initial commit of ebook 1571HEADmain

2 files changed, 1093 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/old/criti10.txt b/old/criti10.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc19e14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/criti10.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,1093 @@
+********The Project Gutenberg Etext of Critias, by Plato********
+Translated by Benjamin Jowett, #2 in our series by Plato
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check
+the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!!
+
+Please take a look at the important information in this header.
+We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an
+electronic path open for the next readers.  Do not remove this.
+
+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
+
+**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations*
+
+Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and
+further information is included below.  We need your donations.
+
+Critias
+
+by Plato
+
+Translated by Benjamin Jowett
+
+December, 1998  [Etext #1571]
+
+********The Project Gutenberg Etext of Critias, by Plato********
+******This file should be named criti10.txt or criti10.zip******
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, criti11.txt
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, criti10a.txt
+
+This etext was prepared by Sue Asscher <asschers@aia.net.au>
+
+Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions,
+all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a
+copyright notice is included.  Therefore, we do NOT keep these books
+in compliance with any particular paper edition, usually otherwise.
+
+We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance
+of the official release dates, for time for better editing.
+
+Please note:  neither this list nor its contents are final till
+midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
+The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at
+Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
+preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
+and editing by those who wish to do so.  To be sure you have an
+up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes
+in the first week of the next month.  Since our ftp program has
+a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a
+look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a
+new copy has at least one byte more or less.
+
+Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
+
+We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
+fifty hours is one conservative estimate for how long it we take
+to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
+searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.  This
+projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If our value
+per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
+million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-two text
+files per month, or 384 more Etexts in 1998 for a total of 1500+
+If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the
+total should reach over 150 billion Etexts given away.
+
+The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext
+Files by the December 31, 2001.  [10,000 x 100,000,000=Trillion]
+This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
+which is only 10% of the present number of computer users.  2001
+should have at least twice as many computer users as that, so it
+will require us reaching less than 5% of the users in 2001.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are
+tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.  (CMU = Carnegie-
+Mellon University).
+
+For these and other matters, please mail to:
+
+Project Gutenberg
+P. O. Box  2782
+Champaign, IL 61825
+
+When all other email fails try our Executive Director:
+Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com>
+
+We would prefer to send you this information by email
+(Internet, Bitnet, Compuserve, ATTMAIL or MCImail).
+
+******
+If you have an FTP program (or emulator), please
+FTP directly to the Project Gutenberg archives:
+[Mac users, do NOT point and click. . .type]
+
+ftp uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu
+login:  anonymous
+password:  your@login
+cd etext/etext90 through /etext96
+or cd etext/articles [get suggest gut for more information]
+dir [to see files]
+get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files]
+GET INDEX?00.GUT
+for a list of books
+and
+GET NEW GUT for general information
+and
+MGET GUT* for newsletters.
+
+**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor**
+(Three Pages)
+
+***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START***
+Why is this "Small Print!" statement here?  You know: lawyers.
+They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
+your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from
+someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
+fault.  So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
+disclaims most of our liability to you.  It also tells you how
+you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to.
+
+*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT
+By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
+this "Small Print!" statement.  If you do not, you can receive
+a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by
+sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
+you got it from.  If you received this etext on a physical
+medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
+
+ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS
+This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-
+tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor
+Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at
+Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project").  Among other
+things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
+on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
+distribute it in the United States without permission and
+without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules, set forth
+below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext
+under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
+
+To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable
+efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
+works.  Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any
+medium they may be on may contain "Defects".  Among other
+things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
+disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer
+codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
+But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
+[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this
+etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
+legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
+UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
+INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
+OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of
+receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
+you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
+time to the person you received it from.  If you received it
+on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
+such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
+copy.  If you received it electronically, such person may
+choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
+receive it electronically.
+
+THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS".  NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
+TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
+the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
+above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
+may have other legal rights.
+
+INDEMNITY
+You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors,
+officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost
+and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or
+indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause:
+[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification,
+or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect.
+
+DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
+You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by
+disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
+"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
+or:
+
+[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
+     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
+     etext or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
+     if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable
+     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
+     including any form resulting from conversion by word pro-
+     cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as
+     *EITHER*:
+
+     [*]  The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
+          does *not* contain characters other than those
+          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
+          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
+          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
+          author, and additional characters may be used to
+          indicate hypertext links; OR
+
+     [*]  The etext may be readily converted by the reader at
+          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
+          form by the program that displays the etext (as is
+          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
+          OR
+
+     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
+          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
+          etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
+          or other equivalent proprietary form).
+
+[2]  Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this
+     "Small Print!" statement.
+
+[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the
+     net profits you derive calculated using the method you
+     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
+     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
+     payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon
+     University" within the 60 days following each
+     date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare)
+     your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return.
+
+WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
+The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time,
+scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty
+free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution
+you can think of.  Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg
+Association / Carnegie-Mellon University".
+
+*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*
+
+
+
+
+
+This etext was prepared by Sue Asscher <asschers@aia.net.au>
+
+
+
+
+CRITIAS
+
+by Plato
+
+
+
+
+Translated by Benjamin Jowett
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.
+
+The Critias is a fragment which breaks off in the middle of a sentence.  It
+was designed to be the second part of a trilogy, which, like the other
+great Platonic trilogy of the Sophist, Statesman, Philosopher, was never
+completed.  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.  The Critias is also connected with the Republic.  Plato, as he
+has already told us (Tim.), intended to represent the ideal state engaged
+in a patriotic conflict.  This mythical conflict is prophetic or symbolical
+of the struggle of Athens and Persia, perhaps in some degree also of the
+wars of the Greeks and Carthaginians, in the same way that the Persian is
+prefigured by the Trojan war to the mind of Herodotus, or as the narrative
+of the first part of the Aeneid is intended by Virgil to foreshadow the
+wars of Carthage and Rome.  The small number of the primitive Athenian
+citizens (20,000), 'which is about their present number' (Crit.), is
+evidently designed to contrast with the myriads and barbaric array of the
+Atlantic hosts.  The passing remark in the Timaeus that Athens was left
+alone in the struggle, in which she conquered and became the liberator of
+Greece, is also an allusion to the later history.  Hence we may safely
+conclude that the entire narrative is due to the imagination of Plato, who
+has used the name of Solon and introduced the Egyptian priests to give
+verisimilitude to his story.  To the Greek such a tale, like that of the
+earth-born men, would have seemed perfectly accordant with the character of
+his mythology, and not more marvellous than the wonders of the East
+narrated by Herodotus and others:  he might have been deceived into
+believing it.  But it appears strange that later ages should have been
+imposed upon by the fiction.  As many attempts have been made to find the
+great island of Atlantis, as to discover the country of the lost tribes. 
+Without regard to the description of Plato, and without a suspicion that
+the whole narrative is a fabrication, interpreters have looked for the spot
+in every part of the globe, America, Arabia Felix, Ceylon, Palestine,
+Sardinia, Sweden.
+
+Timaeus concludes with a prayer that his words may be acceptable to the God
+whom he has revealed, and Critias, whose turn follows, begs that a larger
+measure of indulgence may be conceded to him, because he has to speak of
+men whom we know and not of gods whom we do not know.  Socrates readily
+grants his request, and anticipating that Hermocrates will make a similar
+petition, extends by anticipation a like indulgence to him.
+
+Critias returns to his story, professing only to repeat what Solon was told
+by the priests.  The war of which he was about to speak had occurred 9000
+years ago.  One of the combatants was the city of Athens, the other was the
+great island of Atlantis.  Critias proposes to speak of these rival powers
+first of all, giving to Athens the precedence; the various tribes of Greeks
+and barbarians who took part in the war will be dealt with as they
+successively appear on the scene.
+
+In the beginning the gods agreed to divide the earth by lot in a friendly
+manner, and when they had made the allotment they settled their several
+countries, and were the shepherds or rather the pilots of mankind, whom
+they guided by persuasion, and not by force.  Hephaestus and Athena,
+brother and sister deities, in mind and art united, obtained as their lot
+the land of Attica, a land suited to the growth of virtue and wisdom; and
+there they settled a brave race of children of the soil, and taught them
+how to order the state.  Some of their names, such as Cecrops, Erechtheus,
+Erichthonius, and Erysichthon, were preserved and adopted in later times,
+but the memory of their deeds has passed away; for there have since been
+many deluges, and the remnant who survived in the mountains were ignorant
+of the art of writing, and during many generations were wholly devoted to
+acquiring the means of life...And the armed image of the goddess which was
+dedicated by the ancient Athenians is an evidence to other ages that men
+and women had in those days, as they ought always to have, common virtues
+and pursuits.  There were various classes of citizens, including
+handicraftsmen and husbandmen and a superior class of warriors who dwelt
+apart, and were educated, and had all things in common, like our guardians.
+Attica in those days extended southwards to the Isthmus, and inland to the
+heights of Parnes and Cithaeron, and between them and the sea included the
+district of Oropus.  The country was then, as what remains of it still is,
+the most fertile in the world, and abounded in rich plains and pastures. 
+But in the course of ages much of the soil was washed away and disappeared
+in the deep sea.  And the inhabitants of this fair land were endowed with
+intelligence and the love of beauty.
+
+The Acropolis of the ancient Athens extended to the Ilissus and Eridanus,
+and included the Pnyx, and the Lycabettus on the opposite side to the Pnyx,
+having a level surface and deep soil.  The side of the hill was inhabited
+by craftsmen and husbandmen; and the warriors dwelt by themselves on the
+summit, around the temples of Hephaestus and Athene, in an enclosure which
+was like the garden of a single house.  In winter they retired into houses
+on the north of the hill, in which they held their syssitia.  These were
+modest dwellings, which they bequeathed unaltered to their children's
+children.  In summer time the south side was inhabited by them, and then
+they left their gardens and dining-halls.  In the midst of the Acropolis
+was a fountain, which gave an abundant supply of cool water in summer and
+warm in winter; of this there are still some traces.  They were careful to
+preserve the number of fighting men and women at 20,000, which is equal to
+that of the present military force.  And so they passed their lives as
+guardians of the citizens and leaders of the Hellenes.  They were a just
+and famous race, celebrated for their beauty and virtue all over Europe and
+Asia.
+
+And now I will speak to you of their adversaries, but first I ought to
+explain that the Greek names were given to Solon in an Egyptian form, and
+he enquired their meaning and translated them.  His manuscript was left
+with my grandfather Dropides, and is now in my possession...In the division
+of the earth Poseidon obtained as his portion the island of Atlantis, and
+there he begat children whose mother was a mortal.  Towards the sea and in
+the centre of the island there was a very fair and fertile plain, and near
+the centre, about fifty stadia from the plain, there was a low mountain in
+which dwelt a man named Evenor and his wife Leucippe, and their daughter
+Cleito, of whom Poseidon became enamoured.  He to secure his love enclosed
+the mountain with rings or zones varying in size, two of land and three of
+sea, which his divine power readily enabled him to excavate and fashion,
+and, as there was no shipping in those days, no man could get into the
+place.  To the interior island he conveyed under the earth springs of water
+hot and cold, and supplied the land with all things needed for the life of
+man.  Here he begat a family consisting of five pairs of twin male
+children.  The eldest was Atlas, and him he made king of the centre island,
+while to his twin brother, Eumelus, or Gadeirus, he assigned that part of
+the country which was nearest the Straits.  The other brothers he made
+chiefs over the rest of the island.  And their kingdom extended as far as
+Egypt and Tyrrhenia.  Now Atlas had a fair posterity, and great treasures
+derived from mines--among them that precious metal orichalcum; and there
+was abundance of wood, and herds of elephants, and pastures for animals of
+all kinds, and fragrant herbs, and grasses, and trees bearing fruit.  These
+they used, and employed themselves in constructing their temples, and
+palaces, and harbours, and docks, in the following manner:--First, they
+bridged over the zones of sea, and made a way to and from the royal palace
+which they built in the centre island.  This ancient palace was ornamented
+by successive generations; and they dug a canal which passed through the
+zones of land from the island to the sea.  The zones of earth were
+surrounded by walls made of stone of divers colours, black and white and
+red, which they sometimes intermingled for the sake of ornament; and as
+they quarried they hollowed out beneath the edges of the zones double docks
+having roofs of rock.  The outermost of the walls was coated with brass,
+the second with tin, and the third, which was the wall of the citadel,
+flashed with the red light of orichalcum.  In the interior of the citadel
+was a holy temple, dedicated to Cleito and Poseidon, and surrounded by an
+enclosure of gold, and there was Poseidon's own temple, which was covered
+with silver, and the pinnacles with gold.  The roof was of ivory, adorned
+with gold and silver and orichalcum, and the rest of the interior was lined
+with orichalcum.  Within was an image of the god standing in a chariot
+drawn by six winged horses, and touching the roof with his head; around him
+were a hundred Nereids, riding on dolphins.  Outside the temple were placed
+golden statues of all the descendants of the ten kings and of their wives;
+there was an altar too, and there were palaces, corresponding to the
+greatness and glory both of the kingdom and of the temple.
+
+Also there were fountains of hot and cold water, and suitable buildings
+surrounding them, and trees, and there were baths both of the kings and of
+private individuals, and separate baths for women, and also for cattle. 
+The water from the baths was carried to the grove of Poseidon, and by
+aqueducts over the bridges to the outer circles.  And there were temples in
+the zones, and in the larger of the two there was a racecourse for horses,
+which ran all round the island.  The guards were distributed in the zones
+according to the trust reposed in them; the most trusted of them were
+stationed in the citadel.  The docks were full of triremes and stores. The
+land between the harbour and the sea was surrounded by a wall, and was
+crowded with dwellings, and the harbour and canal resounded with the din of
+human voices.
+
+The plain around the city was highly cultivated and sheltered from the
+north by mountains; it was oblong, and where falling out of the straight
+line followed the circular ditch, which was of an incredible depth.  This
+depth received the streams which came down from the mountains, as well as
+the canals of the interior, and found a way to the sea.  The entire country
+was divided into sixty thousand lots, each of which was a square of ten
+stadia; and the owner of a lot was bound to furnish the sixth part of a
+war-chariot, so as to make up ten thousand chariots, two horses and riders
+upon them, a pair of chariot-horses without a seat, and an attendant and
+charioteer, two hoplites, two archers, two slingers, three stone-shooters,
+three javelin-men, and four sailors to make up the complement of twelve
+hundred ships.
+
+Each of the ten kings was absolute in his own city and kingdom.  The
+relations of the different governments to one another were determined by
+the injunctions of Poseidon, which had been inscribed by the first kings on
+a column of orichalcum in the temple of Poseidon, at which the kings and
+princes gathered together and held a festival every fifth and every sixth
+year alternately.  Around the temple ranged the bulls of Poseidon, one of
+which the ten kings caught and sacrificed, shedding the blood of the victim
+over the inscription, and vowing not to transgress the laws of their father
+Poseidon.  When night came, they put on azure robes and gave judgment
+against offenders.  The most important of their laws related to their
+dealings with one another.  They were not to take up arms against one
+another, and were to come to the rescue if any of their brethren were
+attacked.  They were to deliberate in common about war, and the king was
+not to have the power of life and death over his kinsmen, unless he had the
+assent of the majority.
+
+For many generations, as tradition tells, the people of Atlantis were
+obedient to the laws and to the gods, and practised gentleness and wisdom
+in their intercourse with one another.  They knew that they could only have
+the true use of riches by not caring about them.  But gradually the divine
+portion of their souls became diluted with too much of the mortal
+admixture, and they began to degenerate, though to the outward eye they
+appeared glorious as ever at the very time when they were filled with all
+iniquity.  The all-seeing Zeus, wanting to punish them, held a council of
+the gods, and when he had called them together, he spoke as follows:--
+
+No one knew better than Plato how to invent 'a noble lie.'  Observe (1) the
+innocent declaration of Socrates, that the truth of the story is a great
+advantage:  (2) the manner in which traditional names and indications of
+geography are intermingled ('Why, here be truths!'):  (3) the extreme
+minuteness with which the numbers are given, as in the Old Epic poetry: 
+(4) the ingenious reason assigned for the Greek names occurring in the
+Egyptian tale:  (5) the remark that the armed statue of Athena indicated
+the common warrior life of men and women:  (6) the particularity with which
+the third deluge before that of Deucalion is affirmed to have been the
+great destruction:  (7) the happy guess that great geological changes have
+been effected by water:  (8) the indulgence of the prejudice against
+sailing beyond the Columns, and the popular belief of the shallowness of
+the ocean in that part:  (9) the confession that the depth of the ditch in
+the Island of Atlantis was not to be believed, and 'yet he could only
+repeat what he had heard', compared with the statement made in an earlier
+passage that Poseidon, being a God, found no difficulty in contriving the
+water-supply of the centre island:  (10) the mention of the old rivalry of
+Poseidon and Athene, and the creation of the first inhabitants out of the
+soil.  Plato here, as elsewhere, ingeniously gives the impression that he
+is telling the truth which mythology had corrupted.
+
+The world, like a child, has readily, and for the most part unhesitatingly,
+accepted the tale of the Island of Atlantis.  In modern times we hardly
+seek for traces of the submerged continent; but even Mr. Grote is inclined
+to believe in the Egyptian poem of Solon of which there is no evidence in
+antiquity; while others, like Martin, discuss the Egyptian origin of the
+legend, or like M. de Humboldt, whom he quotes, are disposed to find in it
+a vestige of a widely-spread tradition.  Others, adopting a different vein
+of reflection, regard the Island of Atlantis as the anticipation of a still
+greater island--the Continent of America.  'The tale,' says M. Martin,
+'rests upon the authority of the Egyptian priests; and the Egyptian priests
+took a pleasure in deceiving the Greeks.'  He never appears to suspect that
+there is a greater deceiver or magician than the Egyptian priests, that is
+to say, Plato himself, from the dominion of whose genius the critic and
+natural philosopher of modern times are not wholly emancipated.  Although
+worthless in respect of any result which can be attained by them,
+discussions like those of M. Martin (Timee) have an interest of their own,
+and may be compared to the similar discussions regarding the Lost Tribes (2
+Esdras), as showing how the chance word of some poet or philosopher has
+given birth to endless religious or historical enquiries.  (See
+Introduction to the Timaeus.)
+
+In contrasting the small Greek city numbering about twenty thousand
+inhabitants with the barbaric greatness of the island of Atlantis, Plato
+probably intended to show that a state, such as the ideal Athens, was
+invincible, though matched against any number of opponents (cp. Rep.). 
+Even in a great empire there might be a degree of virtue and justice, such
+as the Greeks believed to have existed under the sway of the first Persian
+kings.  But all such empires were liable to degenerate, and soon incurred
+the anger of the gods.  Their Oriental wealth, and splendour of gold and
+silver, and variety of colours, seemed also to be at variance with the
+simplicity of Greek notions.  In the island of Atlantis, Plato is
+describing a sort of Babylonian or Egyptian city, to which he opposes the
+frugal life of the true Hellenic citizen.  It is remarkable that in his
+brief sketch of them, he idealizes the husbandmen 'who are lovers of honour
+and true husbandmen,' as well as the warriors who are his sole concern in
+the Republic; and that though he speaks of the common pursuits of men and
+women, he says nothing of the community of wives and children.
+
+It is singular that Plato should have prefixed the most detested of
+Athenian names to this dialogue, and even more singular that he should have
+put into the mouth of Socrates a panegyric on him (Tim.).  Yet we know that
+his character was accounted infamous by Xenophon, and that the mere
+acquaintance with him was made a subject of accusation against Socrates. 
+We can only infer that in this, and perhaps in some other cases, Plato's
+characters have no reference to the actual facts.  The desire to do honour
+to his own family, and the connection with Solon, may have suggested the
+introduction of his name.  Why the Critias was never completed, whether
+from accident, or from advancing age, or from a sense of the artistic
+difficulty of the design, cannot be determined.
+
+
+
+CRITIAS.
+
+
+PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE:  Critias, Hermocrates, Timaeus, Socrates.
+
+
+TIMAEUS:  How thankful I am, Socrates, that I have arrived at last, and,
+like a weary traveller after a long journey, may be at rest!  And I pray
+the being who always was of old, and has now been by me revealed, to grant
+that my words may endure in so far as they have been spoken truly and
+acceptably to him; but if unintentionally I have said anything wrong, I
+pray that he will impose upon me a just retribution, and the just
+retribution of him who errs is that he should be set right.  Wishing, then,
+to speak truly in future concerning the generation of the gods, I pray him
+to give me knowledge, which of all medicines is the most perfect and best. 
+And now having offered my prayer I deliver up the argument to Critias, who
+is to speak next according to our agreement.  (Tim.)
+
+CRITIAS:  And I, Timaeus, accept the trust, and as you at first said that
+you were going to speak of high matters, and begged that some forbearance
+might be shown to you, I too ask the same or greater forbearance for what I
+am about to say.  And although I very well know that my request may appear
+to be somewhat ambitious and discourteous, I must make it nevertheless. 
+For will any man of sense deny that you have spoken well?  I can only
+attempt to show that I ought to have more indulgence than you, because my
+theme is more difficult; and I shall argue that to seem to speak well of
+the gods to men is far easier than to speak well of men to men:  for the
+inexperience and utter ignorance of his hearers about any subject is a
+great assistance to him who has to speak of it, and we know how ignorant we
+are concerning the gods.  But I should like to make my meaning clearer, if
+you will follow me.  All that is said by any of us can only be imitation
+and representation.  For if we consider the likenesses which painters make
+of bodies divine and heavenly, and the different degrees of gratification
+with which the eye of the spectator receives them, we shall see that we are
+satisfied with the artist who is able in any degree to imitate the earth
+and its mountains, and the rivers, and the woods, and the universe, and the
+things that are and move therein, and further, that knowing nothing precise
+about such matters, we do not examine or analyze the painting; all that is
+required is a sort of indistinct and deceptive mode of shadowing them
+forth.  But when a person endeavours to paint the human form we are quick
+at finding out defects, and our familiar knowledge makes us severe judges
+of any one who does not render every point of similarity.  And we may
+observe the same thing to happen in discourse; we are satisfied with a
+picture of divine and heavenly things which has very little likeness to
+them; but we are more precise in our criticism of mortal and human things. 
+Wherefore if at the moment of speaking I cannot suitably express my
+meaning, you must excuse me, considering that to form approved likenesses
+of human things is the reverse of easy.  This is what I want to suggest to
+you, and at the same time to beg, Socrates, that I may have not less, but
+more indulgence conceded to me in what I am about to say.  Which favour, if
+I am right in asking, I hope that you will be ready to grant.
+
+SOCRATES:  Certainly, Critias, we will grant your request, and we will
+grant the same by anticipation to Hermocrates, as well as to you and
+Timaeus; for I have no doubt that when his turn comes a little while hence,
+he will make the same request which you have made.  In order, then, that he
+may provide himself with a fresh beginning, and not be compelled to say the
+same things over again, let him understand that the indulgence is already
+extended by anticipation to him.  And now, friend Critias, I will announce
+to you the judgment of the theatre.  They are of opinion that the last
+performer was wonderfully successful, and that you will need a great deal
+of indulgence before you will be able to take his place.
+
+HERMOCRATES:  The warning, Socrates, which you have addressed to him, I
+must also take to myself.  But remember, Critias, that faint heart never
+yet raised a trophy; and therefore you must go and attack the argument like
+a man.  First invoke Apollo and the Muses, and then let us hear you sound
+the praises and show forth the virtues of your ancient citizens.
+
+CRITIAS:  Friend Hermocrates, you, who are stationed last and have another
+in front of you, have not lost heart as yet; the gravity of the situation
+will soon be revealed to you; meanwhile I accept your exhortations and
+encouragements.  But besides the gods and goddesses whom you have
+mentioned, I would specially invoke Mnemosyne; for all the important part
+of my discourse is dependent on her favour, and if I can recollect and
+recite enough of what was said by the priests and brought hither by Solon,
+I doubt not that I shall satisfy the requirements of this theatre.  And
+now, making no more excuses, I will proceed.
+
+Let me begin by observing first of all, that nine thousand was the sum of
+years which had elapsed since the war which was said to have taken place
+between those who dwelt outside the pillars of Heracles and all who dwelt
+within them; this war I am going to describe.  Of the combatants on the one
+side, the city of Athens was reported to have been the leader and to have
+fought out the war; the combatants on the other side were commanded by the
+kings of Atlantis, which, as I was saying, was an island greater in extent
+than Libya and Asia, and when afterwards sunk by an earthquake, became an
+impassable barrier of mud to voyagers sailing from hence to any part of the
+ocean.  The progress of the history will unfold the various nations of
+barbarians and families of Hellenes which then existed, as they
+successively appear on the scene; but I must describe first of all the
+Athenians of that day, and their enemies who fought with them, and then the
+respective powers and governments of the two kingdoms.  Let us give the
+precedence to Athens.
+
+In the days of old, the gods had the whole earth distributed among them by
+allotment (Cp. Polit.)  There was no quarrelling; for you cannot rightly
+suppose that the gods did not know what was proper for each of them to
+have, or, knowing this, that they would seek to procure for themselves by
+contention that which more properly belonged to others.  They all of them
+by just apportionment obtained what they wanted, and peopled their own
+districts; and when they had peopled them they tended us, their nurselings
+and possessions, as shepherds tend their flocks, excepting only that they
+did not use blows or bodily force, as shepherds do, but governed us like
+pilots from the stern of the vessel, which is an easy way of guiding
+animals, holding our souls by the rudder of persuasion according to their
+own pleasure;--thus did they guide all mortal creatures.  Now different
+gods had their allotments in different places which they set in order. 
+Hephaestus and Athene, who were brother and sister, and sprang from the
+same father, having a common nature, and being united also in the love of
+philosophy and art, both obtained as their common portion this land, which
+was naturally adapted for wisdom and virtue; and there they implanted brave
+children of the soil, and put into their minds the order of government;
+their names are preserved, but their actions have disappeared by reason of
+the destruction of those who received the tradition, and the lapse of ages. 
+For when there were any survivors, as I have already said, they were men
+who dwelt in the mountains; and they were ignorant of the art of writing,
+and had heard only the names of the chiefs of the land, but very little
+about their actions.  The names they were willing enough to give to their
+children; but the virtues and the laws of their predecessors, they knew
+only by obscure traditions; and as they themselves and their children
+lacked for many generations the necessaries of life, they directed their
+attention to the supply of their wants, and of them they conversed, to the
+neglect of events that had happened in times long past; for mythology and
+the enquiry into antiquity are first introduced into cities when they begin
+to have leisure (Cp. Arist. Metaphys.), and when they see that the
+necessaries of life have already been provided, but not before.  And this
+is the reason why the names of the ancients have been preserved to us and
+not their actions.  This I infer because Solon said that the priests in
+their narrative of that war mentioned most of the names which are recorded
+prior to the time of Theseus, such as Cecrops, and Erechtheus, and
+Erichthonius, and Erysichthon, and the names of the women in like manner. 
+Moreover, since military pursuits were then common to men and women, the
+men of those days in accordance with the custom of the time set up a figure
+and image of the goddess in full armour, to be a testimony that all animals
+which associate together, male as well as female, may, if they please,
+practise in common the virtue which belongs to them without distinction of
+sex.
+
+Now the country was inhabited in those days by various classes of
+citizens;--there were artisans, and there were husbandmen, and there was
+also a warrior class originally set apart by divine men.  The latter dwelt
+by themselves, and had all things suitable for nurture and education;
+neither had any of them anything of their own, but they regarded all that
+they had as common property; nor did they claim to receive of the other
+citizens anything more than their necessary food.  And they practised all
+the pursuits which we yesterday described as those of our imaginary
+guardians.  Concerning the country the Egyptian priests said what is not
+only probable but manifestly true, that the boundaries were in those days
+fixed by the Isthmus, and that in the direction of the continent they
+extended as far as the heights of Cithaeron and Parnes; the boundary line
+came down in the direction of the sea, having the district of Oropus on the
+right, and with the river Asopus as the limit on the left.  The land was
+the best in the world, and was therefore able in those days to support a
+vast army, raised from the surrounding people.  Even the remnant of Attica
+which now exists may compare with any region in the world for the variety
+and excellence of its fruits and the suitableness of its pastures to every
+sort of animal, which proves what I am saying; but in those days the
+country was fair as now and yielded far more abundant produce.  How shall I
+establish my words? and what part of it can be truly called a remnant of
+the land that then was?  The whole country is only a long promontory
+extending far into the sea away from the rest of the continent, while the
+surrounding basin of the sea is everywhere deep in the neighbourhood of the
+shore.  Many great deluges have taken place during the nine thousand years,
+for that is the number of years which have elapsed since the time of which
+I am speaking; and during all this time and through so many changes, there
+has never been any considerable accumulation of the soil coming down from
+the mountains, as in other places, but the earth has fallen away all round
+and sunk out of sight.  The consequence is, that in comparison of what then
+was, there are remaining only the bones of the wasted body, as they may be
+called, as in the case of small islands, all the richer and softer parts of
+the soil having fallen away, and the mere skeleton of the land being left. 
+But in the primitive state of the country, its mountains were high hills
+covered with soil, and the plains, as they are termed by us, of Phelleus
+were full of rich earth, and there was abundance of wood in the mountains. 
+Of this last the traces still remain, for although some of the mountains
+now only afford sustenance to bees, not so very long ago there were still
+to be seen roofs of timber cut from trees growing there, which were of a
+size sufficient to cover the largest houses; and there were many other high
+trees, cultivated by man and bearing abundance of food for cattle. 
+Moreover, the land reaped the benefit of the annual rainfall, not as now
+losing the water which flows off the bare earth into the sea, but, having
+an abundant supply in all places, and receiving it into herself and
+treasuring it up in the close clay soil, it let off into the hollows the
+streams which it absorbed from the heights, providing everywhere abundant
+fountains and rivers, of which there may still be observed sacred memorials
+in places where fountains once existed; and this proves the truth of what I
+am saying.
+
+Such was the natural state of the country, which was cultivated, as we may
+well believe, by true husbandmen, who made husbandry their business, and
+were lovers of honour, and of a noble nature, and had a soil the best in
+the world, and abundance of water, and in the heaven above an excellently
+attempered climate.  Now the city in those days was arranged on this wise. 
+In the first place the Acropolis was not as now.  For the fact is that a
+single night of excessive rain washed away the earth and laid bare the
+rock; at the same time there were earthquakes, and then occurred the
+extraordinary inundation, which was the third before the great destruction
+of Deucalion.  But in primitive times the hill of the Acropolis extended to
+the Eridanus and Ilissus, and included the Pnyx on one side, and the
+Lycabettus as a boundary on the opposite side to the Pnyx, and was all well
+covered with soil, and level at the top, except in one or two places. 
+Outside the Acropolis and under the sides of the hill there dwelt artisans,
+and such of the husbandmen as were tilling the ground near; the warrior
+class dwelt by themselves around the temples of Athene and Hephaestus at
+the summit, which moreover they had enclosed with a single fence like the
+garden of a single house.  On the north side they had dwellings in common
+and had erected halls for dining in winter, and had all the buildings which
+they needed for their common life, besides temples, but there was no
+adorning of them with gold and silver, for they made no use of these for
+any purpose; they took a middle course between meanness and ostentation,
+and built modest houses in which they and their children's children grew
+old, and they handed them down to others who were like themselves, always
+the same.  But in summer-time they left their gardens and gymnasia and
+dining halls, and then the southern side of the hill was made use of by
+them for the same purpose.  Where the Acropolis now is there was a
+fountain, which was choked by the earthquake, and has left only the few
+small streams which still exist in the vicinity, but in those days the
+fountain gave an abundant supply of water for all and of suitable
+temperature in summer and in winter.  This is how they dwelt, being the
+guardians of their own citizens and the leaders of the Hellenes, who were
+their willing followers.  And they took care to preserve the same number of
+men and women through all time, being so many as were required for warlike
+purposes, then as now--that is to say, about twenty thousand.  Such were
+the ancient Athenians, and after this manner they righteously administered
+their own land and the rest of Hellas; they were renowned all over Europe
+and Asia for the beauty of their persons and for the many virtues of their
+souls, and of all men who lived in those days they were the most
+illustrious.  And next, if I have not forgotten what I heard when I was a
+child, I will impart to you the character and origin of their adversaries. 
+For friends should not keep their stories to themselves, but have them in
+common.
+
+Yet, before proceeding further in the narrative, I ought to warn you, that
+you must not be surprised if you should perhaps hear Hellenic names given
+to foreigners.  I will tell you the reason of this:  Solon, who was
+intending to use the tale for his poem, enquired into the meaning of the
+names, and found that the early Egyptians in writing them down had
+translated them into their own language, and he recovered the meaning of
+the several names and when copying them out again translated them into our
+language.  My great-grandfather, Dropides, had the original writing, which
+is still in my possession, and was carefully studied by me when I was a
+child.  Therefore if you hear names such as are used in this country, you
+must not be surprised, for I have told how they came to be introduced.  The
+tale, which was of great length, began as follows:--
+
+I have before remarked in speaking of the allotments of the gods, that they
+distributed the whole earth into portions differing in extent, and made for
+themselves temples and instituted sacrifices.  And Poseidon, receiving for
+his lot the island of Atlantis, begat children by a mortal woman, and
+settled them in a part of the island, which I will describe.  Looking
+towards the sea, but in the centre of the whole island, there was a plain
+which is said to have been the fairest of all plains and very fertile. 
+Near the plain again, and also in the centre of the island at a distance of
+about fifty stadia, there was a mountain not very high on any side.  In
+this mountain there dwelt one of the earth-born primeval men of that
+country, whose name was Evenor, and he had a wife named Leucippe, and they
+had an only daughter who was called Cleito.  The maiden had already reached
+womanhood, when her father and mother died; Poseidon fell in love with her
+and had intercourse with her, and breaking the ground, inclosed the hill in
+which she dwelt all round, making alternate zones of sea and land larger
+and smaller, encircling one another; there were two of land and three of
+water, which he turned as with a lathe, each having its circumference
+equidistant every way from the centre, so that no man could get to the
+island, for ships and voyages were not as yet.  He himself, being a god,
+found no difficulty in making special arrangements for the centre island,
+bringing up two springs of water from beneath the earth, one of warm water
+and the other of cold, and making every variety of food to spring up
+abundantly from the soil.  He also begat and brought up five pairs of twin
+male children; and dividing the island of Atlantis into ten portions, he
+gave to the first-born of the eldest pair his mother's dwelling and the
+surrounding allotment, which was the largest and best, and made him king
+over the rest; the others he made princes, and gave them rule over many
+men, and a large territory.  And he named them all; the eldest, who was the
+first king, he named Atlas, and after him the whole island and the ocean
+were called Atlantic.  To his twin brother, who was born after him, and
+obtained as his lot the extremity of the island towards the pillars of
+Heracles, facing the country which is now called the region of Gades in
+that part of the world, he gave the name which in the Hellenic language is
+Eumelus, in the language of the country which is named after him, Gadeirus. 
+Of the second pair of twins he called one Ampheres, and the other Evaemon. 
+To the elder of the third pair of twins he gave the name Mneseus, and
+Autochthon to the one who followed him.  Of the fourth pair of twins he
+called the elder Elasippus, and the younger Mestor.  And of the fifth pair
+he gave to the elder the name of Azaes, and to the younger that of
+Diaprepes.  All these and their descendants for many generations were the
+inhabitants and rulers of divers islands in the open sea; and also, as has
+been already said, they held sway in our direction over the country within
+the pillars as far as Egypt and Tyrrhenia.  Now Atlas had a numerous and
+honourable family, and they retained the kingdom, the eldest son handing it
+on to his eldest for many generations; and they had such an amount of
+wealth as was never before possessed by kings and potentates, and is not
+likely ever to be again, and they were furnished with everything which they
+needed, both in the city and country.  For because of the greatness of
+their empire many things were brought to them from foreign countries, and
+the island itself provided most of what was required by them for the uses
+of life.  In the first place, they dug out of the earth whatever was to be
+found there, solid as well as fusile, and that which is now only a name and
+was then something more than a name, orichalcum, was dug out of the earth
+in many parts of the island, being more precious in those days than
+anything except gold.  There was an abundance of wood for carpenter's work,
+and sufficient maintenance for tame and wild animals.  Moreover, there were
+a great number of elephants in the island; for as there was provision for
+all other sorts of animals, both for those which live in lakes and marshes
+and rivers, and also for those which live in mountains and on plains, so
+there was for the animal which is the largest and most voracious of all. 
+Also whatever fragrant things there now are in the earth, whether roots, or
+herbage, or woods, or essences which distil from fruit and flower, grew and
+thrived in that land; also the fruit which admits of cultivation, both the
+dry sort, which is given us for nourishment and any other which we use for
+food--we call them all by the common name of pulse, and the fruits having a
+hard rind, affording drinks and meats and ointments, and good store of
+chestnuts and the like, which furnish pleasure and amusement, and are
+fruits which spoil with keeping, and the pleasant kinds of dessert, with
+which we console ourselves after dinner, when we are tired of eating--all
+these that sacred island which then beheld the light of the sun, brought
+forth fair and wondrous and in infinite abundance.  With such blessings the
+earth freely furnished them; meanwhile they went on constructing their
+temples and palaces and harbours and docks.  And they arranged the whole
+country in the following manner:--
+
+First of all they bridged over the zones of sea which surrounded the
+ancient metropolis, making a road to and from the royal palace.  And at the
+very beginning they built the palace in the habitation of the god and of
+their ancestors, which they continued to ornament in successive
+generations, every king surpassing the one who went before him to the
+utmost of his power, until they made the building a marvel to behold for
+size and for beauty.  And beginning from the sea they bored a canal of
+three hundred feet in width and one hundred feet in depth and fifty stadia
+in length, which they carried through to the outermost zone, making a
+passage from the sea up to this, which became a harbour, and leaving an
+opening sufficient to enable the largest vessels to find ingress. 
+Moreover, they divided at the bridges the zones of land which parted the
+zones of sea, leaving room for a single trireme to pass out of one zone
+into another, and they covered over the channels so as to leave a way
+underneath for the ships; for the banks were raised considerably above the
+water.  Now the largest of the zones into which a passage was cut from the
+sea was three stadia in breadth, and the zone of land which came next of
+equal breadth; but the next two zones, the one of water, the other of land,
+were two stadia, and the one which surrounded the central island was a
+stadium only in width.  The island in which the palace was situated had a
+diameter of five stadia.  All this including the zones and the bridge,
+which was the sixth part of a stadium in width, they surrounded by a stone
+wall on every side, placing towers and gates on the bridges where the sea
+passed in.  The stone which was used in the work they quarried from
+underneath the centre island, and from underneath the zones, on the outer
+as well as the inner side.  One kind was white, another black, and a third
+red, and as they quarried, they at the same time hollowed out double docks,
+having roofs formed out of the native rock.  Some of their buildings were
+simple, but in others they put together different stones, varying the
+colour to please the eye, and to be a natural source of delight.  The
+entire circuit of the wall, which went round the outermost zone, they
+covered with a coating of brass, and the circuit of the next wall they
+coated with tin, and the third, which encompassed the citadel, flashed with
+the red light of orichalcum.  The palaces in the interior of the citadel
+were constructed on this wise:--In the centre was a holy temple dedicated
+to Cleito and Poseidon, which remained inaccessible, and was surrounded by
+an enclosure of gold; this was the spot where the family of the ten princes
+first saw the light, and thither the people annually brought the fruits of
+the earth in their season from all the ten portions, to be an offering to
+each of the ten.  Here was Poseidon's own temple which was a stadium in
+length, and half a stadium in width, and of a proportionate height, having
+a strange barbaric appearance.  All the outside of the temple, with the
+exception of the pinnacles, they covered with silver, and the pinnacles
+with gold.  In the interior of the temple the roof was of ivory, curiously
+wrought everywhere with gold and silver and orichalcum; and all the other
+parts, the walls and pillars and floor, they coated with orichalcum.  In
+the temple they placed statues of gold:  there was the god himself standing
+in a chariot--the charioteer of six winged horses--and of such a size that
+he touched the roof of the building with his head; around him there were a
+hundred Nereids riding on dolphins, for such was thought to be the number
+of them by the men of those days.  There were also in the interior of the
+temple other images which had been dedicated by private persons.  And
+around the temple on the outside were placed statues of gold of all the
+descendants of the ten kings and of their wives, and there were many other
+great offerings of kings and of private persons, coming both from the city
+itself and from the foreign cities over which they held sway.  There was an
+altar too, which in size and workmanship corresponded to this magnificence,
+and the palaces, in like manner, answered to the greatness of the kingdom
+and the glory of the temple.
+
+In the next place, they had fountains, one of cold and another of hot
+water, in gracious plenty flowing; and they were wonderfully adapted for
+use by reason of the pleasantness and excellence of their waters.  They
+constructed buildings about them and planted suitable trees, also they made
+cisterns, some open to the heaven, others roofed over, to be used in winter
+as warm baths; there were the kings' baths, and the baths of private
+persons, which were kept apart; and there were separate baths for women,
+and for horses and cattle, and to each of them they gave as much adornment
+as was suitable.  Of the water which ran off they carried some to the grove
+of Poseidon, where were growing all manner of trees of wonderful height and
+beauty, owing to the excellence of the soil, while the remainder was
+conveyed by aqueducts along the bridges to the outer circles; and there
+were many temples built and dedicated to many gods; also gardens and places
+of exercise, some for men, and others for horses in both of the two islands
+formed by the zones; and in the centre of the larger of the two there was
+set apart a race-course of a stadium in width, and in length allowed to
+extend all round the island, for horses to race in.  Also there were guard-
+houses at intervals for the guards, the more trusted of whom were appointed
+to keep watch in the lesser zone, which was nearer the Acropolis; while the
+most trusted of all had houses given them within the citadel, near the
+persons of the kings.  The docks were full of triremes and naval stores,
+and all things were quite ready for use.  Enough of the plan of the royal
+palace.
+
+Leaving the palace and passing out across the three harbours, you came to a
+wall which began at the sea and went all round:  this was everywhere
+distant fifty stadia from the largest zone or harbour, and enclosed the
+whole, the ends meeting at the mouth of the channel which led to the sea. 
+The entire area was densely crowded with habitations; and the canal and the
+largest of the harbours were full of vessels and merchants coming from all
+parts, who, from their numbers, kept up a multitudinous sound of human
+voices, and din and clatter of all sorts night and day.
+
+I have described the city and the environs of the ancient palace nearly in
+the words of Solon, and now I must endeavour to represent to you the nature
+and arrangement of the rest of the land.  The whole country was said by him
+to be very lofty and precipitous on the side of the sea, but the country
+immediately about and surrounding the city was a level plain, itself
+surrounded by mountains which descended towards the sea; it was smooth and
+even, and of an oblong shape, extending in one direction three thousand
+stadia, but across the centre inland it was two thousand stadia.  This part
+of the island looked towards the south, and was sheltered from the north. 
+The surrounding mountains were celebrated for their number and size and
+beauty, far beyond any which still exist, having in them also many wealthy
+villages of country folk, and rivers, and lakes, and meadows supplying food
+enough for every animal, wild or tame, and much wood of various sorts,
+abundant for each and every kind of work.
+
+I will now describe the plain, as it was fashioned by nature and by the
+labours of many generations of kings through long ages.  It was for the
+most part rectangular and oblong, and where falling out of the straight
+line followed the circular ditch.  The depth, and width, and length of this
+ditch were incredible, and gave the impression that a work of such extent,
+in addition to so many others, could never have been artificial.
+Nevertheless I must say what I was told.  It was excavated to the depth of
+a hundred feet, and its breadth was a stadium everywhere; it was carried
+round the whole of the plain, and was ten thousand stadia in length.  It
+received the streams which came down from the mountains, and winding round
+the plain and meeting at the city, was there let off into the sea.  Further
+inland, likewise, straight canals of a hundred feet in width were cut from
+it through the plain, and again let off into the ditch leading to the sea: 
+these canals were at intervals of a hundred stadia, and by them they
+brought down the wood from the mountains to the city, and conveyed the
+fruits of the earth in ships, cutting transverse passages from one canal
+into another, and to the city.  Twice in the year they gathered the fruits
+of the earth--in winter having the benefit of the rains of heaven, and in
+summer the water which the land supplied by introducing streams from the
+canals.
+
+As to the population, each of the lots in the plain had to find a leader
+for the men who were fit for military service, and the size of a lot was a
+square of ten stadia each way, and the total number of all the lots was
+sixty thousand.  And of the inhabitants of the mountains and of the rest of
+the country there was also a vast multitude, which was distributed among
+the lots and had leaders assigned to them according to their districts and
+villages.  The leader was required to furnish for the war the sixth portion
+of a war-chariot, so as to make up a total of ten thousand chariots; also
+two horses and riders for them, and a pair of chariot-horses without a
+seat, accompanied by a horseman who could fight on foot carrying a small
+shield, and having a charioteer who stood behind the man-at-arms to guide
+the two horses; also, he was bound to furnish two heavy-armed soldiers, two
+archers, two slingers, three stone-shooters and three javelin-men, who were
+light-armed, and four sailors to make up the complement of twelve hundred
+ships.  Such was the military order of the royal city--the order of the
+other nine governments varied, and it would be wearisome to recount their
+several differences.
+
+As to offices and honours, the following was the arrangement from the
+first.  Each of the ten kings in his own division and in his own city had
+the absolute control of the citizens, and, in most cases, of the laws,
+punishing and slaying whomsoever he would.  Now the order of precedence
+among them and their mutual relations were regulated by the commands of
+Poseidon which the law had handed down.  These were inscribed by the first
+kings on a pillar of orichalcum, which was situated in the middle of the
+island, at the temple of Poseidon, whither the kings were gathered together
+every fifth and every sixth year alternately, thus giving equal honour to
+the odd and to the even number.  And when they were gathered together they
+consulted about their common interests, and enquired if any one had
+transgressed in anything, and passed judgment, and before they passed
+judgment they gave their pledges to one another on this wise:--There were
+bulls who had the range of the temple of Poseidon; and the ten kings, being
+left alone in the temple, after they had offered prayers to the god that
+they might capture the victim which was acceptable to him, hunted the
+bulls, without weapons, but with staves and nooses; and the bull which they
+caught they led up to the pillar and cut its throat over the top of it so
+that the blood fell upon the sacred inscription.  Now on the pillar,
+besides the laws, there was inscribed an oath invoking mighty curses on the
+disobedient.  When therefore, after slaying the bull in the accustomed
+manner, they had burnt its limbs, they filled a bowl of wine and cast in a
+clot of blood for each of them; the rest of the victim they put in the
+fire, after having purified the column all round.  Then they drew from the
+bowl in golden cups, and pouring a libation on the fire, they swore that
+they would judge according to the laws on the pillar, and would punish him
+who in any point had already transgressed them, and that for the future
+they would not, if they could help, offend against the writing on the
+pillar, and would neither command others, nor obey any ruler who commanded
+them, to act otherwise than according to the laws of their father Poseidon. 
+This was the prayer which each of them offered up for himself and for his
+descendants, at the same time drinking and dedicating the cup out of which
+he drank in the temple of the god; and after they had supped and satisfied
+their needs, when darkness came on, and the fire about the sacrifice was
+cool, all of them put on most beautiful azure robes, and, sitting on the
+ground, at night, over the embers of the sacrifices by which they had
+sworn, and extinguishing all the fire about the temple, they received and
+gave judgment, if any of them had an accusation to bring against any one;
+and when they had given judgment, at daybreak they wrote down their
+sentences on a golden tablet, and dedicated it together with their robes to
+be a memorial.
+
+There were many special laws affecting the several kings inscribed about
+the temples, but the most important was the following:  They were not to
+take up arms against one another, and they were all to come to the rescue
+if any one in any of their cities attempted to overthrow the royal house;
+like their ancestors, they were to deliberate in common about war and other
+matters, giving the supremacy to the descendants of Atlas.  And the king
+was not to have the power of life and death over any of his kinsmen unless
+he had the assent of the majority of the ten.
+
+Such was the vast power which the god settled in the lost island of
+Atlantis; and this he afterwards directed against our land for the
+following reasons, as tradition tells:  For many generations, as long as
+the divine nature lasted in them, they were obedient to the laws, and
+well-affectioned towards the god, whose seed they were; for they possessed
+true and in every way great spirits, uniting gentleness with wisdom in the
+various chances of life, and in their intercourse with one another.  They
+despised everything but virtue, caring little for their present state of
+life, and thinking lightly of the possession of gold and other property,
+which seemed only a burden to them; neither were they intoxicated by
+luxury; nor did wealth deprive them of their self-control; but they were
+sober, and saw clearly that all these goods are increased by virtue and
+friendship with one another, whereas by too great regard and respect for
+them, they are lost and friendship with them.  By such reflections and by
+the continuance in them of a divine nature, the qualities which we have
+described grew and increased among them; but when the divine portion began
+to fade away, and became diluted too often and too much with the mortal
+admixture, and the human nature got the upper hand, they then, being unable
+to bear their fortune, behaved unseemly, and to him who had an eye to see
+grew visibly debased, for they were losing the fairest of their precious
+gifts; but to those who had no eye to see the true happiness, they appeared
+glorious and blessed at the very time when they were full of avarice and
+unrighteous power.  Zeus, the god of gods, who rules according to law, and
+is able to see into such things, perceiving that an honourable race was in
+a woeful plight, and wanting to inflict punishment on them, that they might
+be chastened and improve, collected all the gods into their most holy
+habitation, which, being placed in the centre of the world, beholds all
+created things.  And when he had called them together, he spake as
+follows--*
+
+* The rest of the Dialogue of Critias has been lost.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Critias, by Plato
+
diff --git a/old/criti10.zip b/old/criti10.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec89ff8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/criti10.zip