Timaeus

Timaeus

[20ε] Σόλων ποτ’ ἔφη. ἦν μὲν οὖν οἰκεῖος καὶ σφόδρα φίλος ἡμῖν Δρωπίδου τοῦ προπάππου, καθάπερ λέγει πολλαχοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῇ ποιήσει: πρὸς δὲ Κριτίαν τὸν ἡμέτερον πάππον εἶπεν, ὡς ἀπεμνημόνευεν αὖ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ γέρων, ὅτι μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ τῆσδ’ εἴη παλαιὰ ἔργα τῆς πόλεως ὑπὸ χρόνου καὶ φθορᾶς ἀνθρώπων ἠφανισμένα, πάντων δὲ ἓν μέγιστον,[21α] οὗ νῦν ἐπιμνησθεῖσιν πρέπον ἂν ἡμῖν εἴη σοί τε ἀποδοῦναι χάριν καὶ τὴν θεὸν ἅμα ἐν τῇ πανηγύρει δικαίως τε καὶ ἀληθῶς οἷόνπερ ὑμνοῦντας ἐγκωμιάζειν.

[20e-21a] “Solon, he said, once… He was indeed a kinsman and very great friend of Dropides, my great-grandfather, as he himself also says in many places in his poetry; and to Critias, our grandfather, he said—as the old man in turn used to recall to us—that great and wondrous deeds of this city in ancient times had been obliterated by time and the destruction of mankind, and that among them there was one greatest of all, which now, if we recall it, it would be fitting for us both to repay you a favour and at the same time to praise the goddess at the festival rightly and truly, as if we were hymning her.”

Σωκράτης
εὖ λέγεις. ἀλλὰ δὴ ποῖον ἔργον τοῦτο Κριτίας οὐ λεγόμενον μέν, ὡς δὲ πραχθὲν ὄντως ὑπὸ τῆσδε τῆς πόλεως ἀρχαῖον διηγεῖτο κατὰ τὴν Σόλωνος ἀκοήν;

Socrates

“You speak well. But what was this deed, Critias—not told as a mere tale, but as something actually done by this city in ancient times—which Solon recounted from what he had heard?”

Κριτίας
ἐγὼ φράσω, παλαιὸν ἀκηκοὼς λόγον οὐ νέου ἀνδρός. ἦν μὲν γὰρ δὴ τότε Κριτίας, ὡς ἔφη, σχεδὸν ἐγγὺς

Critias

“I will tell it, a story I heard long ago, not from a young man. For Critias was at that time, as he said, nearly about”

[21β] ἤδη τῶν ἐνενήκοντα ἐτῶν, ἐγὼ δέ πῃ μάλιστα δεκέτης: ἡ δὲ Κουρεῶτις ἡμῖν οὖσα ἐτύγχανεν Ἀπατουρίων. Τὸ δὴ τῆς ἑορτῆς σύνηθες ἑκάστοτε καὶ τότε συνέβη τοῖς παισίν: ἆθλα γὰρ ἡμῖν οἱ πατέρες ἔθεσαν ῥαψῳδίας. πολλῶν μὲν οὖν δὴ καὶ πολλὰ ἐλέχθη ποιητῶν ποιήματα, ἅτε δὲ νέα κατ’ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον ὄντα τὰ Σόλωνος πολλοὶ τῶν παίδων ᾔσαμεν. εἶπεν οὖν τις τῶν φρατέρων, εἴτε δὴ δοκοῦν αὐτῷ τότε εἴτε καὶ χάριν τινὰ τῷ Κριτίᾳ φέρων, δοκεῖν οἱ τά τε

[21b] “already nearly ninety years old, as he said, and I myself was somewhere about ten. And it happened that the festival of the Cureotis was ours at the Apaturia. What is customary at the festival happened then as well for the boys; for our fathers set contests of rhapsody for us. So many poems of many poets were recited; and since the poems of Solon were at that time new, many of us boys sang them. One of the members of the phratria then said—whether because it seemed so to him at the time or to pay some compliment to Critias—that Solon seemed to him in other respects to have been the wisest of men, and in poetry again the most free-spirited of all poets.”

[21γ] ἄλλα σοφώτατον γεγονέναι Σόλωνα καὶ κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν αὖ τῶν ποιητῶν πάντων ἐλευθεριώτατον. ὁ δὴ γέρων—σφόδρα γὰρ οὖν μέμνημαι—μάλα τε ἥσθη καὶ διαμειδιάσας εἶπεν: “εἴγε, ὦ Ἀμύνανδρε, μὴ παρέργῳ τῇ ποιήσει κατεχρήσατο, ἀλλ’ ἐσπουδάκει καθάπερ ἄλλοι, τον τε λόγον ὃν ἀπ’ Αἰγύπτου δεῦρο ἠνέγκατο ἀπετέλεσεν, καὶ μὴ διὰ τὰς στάσεις ὑπὸ κακῶν τε ἄλλων ὅσα ηὗρεν ἐνθάδε ἥκων ἠναγκάσθη

[21c] “I will tell it, a story I heard long ago, not from a young man. For Critias was at that time, as he said, nearly about…”

“And the old man—for I remember it very well—was greatly pleased, and smiling said: “If only, Amynander, he had not practiced poetry as a secondary pursuit, but had applied himself to it seriously as others do, and had completed the account which he brought here from Egypt, and had not, because of the civil strife and other evils he found here upon his return, been compelled to neglect it”

[21δ] καταμελῆσαι, κατά γε ἐμὴν δόξαν οὔτε Ἡσίοδος οὔτε Ὅμηρος οὔτε ἄλλος οὐδεὶς ποιητὴς εὐδοκιμώτερος ἐγένετο ἄν ποτε αὐτοῦ” “τις δ’ ἦν ὁ λόγος,” ἦ δ’ ὅς, “ὦ Κριτία;” “ἦ περὶ μεγίστης,” ἔφη, “καὶ ὀνομαστοτάτης πασῶν δικαιότατ’ ἂν πράξεως οὔσης, ἣν ἥδε ἡ πόλις ἔπραξε μέν, διὰ δὲ χρόνον καὶ φθορὰν τῶν ἐργασαμένων οὐ διήρκεσε δεῦρο ὁ λόγος.” “λέγε ἐξ ἀρχῆς,” ἦ δ’ ὅς, “τι τε καὶ πῶς καὶ παρὰ τίνων ὡς ἀληθῆ διακηκοὼς ἔλεγεν ὁ Σόλων.”

[21d] “then, in my opinion, neither Hesiod nor Homer nor any other poet would ever have become more renowned than he.”

“And what was this account, Critias?” said he.

“It concerned,” he said, “a matter of the greatest importance, and of the most renowned of all deeds, most justly so, which this city accomplished; but through time and the destruction of those who performed it, the account did not survive down to us.”

“Tell it from the beginning,” he said, “what it was, and how, and from whom Solon heard it and reported it as true.”

[21ε] “ἔστιν τις κατ’ Αἴγυπτον,” ἦ δ’ ὅς, “ἐν τῷ Δέλτα, περὶ ὃν κατὰ κορυφὴν σχίζεται τὸ τοῦ Νείλου ῥεῦμα Σαϊτικὸς ἐπικαλούμενος νομός, τούτου δὲ τοῦ νομοῦ μεγίστη πόλις Σάις– ὅθεν δὴ καὶ Ἄμασις ἦν ὁ βασιλεύς—οἷς τῆς πόλεως θεὸς ἀρχηγός τις ἐστιν, Αἰγυπτιστὶ μὲν τοὔνομα Νηίθ, Ἑλληνιστὶ δε, ὡς ὁ ἐκείνων λόγος, Ἀθηνᾶ: μάλα δὲ φιλαθήναιοι καί τινα τρόπον οἰκεῖοι τῶνδ’ εἶναί φασιν. οἷ δὴ Σόλων ἔφη πορευθεὶς σφόδρα τε γενέσθαι παρ’ αὐτοῖς ἔντιμος,

[21e] “There is in Egypt,” he said, “in the Delta, at the point where the stream of the Nile divides at its head, a district called the Saïtic; and the greatest city of this district is Sais—from which Amasis the king also came. The founder-goddess of that city is one whose name in Egyptian is Neith, and in Greek, as they say, Athena; and they are very friendly to the Athenians and claim in some way to be akin to them. Solon said that when he travelled there he was held in great honour among them,”

[22α] καὶ δὴ καὶ τὰ παλαιὰ ἀνερωτῶν ποτε τοὺς μάλιστα περὶ ταῦτα τῶν ἱερέων ἐμπείρους, σχεδὸν οὔτε αὑτὸν οὔτε ἄλλον Ἕλληνα οὐδένα οὐδὲν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν εἰδότα περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἀνευρεῖν. καί ποτε προαγαγεῖν βουληθεὶς αὐτοὺς περὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων εἰς λόγους, τῶν τῇδε τὰ ἀρχαιότατα λέγειν ἐπιχειρεῖν, περὶ Φορωνέως τε τοῦ πρώτου λεχθέντος καὶ Νιόβης, καὶ μετὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν αὖ περὶ Δευκαλίωνος

[22a] “and indeed that when he once inquired about ancient matters from those priests most experienced in such things, he found that neither he himself nor any other Greek, so to speak, knew anything about such matters. And at one time, wishing to lead them on into discussion about antiquities, he attempted to speak of the most ancient things among us, about Phoroneus, said to be the first man, and about Niobe, and after the flood again about Deucalion”

[22β] καὶ Πύρρας ὡς διεγένοντο μυθολογεῖν, καὶ τοὺς ἐξ αὐτῶν γενεαλογεῖν, καὶ τὰ τῶν ἐτῶν ὅσα ἦν οἷς ἔλεγεν πειρᾶσθαι διαμνημονεύων τοὺς χρόνους ἀριθμεῖν: καί τινα εἰπεῖν τῶν ἱερέων εὖ μάλα παλαιόν: “ὦ Σόλων, Σόλων, Ἕλληνες ἀεὶ παῖδές ἐστε, γέρων δὲ Ἕλλην οὐκ ἔστιν.” ἀκούσας οὖν, “πῶς τί τοῦτο λέγεις;” φάναι. “νέοι ἐστέ,” εἰπεῖν, “τὰς ψυχὰς πάντες: οὐδεμίαν γὰρ ἐν αὐταῖς ἔχετε δι’ ἀρχαίαν ἀκοὴν παλαιὰν δόξαν οὐδὲ μάθημα χρόνῳ πολιὸν οὐδέν. Τὸ

[22b] “and Pyrrha, how they survived, and to trace the genealogies from them, and, recalling the numbers of years he mentioned, to try to calculate the time. And one of the priests, a very old man, said: “Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always children; there is no old man among the Greeks.” And hearing this, he said: “What do you mean by that?” “You are all young in your souls,” he said; “for you have in them no ancient belief handed down by old tradition, nor any knowledge grown grey with time. The”

[22γ] δὲ τούτων αἴτιον τόδε. πολλαὶ κατὰ πολλὰ φθοραὶ γεγόνασιν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἔσονται, πυρὶ μὲν καὶ ὕδατι μέγισται, μυρίοις δὲ ἄλλοις ἕτεραι βραχύτεραι. τὸ γὰρ οὖν καί παρ’ ὑμῖν λεγόμενον, ὥς ποτε Φαέθων Ἡλίου παῖς τὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ἅρμα ζεύξας διὰ τὸ μὴ δυνατὸς εἶναι κατὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρός ὁδὸν ἐλαύνειν τά τ’ ἐπὶ γῆς συνέκαυσεν καὶ αὐτὸς κεραυνωθεὶς διεφθάρη, τοῦτο μύθου μὲν σχῆμα ἔχον λέγεται, τὸ δὲ

[22c] “And the cause of these things is this: many destructions of mankind have occurred and will occur, the greatest by fire and water, and others lesser ones by countless other causes. For what is also told among you, that once Phaethon, the son of Helios, having yoked his father’s chariot, because he was unable to drive it along his father’s course, burned up the things upon the earth and himself was struck by a thunderbolt and perished—this is told in the form of a myth, but the truth is”

[22δ] ἀληθές ἐστι τῶν περὶ γῆν κατ’ οὐρανὸν ἰόντων παράλλαξις καὶ διὰ μακρῶν χρόνων γιγνομένη ταῶν ἐπὶ γῆς πυρὶ πολλῷ φθορά. τότε οὖν ὅσοι κατ’ ὄρη καὶ ἐν ὑψηλοῖς τόποις καὶ ἐν ξηροῖς οἰκοῦσιν μᾶλλον διόλλυνται τῶν ποταμοῖς καὶ θαλάττῃ προσοικούντων: ἡμῖν δὲ ὁ Νεῖλος εἴς τε τἆλλα σωτὴρ καὶ τότε ἐκ ταύτης τῆς ἀπορίας σῴζει λυόμενος. ὅταν δ’ αὖ θεοὶ τὴν γῆν ὕδασιν καθαίροντες κατακλύζωσιν, οἱ μὲν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν διασῴζονται βουκόλοι νομῆς τε, οἱ δ’ ἐν ταῖς

[22d] “a deviation of the bodies that move in the heavens around the earth, and a destruction by much fire of things on the earth, occurring at long intervals. At such times, those who dwell on mountains and in high and dry places perish more than those who dwell near rivers and the thalassa; but for us the Nile, being in other respects a saviour, also saves us then from this difficulty by rising. And whenever, again, the gods, purifying the earth with waters, inundate it, those who dwell in the mountains are preserved as herdsmen and shepherds, while those in your cities are carried by the rivers into the thalassa”

[22ε] παρ’ ὑμῖν πόλεσιν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ὑπὸ τῶν ποταμῶν φέρονται: κατὰ δὲ τήνδε χώραν οὔτε τότε οὔτε ἄλλοτε ἄνωθεν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρούρας ὕδωρ ἐπιρρεῖ, τὸ δ’ ἐναντίον κάτωθεν πᾶν ἐπανιέναι πέφυκεν. ὅθεν καὶ δι’ ἅς αἰτίας τἀνθάδε σῴζόμενα λέγεται παλαιότατα: τὸ δὲ ἀληθές, ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς τόποις ὅπου μὴ χειμὼν ἐξαίσιος ἢ καῦμα ἀπείργει, πλέον,

[22e] “but in this land neither then nor at any other time does water flow down from above upon the fields; rather, all of it naturally rises up from below. Hence for these reasons the things preserved here are said to be the most ancient; but the truth is that in all places where neither excessive cold nor heat prevents it, there are always”

[23α] τοτὲ δὲ ἔλαττον ἀεὶ γένος ἐστὶν ἀνθρώπων. ὅσα δὲ ἢ παρ’ ὑμῖν ἢ τῇδε ἢ καὶ κατ’ ἄλλον τόπον ὦν ἀκοῇ ἴσμεν, εἴ πού τι καλὸν ῂ μέγα γέγονεν ἢ καί τινα διαφοράν ἄλλην ἔχον, πάντα γεγραμμένα ἐκ παλαιοῦ τῇδ’ ἐστὶν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς καὶ σεσωσμένα: τὰ δὲ παρ’ ὑμῖν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἄρτι κατεσκευασμένα ἑκάστοτε τυγχάνει γράμμασι καὶ ἅπασιν ὁπόσων πόλεις δέονται, καὶ πάλιν δι’ εἰωθότων ἐτῶν ὥσπερ νόσημα ἥκει φερόμενον αὐτοῖς ῥεῦμα οὐράνιον καὶ τοὺς ἀγραμμάτους

[23a] “but at that time there is always a smaller race of men. And whatever things, either among you or here or in any other place of which we have heard, if anything noble or great has occurred or has had any other distinction, all have been written down from ancient times here in the temples and preserved; but among you and among others, whenever each thing has only recently been established in writing and in all the arts that cities require, again at the accustomed intervals, like a disease, there comes upon them a stream from heaven and leaves only those among you who are unlettered”

[23β] τε καὶ ἀμούσους ἔλιπεν ὑμῶν, ὥστε πάλιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς οἷον νέοι γίγνεσθε, οὐδὲν εἰδότες οὔτε τῶν τῇδε οὔτε τῶν παρ’ ὑμῖν, ὅσα ἦν ἐν τοῖς παλαιοῖς χρόνοις. τὰ γοῦν νυνδὴ γενεαλογηθέντα, ὦ Σόλων, περὶ τῶν παρ’ ὑμῖν ἅ διῆλθες, παίδων βραχύ τι διαφέρει μύθων, οἵ πρῶτον μὲν ἕνα γῆς κατακλυσμὸν μέμνησθε πολλῶν ἔμπροσθεν γεγονότων, ἔτι δὲ τὸ κάλλιστον καὶ ἄριστον γένος ἐπ’ ἀνθρώπους ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ παρ’ ὑμῖν οὐκ ἴστε γεγονός, ἐξ ὧν σύ τε καὶ πᾶσα ἡ

[23b] “and untrained, so that you become again from the beginning as if young, knowing nothing either of the things here or of those among you, whatever existed in ancient times. So indeed the genealogies you have just recounted, Solon, about your people differ little from children’s tales: for first you remember one deluge of the earth, though many had occurred before, and further you do not know that the noblest and best race of men once arose in your land, from whom both you and your whole”

[23γ] πόλις ἔστιν τὰ νῦν”

[22e] “but in this land neither then nor at any other time does water flow down from above upon the fields; rather, all of it naturally rises up from below. Hence for these reasons the things preserved here are said to be the most ancient; but the truth is that in all places where neither excessive cold nor heat prevents it, there are always”

[23c] πόλις ἔστιν τὰ νῦν ὑμῶν, περιλειφθέντος ποτὲ σπέρματος βραχέος, ἀλλ’ ὑμᾶς λέληθεν διὰ τὸ τοὺς περιγενομένους ἐπὶ πολλὰς γενεὰς γράμμασιν τελευτᾶν ἀφώνους. ἦν γὰρ δή ποτε, ὦ Σόλων, ὑπὲρ τὴν μεγίστην φθορὰν ὕδασιν ἡ νῦν Ἀθηναίων οὖσα πόλις ἀρίστη πρός τε τὸν πόλεμον καὶ κατὰ πάντα εὐνομωτάτη διαφερόντως: ᾗ κάλλιστα ἔργα καὶ πολιτεῖαι γενέσθαι λέγονται κάλλισται πασῶν ὁπόσων ὑπὸ

[23c] “city as it now exists have sprung, from a small seed once left behind; but this has escaped your notice because those who survived for many generations died without leaving any written record. For once, Solon, beyond the greatest destruction by water, the city which is now Athens was the best in war and in every way most well-governed; and it is said that in it the finest deeds and the finest constitutions of all that have ever come to be under”

[23d] τὸν οὐρανὸν ἡμεῖς ἀκοὴν παρεδεξάμεθα.’ ἀκούσας οὖν ὁ Σόλων ἔφη θαυμάσαι καὶ πᾶσαν προθυμίαν σχεῖν δεόμενος τῶν ἱερέων πάντα δι’ ἀκριβείας οἱ τὰ περὶ τῶν πάλαι πολιτῶν ἑξῆς διελθεῖν. τὸν οὖν ἱερέα φάναι: ‘φθόνος οὐδείς, ὦ Σόλων, ἀλλὰ σοῦ τε ἕνεκα ἐρῶ καὶ τῆς πόλεως ὑμῶν, μάλιστα δὲ τῆς θεοῦ χάριν, ἣ τήν τε ὑμετέραν καὶ τήνδε ἔλαχεν καὶ ἔθρεψεν καὶ ἐπαίδευσεν, προτέραν μὲν τὴν παρ’

[23d] “heaven we have received by tradition.’ Hearing this, Solon said he was astonished and was eager in every way, asking the priests to go through everything in order and with precision concerning the ancient citizens. The priest then said: ‘There is no reluctance, Solon, but for your sake and for that of your city I will speak, and especially for the sake of the goddess, who has received, nurtured, and educated both your land and this one—yours first”

[23e] ὑμῖν ἔτεσιν χιλίοις, ἐκ Γῆς τε καὶ Ἡφαίστου τὸ σπέρμα παραλαβοῦσα ὑμῶν, τήνδε δὲ ὑστέραν. τῆς δὲ ἐνθάδε διακοσμήσεως παρ’ ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν ὀκτακισχιλίων ἐτῶν ἀριθμὸς γέγραπται. περὶ δὴ τῶν ἐνακισχίλια γεγονότων ἔτη πολιτῶν σοι δηλώσω διὰ βραχέων νόμους, καὶ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῖς ὃ κάλλιστον ἐπράχθη: τὸ δ’ ἀκριβὲς περὶ

[23e] “a thousand years earlier, having received your seed from Earth and Hephaestus, and this one later. And of the ordering here among us, the number of years written in the sacred records is eight thousand. Concerning the citizens of nine thousand years ago, I will briefly set forth their laws and the noblest deed accomplished by them; but the exact account”

[24a] πάντων ἐφεξῆς εἰς αὖθις κατὰ σχολὴν αὐτὰ τὰ γράμματα λαβόντες διέξιμεν. τοὺς μὲν οὖν νόμους σκόπει πρὸς τοὺς τῇδε: πολλὰ γὰρ παραδείγματα τῶν τότε παρ’ ὑμῖν ὄντων ἐνθάδε νῦν ἀνευρήσεις, πρῶτον μὲν τὸ τῶν ἱερέων γένος ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων χωρὶς ἀφωρισμένον, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τὸ τῶν δημιουργῶν, ὅτι καθ’ αὑτὸ ἕκαστον ἄλλῳ δὲ οὐκ ἐπιμειγνύμενον δημιουργεῖ, τό τε τῶν νομέων καὶ τὸ τῶν θηρευτῶν τό τε

[24a] “of everything we shall go through later in due order, taking up the written records themselves at our leisure. Now consider their laws in comparison with those here; for you will find many examples among us now of what existed among you then: first, the class of priests set apart separately from the others, and after that the class of craftsmen, each working on its own without mixing with others, and the class of herdsmen and that of hunters, and”

[24b] τῶν γεωργῶν. καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ μάχιμον γένος ᾔσθησαί που τῇδε ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν γενῶν κεχωρισμένον, οἷς οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου προσετάχθη μέλειν: ἔτι δὲ ἡ τῆς ὁπλίσεως αὐτῶν σχέσις ἀσπίδων καὶ δοράτων, οἷς ἡμεῖς πρῶτοι τῶν περὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν ὡπλίσμεθα, τῆς θεοῦ καθάπερ ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς τόποις παρ’ ὑμῖν πρώτοις ἐνδειξαμένης. τὸ δ’ αὖ περὶ τῆς φρονήσεως, ὁρᾷς που τὸν νόμον τῇδε ὅσην ἐπιμέλειαν ἐποιήσατο εὐθὺς κατ’ ἀρχὰς περί τε

[24b] “and of the farmers. And indeed you have probably observed that here the warrior class has been separated from all the other classes, to whom the law has assigned no concern except matters of war; and further, the nature of their armament with shields and spears, with which we were the first among those in Asia to be equipped, the goddess having first revealed it among you in those regions. And again concerning wisdom, you see how much care the law here has taken from the very beginning concerning”

[24c] τὸν κόσμον, ἅπαντα μέχρι μαντικῆς καὶ ἰατρικῆς πρὸς ὑγίειαν ἐκ τούτων θείων ὄντων εἰς τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἀνευρών, ὅσα τε ἄλλα τούτοις ἕπεται μαθήματα πάντα κτησάμενος. ταύτην οὖν δὴ τότε σύμπασαν τὴν διακόσμησιν καὶ σύνταξιν ἡ θεὸς προτέρους ὑμᾶς διακοσμήσασα κατῴκισεν, ἐκλεξαμένη τὸν τόπον ἐν ᾧ γεγένησθε, τὴν εὐκρασίαν τῶν ὡρῶν ἐν αὐτῷ κατιδοῦσα, ὅτι φρονιμωτάτους ἄνδρας οἴσοι: ἅτε οὖν φιλοπόλεμός

[24c] “the whole order of things, discovering from these divine sources everything down to divination and medicine for health and acquiring all the other kinds of knowledge that follow from these. This entire ordering and arrangement, then, the goddess established for you first and settled you there, having chosen the place in which you were born, observing that the tempering of the seasons in it would produce men of the greatest intelligence. And since the goddess was both warlike”

[24d] τε καὶ φιλόσοφος ἡ θεὸς οὖσα τὸν προσφερεστάτους αὐτῇ μέλλοντα οἴσειν τόπον ἄνδρας, τοῦτον ἐκλεξαμένη πρῶτον κατῴκισεν. ᾠκεῖτε δὴ οὖν νόμοις τε τοιούτοις χρώμενοι καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον εὐνομούμενοι πάσῃ τε παρὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὑπερβεβληκότες ἀρετῇ, καθάπερ εἰκὸς γεννήματα καὶ παιδεύματα θεῶν ὄντας. πολλὰ μὲν οὖν ὑμῶν καὶ μεγάλα ἔργα τῆς πόλεως τῇδε γεγραμμένα θαυμάζεται, πάντων μὴν

[24d] “and a lover of wisdom, choosing the place most likely to produce men most akin to herself, she first settled it. You lived, then, under such laws and even more excellently governed, surpassing all mankind in every virtue, as was fitting for those who were the offspring and nurture of the gods. Many great deeds of your city are recorded here and are admired, but of all”

[24e] ἓν ὑπερέχει μεγέθει καὶ ἀρετῇ: λέγει γὰρ τὰ γεγραμμένα ὅσην ἡ πόλις ὑμῶν ἔπαυσέν ποτε δύναμιν ὕβρει πορευομένην ἅμα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν Εὐρώπην καὶ ̓Ασίαν, ἔξωθεν ὁρμηθεῖσαν ἐκ τοῦ Ἀτλαντικοῦ πελάγους. τότε γὰρ πορεύσιμον ἦν τὸ ἐκεῖ πέλαγος: νῆσον γὰρ πρὸ* τοῦ στόματος εἶχεν ὃ καλεῖτε, ὥς φατε, ὑμεῖς Ἡρακλέους στήλας, ἡ δὲ νῆσος ἅμα Λιβύης ἦν καὶ Ἀσίας μείζων, ἐξ ἧς ἐπιβατὸν ἐπὶ τὰς ἄλλας νήσους τοῖς τότε ἐγίγνετο πορευομένοις, ἐκ δὲ τῶν νήσων

[24e] “one surpasses all in greatness and excellence; for the records tell how great a power your city once checked when it advanced in insolence against all Europe and Asia at once, having set out from outside from the Atlantic pelagos. For at that time that pelagos was navigable; for it had an island in front of* the strait which you call, as you say, the Pillars of Heracles, and the island was larger than Libya and Asia together; from it there was passage for those travelling in those days to the other islands, and from the islands”

* πρὸ = “before, in front of” (spatially: positioned immediately outside / on the near side of the entrance being described)

[25a] ἐπὶ τὴν καταντικρὺ πᾶσαν ἤπειρον τὴν περὶ τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκεῖνον πόντον. τάδε μὲν γάρ, ὅσα ἐντὸς τοῦ στόματος οὗ λέγομεν, φαίνεται λιμὴν στενόν τινα ἔχων εἴσπλουν: ἐκεῖνο δὲ πέλαγος ὄντως ἥ τε περιέχουσα αὐτὸ γῆ παντελῶς ἀληθῶς ὀρθότατ’ ἂν λέγοιτο ἤπειρος. ἐν δὲ δὴ τῇ Ἀτλαντίδι νήσῳ ταύτῃ μεγάλη συνέστη καὶ θαυμαστὴ δύναμις βασιλέων, κρατοῦσα μὲν ἁπάσης τῆς νήσου, πολλῶν δὲ ἄλλων νήσων καὶ μερῶν τῆς ἠπείρου: πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἔτι τῶν ἐντὸς τῇδε

[25a] “to the whole opposite continent that surrounds that true pontos. For what lies within the strait which we speak of appears like a harbour with a narrow entrance, but that pelagos is truly a real pelagos, and the land that surrounds it may most rightly be called a continent. And in this island of Atlantis there arose a great and marvellous power of kings, ruling over the whole island and many other islands and parts of the continent; and besides these they also ruled over the lands within here,”

[25b] Λιβύης μὲν ἦρχον μέχρι πρὸς Αἴγυπτον, τῆς δὲ Εὐρώπης μέχρι Τυρρηνίας. αὕτη δὴ πᾶσα συναθροισθεῖσα εἰς ἓν ἡ δύναμις τόν τε παρ’ ὑμῖν καὶ τὸν παρ’ ἡμῖν καὶ τὸν ἐντὸς τοῦ στόματος πάντα τόπον μιᾷ ποτὲ ἐπεχείρησεν ὁρμῇ δουλοῦσθαι. τότε οὖν ὑμῶν, ὦ Σόλων, τῆς πόλεως ἡ δύναμις εἰς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους διαφανὴς ἀρετῇ τε καὶ ῥώμῃ ἐγένετο: πάντων γὰρ προστᾶσα εὐψυχίᾳ καὶ τέχναις ὅσαι κατὰ πόλεμον,

[25b] “over Libya as far as Egypt, and over Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. All this power, gathered together into one, once attempted with a single assault to enslave your land and ours and all the region within the strait. Then it was, Solon, that the power of your city became manifest to all mankind in excellence and strength; for standing foremost among all in courage and in all the arts of war”

[25c] τὰ μὲν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡγουμένη, τὰ δ’ αὐτὴ μονωθεῖσα ἐξ ἀνάγκης τῶν ἄλλων ἀποστάντων, ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐσχάτους ἀφικομένη κινδύνους, κρατήσασα μὲν τῶν ἐπιόντων τρόπαιον ἔστησεν, τοὺς δὲ μήπω δεδουλωμένους διεκώλυσεν δουλωθῆναι, τοὺς δ’ ἄλλους, ὅσοι κατοικοῦμεν ἐντὸς ὅρων Ἡρακλείων, ἀφθόνως ἅπαντας ἠλευθέρωσεν. ὑστέρῳ δὲ χρόνῳ σεισμῶν ἐξαισίων καὶ κατακλυσμῶν γενομένων, μιᾶς

[25c] “leading the Greeks at one time, and at another, when it had been left alone out of necessity as the others had fallen away, coming to the utmost dangers, it overcame the invaders and set up a trophy, and prevented those not yet enslaved from being enslaved, and generously freed all the rest of us who dwell within the bounds of Heracles. But at a later time, when extraordinary earthquakes and floods occurred, in a single”

[25d] ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς χαλεπῆς ἐπελθούσης, τό τε παρ’ ὑμῖν μάχιμον πᾶν ἁθρόον ἔδυ κατὰ γῆς, ἥ τε Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος ὡσαύτως κατὰ τῆς θαλάττης δῦσα ἠφανίσθη: διὸ καὶ νῦν ἄπορον καὶ ἀδιερεύνητον γέγονεν τοὐκεῖ πέλαγος, πηλοῦ κάρτα βραχέος ἐμποδὼν ὄντος, ὃν ἡ νῆσος ἱζομένη παρέσχετο.” τὰ μὲν δὴ ῥηθέντα, ὦ Σώκρατες, ὑπὸ τοῦ παλαιοῦ

[25d] “day and night of grievous calamity, all your warrior force together sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis likewise sank into the thalassa and disappeared; wherefore even now that pelagos has become impassable and unsearchable, with very shallow mud hindering it, which the island, as it settled, provided.”