and the pattern of the universe1147 words
- 32a–34cThe body of the universe: the four elements, the sphere1023 words
- 35b–37eThe world soul: the mixture, the harmonic intervals and the circles of the Same and the Other1213 words
- 38a–40eTime, the sun, moon and planets, and the four kinds of living creature1510 words
- 41a–43eThe birth of the young gods and the making of mortal souls1468 words
- 44a–46eThe human body and the soul's disturbance; the head, limbs and sight1375 words
- 47a–49eSight and hearing as gifts for philosophy; Reason and Necessity; the four elements as likenesses1434 words
- 50a–52eThe Receptacle: the nurse of becoming1466 words
- 53a–56eThe geometry of the elements: triangles and the five regular solids1938 words
- 57a–60eThe changes of the elements; kinds of fire, air, water and metals2084 words
- 61a–64eEarth, stones, heat and cold, hardness and softness, weight and lightness1897 words
- 65a–68ePleasure, pain, tastes, smells, sounds and colours1795 words
- 69a–72eThe mortal soul: heart, lungs, liver and the faculty of divination1916 words
- 73a–76eMarrow, bones, flesh and sinews; the head, hair and nails1960 words
- 77a–81ePlants, the blood vessels, breathing, digestion and ageing2409 words
- 82a–85eThe diseases of the body1876 words
- 86a–89eDiseases of the soul, and the right care of soul and body1995 words
- 90a–92cThe three souls and the end: the origin of women, birds, land animals and fishes1336 words
More by Plato
English translation by Robert Gregg Bury (1929). Original text: Robert Gregg Bury (trans.), Plato IX: Timaeus, Critias, Cleitophon, Menexenus, Epistles, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1929; Greek text: John Burnet, Platonis Opera, Oxford Classical Texts (as digitised by Perseus).
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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