Critias
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