Resumen
Resumen de Timaeus
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Para quién es
Readers who love origin stories, early science, and the ancient links between mathematics, music and astronomy will enjoy this book. So will anyone curious about Atlantis and the soul.
De qué trata este libro
Picture a very old Egyptian priest telling Solon, the great lawgiver of Athens, that the Greeks are always children. Floods and fires keep wiping their memory clean, he says. That scene stands near the start of Timaeus, one of the oldest attempts to explain how the whole universe came to be.
Plato wrote this dialogue in his later years. Timaeus, an astronomer from Locri in Italy, gives the main speech. You get a cosmos shaped by a good craftsman, alive, round and full of intelligence, told by a thinker who offers only a likely story.
En este resumen
- 1A good idea must be seen at workFree
- 2Memory is lost when disaster keeps returning
- 3Speak about the world as a likely story
- 4A good maker shapes one living, round world
- 5The world soul and time are made by number
- 6Young gods build mortals from an immortal seed
- 7Necessity, a receptacle and triangles shape matter
- 8Health depends on balance of soul and body
Idea clave 1 de 8
A good idea must be seen at work
The dialogue opens with a head count. Socrates sees three guests where he expected four, and Timaeus explains that the fourth has fallen ill. The three who remain agree to repay the hospitality Socrates gave them the day before.
Socrates sums up what he said then. He had described a perfect state. Farmers and craftsmen do their own work. Guardians protect the city, own nothing and live together. Then Socrates admits a longing. He is like a man who has seen beautiful animals resting in a painting and now wants to watch them run. He wants to see his city at war, acting nobly.
Poets cannot show this, because they only imitate the world they grew up in. Only men who unite politics and philosophy can. Critias then proposes a plan. Timaeus will speak first and tell of the world's making, down to the creation of human beings. Critias will then present those people as the real ancient Athenians.
A theory of a good city is like a painting, and it only convinces when you watch it move. A good idea is not finished until you see it at work.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
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Who’s who
- Timaeus
- Timaeus is an astronomer and Socrates' guest, who gives the main account of the universe and human nature.
- Socrates
- Socrates is the philosopher whose account of an ideal city prompts his companions to offer speeches in return.
- Critias
- Critias is Socrates' companion, who introduces an account of ancient Athens before Timaeus begins his speech.
- Hermocrates
- Hermocrates is a participant in the gathering who joins Critias and Timaeus in responding to Socrates.
- Demiurge
- The Demiurge is the good divine craftsman whom Timaeus describes as ordering the universe after a perfect pattern.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 65,400 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 35 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Timaeus
What is Plato's Timaeus about?
It is a dialogue in which the astronomer Timaeus explains how a good craftsman made the universe, its soul, time, the elements, the human body and the mind.
What does Plato say about Atlantis in Timaeus?
An Egyptian priest tells Solon that an island empire beyond the Pillars of Heracles once attacked Europe and Asia. Ancient Athens stopped it, and then earthquakes and floods sank the island in a single day and night.
Who is Timaeus and who are the other speakers?
Timaeus is an astronomer and statesman from Locri in Italy. Socrates listens, Critias tells the Atlantis tale, and Hermocrates adds support. A fourth guest is absent through illness, leaving three guests to entertain Socrates with their discourse.
What is the receptacle in Timaeus?
It is a third kind of being besides the model and the copy. Plato calls it a nurse and mother of all becoming. It is formless, so that it can take on the shapes of every visible thing.
What is the main message of Timaeus?
The cosmos is an ordered, living whole made by a good maker according to number and proportion. Human beings can find health and wisdom by studying that order and bringing soul and body into balance.
Cite this edition
Plato. Timaeus. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/timaeus.
Plato. (2026). Timaeus. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/timaeus (Original work published ca. 360 B.C.E.)
Plato. Timaeus. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/timaeus.
@book{plato2026timaeus,
author = {Plato},
title = {Timaeus},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/timaeus},
note = {First published ca. 360 BCE}
}
Free for 3 months
Get the full summary of Timaeus, free
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