Timaeus and Critias

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Timaeus and Critias
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Plato
Revised by Thomas Kjeller Johansen
Translated by Desmond Lee
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:176
Dimensions(mm): Height 198,Width 129
Category/GenreWestern philosophy - Ancient to c 500
Philosophy - metaphysics and ontology
ISBN/Barcode 9780140455045
ClassificationsDewey:113
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publication Date 28 August 2008
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Timaeus and Critias has a central place in Western thought and is best known to many for the story of Atlantis Timaeus and Critias is a Socratic dialogue in two parts. A response to an account of an ideal state told by Socrates, it begins with Timaeus's theoretical exposition of the cosmos and his story describing the creation of the universe, from its very beginning to the coming of man. Timaeus introduces the idea of a creator God and speculates on the structure and composition of the physical world. Critias, the second part of Plato's dialogue, comprises an account of the rise and fall of Atlantis, an ancient, mighty and prosperous empire ruled by the descendents of Poseidon, which ultimately sank into the sea.

Author Biography

Plato (c. 427-347 b.c.) founded the Academy in Athens, the prototype of all Western universities, and wrote more than twenty philosophical dialogues. Thomas Kjeller Johansen studied philosophy and classics at Trinity College, Cambridge. He is now University Lecturer in Ancient Philosophy at Oxford University and Tutorial Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford. His publications include Plato's Natural Philosophy. A Study of the Timaeus-Critias (Cambridge 2004).