Critias says that anything that can be said is only a representation. When we describe mountains, stars, trees, and other things, we grant these descriptions some slack because we don’t really know these things well enough to criticize how accurately the descriptions represent the real thing. The descriptions can’t be obviously wrong, and we can say, “Yeah, that’s pretty close to a tree.” This slack can’t be granted to descriptions of human beings because we are human beings ourselves. This makes us much more perceptive of interpretations of humans in a way we wouldn’t be for descriptions of other things. This is why Critias asks Socrates to indulge him in his interpretation of the Ancient Athenians and Atlanteans. What does this interpretation of these two civilizations entail?
Well, 9,000 years ago, different gods governed different portions of land. One portion was governed by Hephaestus and Athena, who loved philosophy and art. They gave this land its laws, which led to it being a well-governed city, but it was unfortunately washed away by rains and earthquakes. The remnants of that city can still be seen, for example, in the small streams left over from the fountain that was in the Acropolis. These Ancient Athenians were well known all over the world for their beauty and wisdom.
Poseidon’s portion of land was Atlantis. It was ruled by kings who met every few years and passed judgment on their citizens based on the laws handed down by Poseidon. Atlantis had wealth in abundance, and all its citizens lived in harmony according to law. But their human nature started getting the upper hand, and Zeus noticed that this was the beginning of their downfall. Zeus decided to punish them in order to help them remember their roots. Zeus gathered the gods together, and they decided that Athens and Atlantis should go to war.
The dialogue is cut short before we hear Socrates’ response to this interpretation.
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