Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Timaeus and Critias, Paperback / softback Book

Timaeus and Critias Paperback / softback

Part of the Oxford World's Classics series

Paperback / softback

Description

'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 intriguingly opaque, this was state-of-the-art science in the middle of the fourth century BC.

The world is presented as a battlefield of forces that are unified only by the will of God, who had to do the best he could with recalcitrant building materials. The unfinished companion piece, Critias, is the foundational text for the story of Atlantis.

It tells how a model society became corrupt, and how a lost race of Athenians defeated the aggression of the invading Atlanteans.

This new edition combines the clearest translation yet of these crucial ancient texts with an illuminating introduction and diagrams.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe.

Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Information

Other Formats

Save 11%

£10.99

£9.75

 
Free Home Delivery

on all orders

 
Pick up orders

from local bookshops

Information

Also in the Oxford World's Classics series  |  View all