Platos Atlantis as Told in His Socratic Dialogues

The original story of the lost island of Atlantis comes to us from two Socratic dialogues called Timaeus and Critias, both written about 360 BCE by the Greek philosopher Plato. Together the dialogues are a festival speech, prepared by Plato to be told on the day of the Panathenaea, in honor of the goddess Athena. They describe a meeting of men who had met the previous day to hear Socrates describe the ideal state. A Socratic Dialogue According to the dialogues, Socrates asked three men to meet him on this day: Timaeus of Locri, Hermocrates of Syracuse, and Critias of Athens. Socrates asked the men to tell him stories about how ancient Athens interacted with other states. The first to report was Critias, who told how his grandfather had met with the Athenian poet and lawgiver  Solon, one of the Seven Sages. Solon had been to Egypt where priests had compared Egypt and Athens and talked about the gods and legends of both lands. One such Egyptian story was about Atlantis. The Atlantis tale is part of a  Socratic dialogue, not a historical treatise. The story is preceded by an account of Helios the sun gods son Phaethon yoking horses to his fathers chariot and then driving them through the sky and scorching the earth. Rather than exact reporting of past events, the Atlantis story describes an impossible set of circumstances which were designed by Plato to represent how a miniature utopia failed and became a lesson to us defining the proper behavior of a state. The Tale According to the Egyptians, or rather what Plato described Critias reporting what his grandfather was told by Solon who heard it from the Egyptians, once upon a time, there was a mighty power based on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. This empire was called Atlantis, and it ruled over several other islands and parts of the continents of Africa and Europe. Atlantis was arranged in concentric rings of alternating water and land. The soil was rich, said Critias, the engineers technically accomplished, the architecture extravagant with baths, harbor installations, and barracks. The central plain outside the city had canals and a magnificent irrigation system. Atlantis had kings and a civil administration, as well as an organized military. Their rituals matched Athens for bull-baiting, sacrifice, and prayer. But then it waged an unprovoked imperialistic war on the remainder of Asia and Europe. When Atlantis attacked, Athens showed its excellence as the leader of the Greeks, the much smaller city-state the only power to stand against Atlantis. Alone, Athens triumphed over the invading Atlantean forces, defeating the enemy, preventing the free from being enslaved, and freeing those who had been enslaved. After the battle, there were violent earthquakes and floods, and Atlantis sank into the sea, and all the Athenian warriors were swallowed up by the earth. Is Atlantis Based on a Real Island? The Atlantis story is clearly a parable: Platos myth is of two cities which compete with each other, not on legal grounds but rather cultural and political confrontation and ultimately war. A small but just city (an Ur-Athens) triumphs over a mighty aggressor (Atlantis). The story also features a cultural war between wealth and modesty, between a maritime and an agrarian society, and between an engineering science and a spiritual force. Atlantis as a concentric-ringed island in the Atlantic which sank under the sea is almost certainly a fiction based on some ancient political realities. Scholars have suggested that the idea of Atlantis as an aggressive barbarian civilization is a reference to either Persia or Carthage, both of them military powers who had imperialistic notions. The explosive disappearance of an island might have been a reference to the eruption of Minoan Santorini. Atlantis as a tale really should be considered a myth, and one that closely correlates with Platos notions of The Republic examining the deteriorating cycle of life in a state. Sources DuÃ… ¡anic S. 1982. Platos Atlantis. LAntiquità © Classique 51:25-52.Morgan KA. 1998. Designer History: Platos Atlantis Story and Fourth-Century Ideology. The Journal of Hellenic Studies 118:101-118.Rosenmeyer TG. 1956. Platos Atlantis Myth: Timaeus or Critias? Phoenix 10(4):163-172.

Analysis Of Beth Johnson s Bombs Bursting Into Air

Background Born in 1956, Beth Johnson is a mother of three and the author of multiple dominant pieces such as Facing Addiction (2006) and Surviving Abuse (2006). She lives in Lederach, Pennsylvania and her occupations include writing, freelance editor, and college professor. Johnson graduated from Goshen College and Syracuse University. Her writing mainly focuses on encouraging readers to accomplish their personal goals as well as college texts such as Everyday Heroes (1996). Summary â€Å"Bombs bursting in air. They can blind us, like fireworks at the moment of explosion. If we close our eyes and turn away, all we see is the fiery image. But if we have the courage to keep our eyes open and welcoming, even bombs finally fade against the vastness of the starry sky â€Å"(15). â€Å"Bombs Bursting in Air† begins with the narrator talking about her son’s game and her daughter acting silly while singing the national anthem. More specifically, the line â€Å"Bombs bursting in air.† The author gives the word â€Å"bombs† a whole new definition in this essay. Rather than meaning an explosive weapon often used in war, Johnson refers to the difficult obstacles people face everyday. The more one risks a person takes results in more of life’s destructible bombs. These obstacles explode unexpectedly, and that is exactly what happened to Shannon. Shannon is five years old and is the author’s daughter’s best friend. Doctors f ound a brain tumor when she went to get an x-ray for a sledding accident. After

Usain Bolt Free Essays

Usain Bolt Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is arguably the fastest man in the world, winning three gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, and becoming the first man in Olympic history to win both the 100-meter and 200-meter races in record times. Bolt won his fourth Olympic gold medal in the men’s 100-meter race at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, beating rival Yohan Blake, who took silver. Bolt ran the race in 9. We will write a custom essay sample on Usain Bolt or any similar topic only for you Order Now 63 seconds, a new Olympic record, making him the first man in history to set three world records in a single Olympic Games competition. The win marked Bolt’s second consecutive gold medal in the 100. Bolt went on to compete in the men’s 200, claiming his second consecutive gold medal in that race. He is the first man to win both the 100 and 200 at consecutive Olympic Games, as well as the first man to ever win back-to-back gold medals in double sprints. Usain Bolt was born in Jamaica on August 21, 1986. Both a standout cricket player and a sprinter early on, Bolt’s natural speed was noticed by coaches at school, As early as age 14, Bolt was wowing fans of sprinting with his lightning speed, and he won his first high school championships medal in 2001, taking the silver in the 200-meter race. Bolt announced that he would run the 100-meter and 200-meter events at the Beijing Summer Olympics. In the 100-meter final, Bolt broke the world record, winning in 9. 69 seconds. Not only was the record set without a favorable wind, but he also visibly slowed down to celebrate before he finished (and his shoelace was untied), an act that aroused much controversy later on. Bolt’s achievements in sprinting have earned him numerous awards, including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year (twice), Track Field Athlete of the Year and Laureus Sportsman of the Year. How to cite Usain Bolt, Papers