Editing Atlantis (section)

===''Timaeus''===
[[File:Plato Timaeus.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.8|A fifteenth-century Latin translation of Plato's ''Timaeus'']]

{{main|Timaeus (dialogue)}}

The only primary sources for Atlantis are Plato's dialogues ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias''; all other mentions of the island are based on them. The dialogues claim to quote [[Solon]], who visited Egypt between 590 and 580 BC; they state that he translated Egyptian records of Atlantis.<ref name="ley196706">{{Cite magazine
 |last=Ley
 |first=Willy
 |date=June 1967
 |title=Another Look at Atlantis
 |department=For Your Information
 |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v25n05_1967-06_modified#page/n37/mode/2up
 |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction
 |pages=74–84
 }}</ref> Plato introduced Atlantis in ''Timaeus'', written in 360 BC:

{{blockquote|For it is related in our records how once upon a time your State stayed the course of a mighty host, which, starting from a distant point in the Atlantic ocean, was insolently advancing to attack the whole of Europe, and Asia to boot. For the ocean there was at that time navigable; for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the [[pillars of Heracles]],' there lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together; and it was possible for the travelers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent over against them which encompasses that veritable ocean. For all that we have here, lying within the mouth of which we speak, is evidently a haven having a narrow entrance; but that yonder is a real ocean, and the land surrounding it may most rightly be called, in the fullest and truest sense, a continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvelous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0180%3Atext%3DTim.%3Asection%3D24e|at=Section 24e-25a|title=Timaeus|author=Plato|translator=[[Robert Gregg Bury|R. G. Bury]]|publisher=Loeb Classical Library}}</ref>}}

The four people appearing in those two dialogues are the politicians [[Critias]] and [[Hermocrates]] as well as the philosophers [[Socrates]] and [[Timaeus of Locri]], although only Critias speaks of Atlantis. In his works Plato makes extensive use of the [[Socratic method]] in order to discuss contrary positions within the context of a supposition.

The ''Timaeus'' begins with an introduction, followed by an account of the creations and structure of the universe and ancient civilizations. In the introduction, Socrates muses about the perfect society, described in Plato's ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' ({{circa|380 BC}}), and wonders if he and his guests might recollect a story which exemplifies such a society. Critias mentions a tale he considered to be historical, that would make the perfect example, and he then follows by describing Atlantis as is recorded in the ''Critias''. In his account, ancient Athens seems to represent the "perfect society" and Atlantis its opponent, representing the very antithesis of the "perfect" traits described in the ''Republic''.