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Audiobook edition · 1 h 6 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when an ideal city faces an island rich in canals, temples and gleaming metal?
In Plato’s unfinished dialogue Critias, Socrates asks to see his ideal city brought to life. Critias answers with a story of ancient Athens and its war against Atlantis, a great sea power beyond the Pillars of Heracles. Farmers and warriors stand against an island whose wealth fills a richly described landscape.
Critias traces his account through his family to Solon, the Athenian lawgiver who hears the tale from Egyptian priests. He insists that it is true. As his story moves between Athens and Atlantis, Plato explores laws, virtue and their slow loss. The dialogue stops before the tale is complete, leaving its questions open.
What you’ll discover
- The source of Atlantis Explore the main ancient source for the island and the story Critias claims is true.
- An ideal city tested See how ancient Athens gives concrete shape to the city Socrates pictures in theory.
- Rings of gleaming metal Enter an island landscape of canals, temples and prized orichalcum, second only to gold.
- Laws beneath the wealth Discover kings who renew their oaths beside laws inscribed in the temple of Poseidon.
- Virtue under strain Follow the contrast between great wealth and the slow loss of laws and virtue.
Who will love it
Readers who love lost worlds, ancient cities, and myths rich in exact measurements will enjoy this book, as will those drawn to stories of how good communities rise and change.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Human stories invite closer judgment
- Athens sets a standard of moderation
- Atlantis begins with divine gifts
- Abundance becomes an organized power
- Kings answer to a shared law
- Virtue must govern great wealth
- Memory carries and limits the tale
- Possessions depend on what governs them
Who’s who
- CritiasAn Athenian who tells the tale of Athens and Atlantis as he remembers it from his family, and who asks his friends for fair judgment.
- TimaeusA speaker who has just described the making of the world and now hands the argument over to Critias.
- SocratesThe listener who grants the requests for indulgence and reminds Critias that the audience expects much.
- HermocratesThe last speaker of the group, who encourages Critias and waits for his own turn.
- PoseidonThe sea god who receives Atlantis, loves Cleito, shapes the rings around her hill and sets laws for his ten sons.
- CleitoA young woman of the island, orphaned when Poseidon loves her, who becomes mother of the ten princes.
- AtlasThe eldest son of Poseidon and Cleito, who becomes the first king over his nine brothers and gives the island and ocean their name.
- SolonThe Athenian lawgiver who heard the story from Egyptian priests and meant to use it in a poem.
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Critias
by Plato
A sea god circles his beloved's hill with rings of water, and ten kings swear oaths in bull's blood.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What happens when a sea god falls in love with a mortal woman and builds a home around her hill? In Critias, he circles her dwelling with rings of water and land, so that no one can reach her.
Critias at a glance
- Reading time
- About 25 min20 min fast, 30 min slow
- Length
- 5,800 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- about 360 BCby Plato
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Critias asks for mercy before he begins
The dialogue opens just after Timaeus finishes his speech on the making of the world. He prays that if he has erred, the god will set him right, and he hands the argument to Critias.
Critias accepts, but he at once asks for more indulgence than Timaeus received. It is easier to seem to speak well about the gods than about human beings. Listeners know very little about the gods, so almost any account sounds acceptable. Human affairs are different, because everyone knows them closely.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 40 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Plato. Critias. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/critias.
Plato. (2026). Critias. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/critias (Original work published ca. 360 B.C.E.)
Plato. Critias. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/critias.
@book{plato2026critias,
author = {Plato},
title = {Critias},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/critias},
note = {First published ca. 360 BCE}
}
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What is Plato's Critias about?
Critias tells of a war nine thousand years ago between an ancient Athens and the island kingdom of Atlantis. It describes Athens' guardians and land, Poseidon's founding of Atlantis, its ringed capital, and the laws of its ten kings.
Who is Critias in the dialogue?
Critias is an Athenian speaker who takes over after Timaeus. He tells the Atlantis story as it came to him through his family, from Solon, who heard it from Egyptian priests.
Is the story of Atlantis true?
Critias claims it came from Egyptian priests through Solon, but Plato wrote it as part of a philosophical dialogue. Readers have long debated whether it is history or a story made to teach about states and virtue.
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