Plato: Critias

Edited by Douglas R. Campbell (University of Toronto, St. George Campus, Alma College)
About this topic
Summary The Critias is an unfinished dialogue by Plato, although some people have doubted its authenticity. It is a sequel to the Timaeus, which featured Critias as a speaker who delivered a speech outlining an ancient conflict between an idealized Athens and imperial Atlantis and who promised to speak again after Timaeus' speech concerning the cosmos and the generation of living things. This dialogue begins with Timaeus thanking his audience for listening to him and then passing the torch to Critias, who continues his discussion of Atlantis, which ends mid-sentence. 
Key works See Rashed & Auffret 2017 for doubts about the authenticity of the Critias. For an overview of the whole Timaeus-Critias complex, see Johansen 2004. Much ink has been spilled on the myth of Atlantis. See Hackforth 1944 and Gill 1979, for instance. See Harvey forthcoming for a treatment of the Critias' political philosophy.
Introductions See Gill 2017 for a landmark edition of the text, translation, and commentary on the Atlantis story as it appears in both the Timaeus and the Critias.
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  1. Divine Agency and Politics in Plato’s Myth of Atlantis.George Harvey - forthcoming - Apeiron.
    This paper approaches the Critias straightforwardly as a work of political philosophy but gives greater attention to Athens’ opponent, Atlantis, whose founding, political organization, and eventual decline each offer important lessons about the aims of legislation and political life. I begin by comparing the foundation of the two cities as presented in Critias’ myth, with a special focus on the role of divine persuasion (I). I then describe the political organization of Athens and Atlantis, showing how they reflect the different (...)
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  2. The Atlantis Story in Plato. C. Gill Plato's Atlantis Story. Text, Translation and Commentary. Pp. X + 222, ills. Liverpool: Liverpool university press, 2017. Paper, £19.95 . Isbn: 978-1-78694-015-5. [REVIEW]Lloyd P. Gerson - 2018 - The Classical Review 68 (1):37-38.
  3. Studies on the text of Plato's timaeus and critias - Jonkers the textual tradition of Plato's timaeus and critias. Pp. XVIII + 548. Leiden and boston: Brill, 2017. Cased, €180, us$202. Isbn: 978-90-04-32591-3. [REVIEW]Colin Guthrie King - 2018 - The Classical Review 68 (2):363-365.
  4. Plato’s Atlantis Story. Text, Translation and Commentary (2nd edition).Christopher Gill - 2017 - Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
    This book aims to bring together all the evidence relevant for understanding Plato's Atlantis Story, providing the Greek text of the relevant Platonic texts (the start of Plato's Timaeus and the incomplete Critias), together with a commentary on language and content, and a full vocabulary of Greek words. This essential work also offers a new translation of these texts and a full introduction. The book has two special objectives. The introduction offers a full-scale interpretative reading of the Atlantis story, focused (...)
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  5. On the Inauthenticity of the Critias.Marwan Rashed & Thomas Auffret - 2017 - Phronesis 62 (3):237-254.
    In this paper, we highlight a number of difficulties concerning the relationship between the Critias and theT imaeus, notably a contradiction between Timaeus 27a-b and Critias 108a-c. On this basis we argue that the Critias must be considered spurious.
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  6. Plato as City Planner: The Ideal city of Atlantis.Paul Friedlander - 2015 - In Plato: An Introduction. Princeton University Press. pp. 314-322.
  7. The use and abuse of critias: Conflicting portraits in Plato and xenophon.Gabriel Danzig - 2014 - Classical Quarterly 64 (2):507-524.
    This paper aims to explain the very sharp contrast between the portraits of Critias found in Plato and Xenophon. While depicted as a monster in Xenophon'sHellenica, Critias is described with at most mild criticism in Plato's writings. Each of these portraits is eccentric in its own way, and these eccentricities can be explained by considering the apologetic and polemic aims each author pursued. In doing so, I hope to shed light not only on the relations between these portraits and the (...)
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  8. Truth and Story in the Timaeus-Critias.Sarah Broadie - 2013 - In G. Boys-Stones, C. Gill & D. El-Murr (eds.), The Platonic Art of philosophy. Cambridge University Press.
  9. John Michell: from Atlantis to Avalon.Paul Screeton - 2010 - Market Harborough: Alternative Albion.
    A celebration of John Michel's insights and far-reaching influence, revealing his pivotal role in alternative culture over the last five decades.
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  10. Timaeus and Critias.Plato . (ed.) - 2008 - Oxford University Press UK.
    'The god wanted everything to be good, marred by as little imperfection as possible.'Timaeus, one of Plato's acknowledged masterpieces, is an attempt to construct the universe and explain its contents by means of as few axioms as possible. The result is a brilliant, bizarre, and surreal cosmos - the product of the rational thinking of a creator god and his astral assistants, and of purely mechanistic causes based on the behaviour of the four elements. At times dazzlingly clear, at times (...)
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  11. La noción de “hybris” en el Critias de Platón.Javier Picón Casas - 2008 - Areté. Revista de Filosofía 20 (1):75-110.
    Se justifican tres tesis. Primera, el sentido mítico-religioso tradicional de la justicia como castigo de la [palabra en griego] quedó desacreditado durante la Guerra del Peloponeso, como bien lo muestra Tucídides. Segunda, en tiempos de Aristóteles, tal sentido ya habría desaparecido en favor de un nuevo paradigma basado en el concepto de [palabra en griego]. Tercera, la obra de Platón constituye uno de los últimos intentosde recuperar ese sentido mítico-religioso tradicional tratando de interpretar la Guerra del Peloponeso a través del (...)
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  12. Plato's Natural Philosophy: A Study of the Timaeus-Critias. [REVIEW]Catherine Osborne - 2008 - Philosophical Review 117 (4):610-614.
  13. War, Gods and Mankind in the Timaeus–Critias.Karel Thein - 2008 - Rhizai. A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science 5:49-107.
    Plato’s Timaeus–Critias juxtaposes a long description of our universe in the making with a discourse on human nature. The latter, confined to Critias, flanks Timaeus’ full-blown cosmogony without clearly articulating how, if at all, do the apparently so different stories fit together. By contrast to many precedent efforts at articulating their relation, the article tries to take seriously Timaeus’ distinction between the two kinds of divinities, whereby he opposes celestial bodies together with the ensouled physical universe to the traditional gods. (...)
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  14. Plato's Natural Philosophy: A Study of the 'Timaeus–Critias' – Thomas Kjeller Johansen.Scott Carson - 2007 - Philosophical Quarterly 57 (226):131-133.
  15. Plato’s Natural Philosophy. [REVIEW]John Dillon - 2006 - Ancient Philosophy 26 (2):408-411.
  16. Plato’s Natural Philosophy. [REVIEW]John Dillon - 2006 - Ancient Philosophy 26 (2):408-411.
  17. Plato's Natural Philosophy. A Study of the Timaeus–Critias. [REVIEW]James G. Lennox - 2006 - The Classical Review 56 (1):57-59.
  18. Plato's Natural Philosophy: A Study of the Timaeus-Critias.Thomas Kjeller Johansen - 2004 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
    Plato's dialogue the Timaeus-Critias presents two connected accounts, that of the story of Atlantis and its defeat by ancient Athens and that of the creation of the cosmos by a divine craftsman. This book offers a unified reading of the dialogue. It tackles a wide range of interpretative and philosophical issues. Topics discussed include the function of the famous Atlantis story, the notion of cosmology as 'myth' and as 'likely', and the role of God in Platonic cosmology. Other areas commented (...)
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  19. Plato’s Atlantis and the Exploding Planet. [REVIEW]Diskin Clay - 2003 - The Classical Review 53 (01):56-.
  20. Plato’s Atlantis and The Exploding Planet. [REVIEW]Diskin Clay - 2003 - The Classical Review 53 (1):56-58.
  21. Atlantis Destroyed.Rodney Castleden - 2002 - Routledge.
    Plato's legend of Atlantis has become notorious among scholars as the absurdest lie in literature. Atlantis Destroyed explores the possibility that the account given by Plato is historically true. Rodney Castleden first considers the location of Atlantis re-examining two suggestions put forward in the early twentieth century; Minoan Crete and Minoan Thera. He outlines the latest research findings on Knossos and Bronze Age Thera, discussing the material culture, trade empire and agricultural system, writing and wall paintings, art, religion and society (...)
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  22. L'Atlantide de Platon, l'utopie vraie.Jean-François Pradeau - 2001 - Elenchos: Rivista di Studi Sul Pensiero Antico 22 (1):75-98.
  23. Plato's Atlantis: the Anatomy of a Fiction.Diskin Clay - 1999 - Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium of Ancient Philosophy 15 (1):1-21.
  24. Who’s Who In Plato’s Timaeus-Critias and Why.Laurence Lampert & Christopher Planeaux - 1998 - Review of Metaphysics 52 (1):87 - 125.
    “One, two, three—but where’s the fourth?” When Socrates counts to open the paired dialogues Timaeus-Critias he points to the three who are present, but he points most emphatically to a fourth who is absent—“sick,” Timaeus reports. Who are one, two, and three? But especially who, is the fourth, that ostentatiously absent fourth?
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  25. Plato's Atlantis Story and Fourth-Century Ideology: Designer History.Kathryn A. Morgan - 1998 - Journal of Hellenic Studies 118:101-118.
  26. Interpreting the Timaeus – Critias. Proceedings of the IV Symposium Platonicum. Selected papers.Tomás Calvo & Luc Brisson (eds.) - 1997 - Sankt Augustin, Germany: Academia Verlag.
  27. The Plan of Plato's Critias.Diskin Clay - 1997 - In T. Calvo & L. Brisson (eds.), Interpreting the Timaeus – Critias. Proceedings of the IV Symposium Platonicum. Selected papers. pp. 49--54.
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  28. La physiologie politique du Critias de Platon.J.-F. Pradeau - 1997 - Phronesis 42 (3):317-323.
  29. On the Prelude to the Timaeus, and the Atlantis-Story.Victorino Tejera - 1996 - Daimon: Revista Internacional de Filosofía 12:25-36.
  30. The Sunken Kingdom: The Atlantis Mystery Solved.Peter James - 1995 - Random House UK.
    This work suggests a solution to a mystery which has baffled scholars for nearly 2400 years - since Plato first wrote about Atlantis. It reviews previous theories and shows why they will not work. Atlantis could not have been in the Atlantic; nor was it the volcanic island of Santorini near Crete, as currently held. Through an analysis of the sources available to Plato, it becomes clear that the story of Atlantis came from western Turkey, where about 3400 years ago, (...)
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  31. Luc Brisson (tr.): Platon: Timée, Critias. Traduction inédite, introduction et notes. Pp. 438; 7 ills. Paris: Flammarion, 1992. Paper. [REVIEW]R. F. Stalley - 1993 - The Classical Review 43 (1):169-169.
  32. Atlantis and Plato's Philosophy.Daniel A. Dombrowski - 1981 - Apeiron 15 (2):117 - 128.
    A moral orientation of a historically existing state is superior to an immoral one; but even a moral state or leader cannot be perfectly moral. The Republic (or its symbol, ancient Athens) is impossible for metaphysical and practical reasons, and it must suffer the same fate as Atlantis in this story, i.e., destruction at the hands of nature.
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  33. Critias and Atheism.Dana Sutton - 1981 - Classical Quarterly 31 (01):33-.
    One of the best-known fragments of a lost Greek drama is Critias' fr. 43F19 Snell, an extended rhesis from the play Sisyphus in which the protagonist narrates how once upon a time human life was squalid, brutal, and anarchistic; as a remedy men devised Law and Justice; this expedient served to check open wrongdoing but did not hinder secret crimes; then some very clever man hit upon the idea of inventing gods and the notion of divine retribution; thus secret criminality (...)
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  34. Atlantis: Fact or Fiction? [REVIEW]Sinclair Hood - 1980 - The Classical Review 30 (1):161-162.
  35. Plato and Politics: The Critias and the Politicus.Christopher Gill - 1979 - Phronesis 24 (2):148-167.
  36. Plato's Atlantis Story and the Birth of Fiction.Christopher Gill - 1979 - Philosophy and Literature 3 (1):64-78.
  37. Character, Plot, and Thought in Plato’s Timaeus-Critias. [REVIEW]U. S. - 1978 - Review of Metaphysics 32 (2):374-375.
    It seems that the Timaeus is independent of the Critias, that the Critias is incomplete, and that the two dialogues are parts of a tetralogy contemplated but not completed by Plato. As Welliver remarks, most commentators have taken these seeming facts to be facts; some have proffered outlines of the supposed tetralogy; some have explained its supposed incompleteness by making Plato old and weary. Welliver believes that the Timaeus-Critias is a complete dramatic work, and most of his book represents an (...)
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  38. Flames Over Atlantis.J. M. Cook - 1970 - The Classical Review 20 (02):224-.
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  39. The Timaeus and the Critias. Plato - 1945 - [New York]Pantheon Books. Edited by Thomas Taylor & Robert Catesby Taliaferro.
    Among all the writings of Plato the Timaeus is the most obscure to the modern reader, and has nevertheless had the greatest influence over the ancient and mediaeval world. The Critias is a fragment and it was designed to be the second part of a trilogy. Timaeus had brought down the origin of the world to the creation of man, and the dawn of history was now to succeed the philosophy of nature. It tells us about Atlantis and Critias returns (...)
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  40. The Story of Atlantis: its Purpose and its Moral.R. Hackforth - 1944 - The Classical Review 58 (01):7-9.
  41. A Suggestion Concerning Plato's Atlantis.William Arthur Heidel - 1933 - Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 68 (6):189-228.
  42. Plato: Timaeus and Critias: Translated Into English with Introductions and Notes on the Text. Plato - 1929 - London: Methuen & Co.. Edited by A. E. Taylor.
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  43. Platon. Oeuvres complètes, Tome X.: Timèe, Critias. Texte établi et traduit par Albert Rivaud. Pp.cxxiii + 209; xxiii + 42. Paris: Société d'Edition 'Les Belles Lettres,' 1925. 20 frs. [REVIEW]W. R. M. Lamb - 1926 - The Classical Review 40 (02):86-.
  44. Truth, Lies and History in Plato's Timaeus-Critias.Thomas Johansen - manuscript
    From antiquity on, the status of Critias' account has been the subject of intense debate. Is the Atlantis story 'real history'? The dialogue invites us to raise this question but also to reflect on its terms. In this paper I shall argue that the story should be seen as 'history' only in a special Platonic sense: it is a story which is fabricated about the past in order to reflect a general truth about how ideal citizens would behave in action.
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  45. Critias. Plato - unknown
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