Timaeus and Critias by Plato
By ATM Haidar Khan
For unknown reasons, Plato didnt finish Timaeus and Critias. The book contains two dialogues among Timaeus, Critias, Hermocates and Socrates on the legendary lost city of Atlantis.
Critias is Platos great-grandfather, Socrates is his teacher and Hermocates is a statesman and soldier from Syracuse, but no historical record suggests the identity of Timaeus. Plato wrote the book in 360 BC and the story is about the conflict between ancient Athenians and Atlanteans that happened 900 years before his time.
In his book, Plato mentions a powerful and rich city, called Atlantis. It was a powerful city, with a massive navy and incredible architectural views; it was city of dreams. Atlantis was considered one of the most advanced societies of the ancient the world, but the city was apparently buried under water overnight by an earthquake.
According to Plato, On this island of Atlantis, there was a great and wonderful empire which had ruled over the whole island and several others, and in other parts of the continent, the men of Atlantis had subjected Libya within the columns of Heracles, as far as Egypt Plato indicated a geographical location for the city of Atlantis. According to his description, the city was situated somewhere in Spain. Generation after generation has searched for Atlantis, but all ended up with unsatisfactory results.
I am always fascinated by the characteristics of such lost cities. Satellite imagery not long ago convinced an archeological team that Atlantis was somewhere in what is now known as Doana National Park in southern Spain. I went there in December 2014 to see if the myth has really become a reality.
Archeologists found several testimonies which suggest that they finally hit the jackpot. However, the landscape has little similarity to Platos description of Atlantis. According to the Greek philosopher, Atlantis was an island kingdom with a circular harbour, situated just beyond the Pillars of Heracles in modern-day Strait of Gibralter. This suggests that Atlantis was located somewhere off the coast of Spain. But some other archeologists have suggested that Atlantis was situated somewhere in Greece. They claimed that Platos description of sophisticated architecture does perfectly match with what has been discovered on the Greek island of Santorini. But the remains of the city found there suggest that this civilisation existed after the time of Atlantis. Furthermore, Plato mentioned that the city of Atlantis vanished under water, but the city ruins found in Greece was situated on a hill top.
Plato also wrote about a devastating earthquake that demolished the whole civilisation overnight: but afterwards, there occurred violent earthquake and flood, in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth; the island of Atlantis like manner disappeared in the depth of the sea. Doana National Park could be a suitable place to look for this legendary lost city as the area is newly formed mudflats. Or, perhaps, the civilisation of Atlantis is buried deep at the bottom of sea. But does Atlantis even exist or is it only a myth?
The book Timaeus and Critias is available on online bookshops, such as Amazon. I read an edition which is published by Oxford University Press and translated by Robin Waterfield, with an introduction by Andrew Gregory of University College London.
The writer is a political researcher, currently working on South Asian politics and political economy.
