Plato's Pod: Dialogue on Critias

We were introduced to Plato’s legend of Atlantis in our first episode on The Timaeus, and we return to Atlantis in episode #7 to discuss The Critias. (Please note the delay of one week from our regular schedule).

What is it about the story of Atlantis, a civilization that disappeared 9,000 years before Plato’s writing, that has gripped the imagination ever since? Plato presents the legend of a city of wealth, beauty, and harmony in both design and operation in accordance with rules set out in stone attributed to the god Poseidon. Yet this fantastic creation of gods and men succumbed to the forces of nature and sank beneath the sea after a day and night of cataclysmic earthquakes and flooding, and its memory was lost.

It is often said that Plato left The Critias unfinished, its last line describing the gathering of the gods by Zeus who “said …” Why did Plato not put words in the mouth of the god Zeus? Here we might consider the nature of speech discussed in our previous two episodes on The Phaedrus, and also Critias 107(b): “…he is a successful speaker when he speaks of gods to an audience of mortals. The audience’s lack of experience and sheer ignorance concerning a subject they can never know for certain provide the would-be speaker with great eloquence.”

Are rules set in stone (Critias120(a)-(b), and in The Republic which precedes both Timaeus and Critias) suitable for all time, as the soul becomes prone to disorder when “blended with great quantities of mortality” (121(b)) and in constant need of recollection of knowledge?

In preparation for our discussion, you may wish to review Timaeus 20(d)-26(e) and listen to the Ancient Greece Declassified podcast episode on Atlantis (http://greecepodcast.com/episode13.html).

Our discussion will be recorded in voice only, using first name as it appears on your screen profile. Video will not be recorded, and the dialogue will be podcast for those who would like to share in our derived knowledge.

Wherever we go in our discussions we gain knowledge from each other’s perspectives, and for the increase in knowledge we invite everyone to add their voice to the dialogue. Plato, without a doubt, would have imagined no better way than in dialogue for knowledge – the account of the reasons why – to find its home.

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APPROXIMATELY ONE WEEK BEFORE THE MEETUP: Please visit https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqvPwkIofv4UaFldrPpbva3VSXI?e=3Y7PjP for questions and themes that we might address in our discussion, as well as those explored in our previous meetups. We will also post the reading list for our next meeting which will generally be scheduled every two weeks on Sunday at 10 a.m. eastern. During our dialogue on the dialogue, participants are encouraged to relate their comments to Plato's text, referring to the Stephanus marginal number for the passage so others can follow in the reading. Participants are also encouraged to read the text aloud so that the meaning of the written word can resonate.

There are many translations of Plato's works available, of varying quality. Your public library will have multiple electronic and printed editions. A free translation of The Critias is available at http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1571, although the text lacks explanatory notes and passage reference numbers that would be useful to follow in our discussion. Participants in our entire series might be interested in purchasing Plato: Complete Works (https://www.amazon.ca/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492/).

Whether new to or experienced with Plato, all are welcome to the dialogue and to sharing in the discovery and learning.

The Meetup will take place on Zoom. Please RSVP to access the Zoom link at your Meetup account.