Timaeus and Critias
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First published in Plato, Complete Works, Donald Zeyl's translation of Timaeus is presented here with his substantial introductory essay, which situates the dialogue in the development of Greek science, discusses points of contemporary interest in the Timaeus, deals at length with long-standing and current issues of interpretation, and provides a consecutive commentary on the work as a whole. Includes an analytic table of contents and a select bibliography.
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Timaeus by Plato
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I read this dialogue as part of the Online Great Books program. Once again, I am grateful that I am participating in that program because Timaeus, like Theatetus, was nowhere on my radar despite the fact that I've read a good number of Platonic dialogues.
Moreover, I would have probably written this dialogue off as dated and absurd after reading the dialogue. However, after the OGB discussion, it finally dawned on me that this text is the foundational text of Platonism as an input into Judeo-Christian theology.
The dialogue opens up with Plato meeting several friends the day after the discussion that became the Republic. The friends seek to entertain Socrates with a speech about the origin of the universe. Approximately 90% of the dialogue consists of Timaeus's speech on the subject.
The dialogue opens with an account of Atlantis. This is the dialogue that is the basis of the canard that Plato wrote about Atlantis. Of course, in fact, it is Plato's fictional interlocutor who is recounting a family tradition about a great-grandfather who spoke to Solon who spoke to an unnamed Egyptian priest who was recounting a story from 9,000 years ago. As a personal note, I wonder where else the Atlantis story can be found?
Timaeus starts with a Demiurge who imposes order on chaos according to a plan. A distinction is made between Being and Becoming with the world fashioned by the Demiurge being put in the latter category. Anyone with a grounding in classical theology will see the Logos and elements that inform historical theology.
Timaeus also provides an account of the material form of the universe, particularly genders and the human body. A lot of this seems silly to our modern ears, such as the explanation for why humans have certain body parts. However, a participant in the OGB discussion pointed out that each of these explanations had a moral dimension, e.g., intestines exist to restrain gluttony. OK, we can laugh at that, but that isn't far off from a traditional way some Early Church Fathers had for interpreting scripture.
Of course, I can't leave without mentioning Plato's theory of Resurrection, whereby men are formed with reason, but if a man is cowardly or filled with vice, he will be reincarnated as a woman, and if she misbehaves, she will be resurrected as an animal.
Now, that's funny! (Time to non-person Plato, I guess.)
In short, this is an important text (apart from that reincarnation part) from a theological standpoint. If you know, Thomism or Aristotle, you can see the roots of some major ideas in this text.
