Plato's Critias

Apr 25, 2024 08:53

Plato never finished the Critias- which makes it easy for modern writers to overlook the fact that his account of the civilization of Atlantis was intended to be set in the context of the story of a war- which to the best of our knowledge never happened- between Atlantis and a prehistoric Athens- which to the best of our knowledge never existed.

I happen to think Atlantis was a real thing but Plato's trustworthiness is another matter.

(Of course we know very little about our ancient history and that's why I say "to the best of our knowledge".)

I want to like Plato, but every time I read something of his I find I really don't....
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