Stephanus 113

113a Critias: One thing more I must make clear before the account, so that you are not surprised at hearing Greek names many times over for men who were foreigners; for you shall learn the reason. Solon, intending to make use of the story for his own poetry, and inquiring into the force of the names, found that the Egyptians had first recorded them by rendering them into their own language, while he in turn, taking up the meaning of each name 113b and bringing it into our language, wrote it down. And these writings were with my grandfather, and are still with me now, and I studied them when I was a boy. So if you hear names such as the ones used here, let it cause you no wonder; for you have the reason for them. The beginning of that long story, then, was something like this.

Just as was said before about the allotment of the gods—how they portioned out the whole earth, here 113c in larger lots and there in smaller, establishing temples and sacrifices for themselves—so in the same way Poseidon, receiving the island of Atlantis as his lot, settled it with his own descendants, whom he begot of a mortal woman in a certain place on the island, of this sort. There was a plain by the sea, in the middle of the whole island, which is said to have been the fairest of all plains and richly fertile; and near the plain again, at its center, about fifty stades away, there stood a mountain, low on every side. On this there dwelt one of the men who in the beginning had been born of the 113d earth there, Evenor by name, with his wife Leucippe; and they had one only daughter, Cleito. When the girl reached the bloom of womanhood, her mother and her father died; and Poseidon, desiring her, lay with her; and the hill on which she dwelt he made secure, breaking rings around it, alternately of sea and of land, lesser and greater, one about another—two of land and three of sea—turning them as on a lathe out of the middle of the island, 113e all at equal distances from one another, so that the place was impassable for men; for as yet there were no ships and no seafaring. And the island in the middle he ordered with ease, as befits a god, bringing up two springs of water from beneath the earth, one hot and the other cold, and making the earth yield food of every kind in abundance.

Critias: And he reared five generations of twin-born sons; and dividing the whole island of Atlantis into ten portions, to the elder of the eldest pair

113a Critias: One short point I must still make clear before the account. Do not be surprised when you hear Greek names belonging to foreign men. You will learn the reason for them. Solon, since he planned to use the story for his own poetry, asked about the meaning of the names. He found that the first Egyptians who wrote these things down had translated them into their own language. 113b Then he took the meaning of each name and, bringing it into our language, wrote it down. These writings were with my grandfather and are still with me now, and I studied them as a child. So if you hear names that are like the ones here, do not be at all surprised. You have the reason for them. This is how the long account began at that time.

Just as was said before about the allotment of the gods, how they divided all the earth among themselves, where larger 113c portions and where smaller, and set up shrines and sacrifices for themselves, so also Poseidon, when he received the island of Atlantis by lot, settled his own children on it. He had born them from a mortal woman, in a place on the island like this. It faced the sea, but in the middle of the whole island there was a plain. This plain is said to have been the most beautiful of all plains and rich enough to match any. Near the plain, in the middle of it, about fifty stades away, there was a mountain that was low on every side. On this mountain there lived one of the men who had been born there from the earth in the beginning. 113d His name was Evenor. He lived with his wife Leucippe. They had one daughter, Cleito. When the girl came to the age for marriage, her mother died and her father too. Poseidon desired her and lay with her. He made the hill where she lived strong, breaking off the ground around it in circles. He made rings of sea and land, smaller and larger ones alternating around each other. There were two rings of land and three of sea, as if turned on a lathe from the middle of the island. 113e They were all the same distance apart, so that the place was impossible for humans to reach. For ships and sailing did not yet exist in those days. Like a god, he easily arranged the island in the middle. He brought up two springs of water from under the ground, one hot and the other cold, flowing from a spring, and made the earth provide food of every kind and in plenty.

Critias: Then he fathered and raised five sets of twin boys, and he divided the whole island of Atlantis into ten parts. To the eldest of them, to the first one

113a Critias: But before I begin my account, there is still a small point which I ought to explain, lest you should be surprised at frequently hearing Greek names given to barbarians. The reason of this you shall now learn. Since Solon was planning to make use of the story for his own poetry, he had found, on investigating the meaning of the names, that those Egyptians who had first written them down had translated them into their own tongue. So he himself in turn recovered the original sense of each name and, rendering it into our tongue, 113b wrote it down so. And these very writings were in the possession of my grandfather and are actually now in mine, and when I was a child I learnt them all by heart. Therefore if the names you hear are just like our local names, do not be at all astonished; for now you know the reason for them. The story then told was a long one, and it began something like this.

Like as we previously stated concerning the allotments of the Gods, that they portioned out the whole earth, here into larger allotments and there into smaller, and provided for themselves 113c shrines and sacrifices, even so Poseidon took for his allotment the island of Atlantis and settled therein the children whom he had begotten of a mortal woman in a region of the island of the following description. Bordering on the sea and extending through the center of the whole island there was a plain, which is said to have been the fairest of all plains and highly fertile; and, moreover, near the plain, over against its center, at a distance of about 50 stades, there stood a mountain that was low on all sides. Thereon dwelt one of the natives originally sprung from the earth, Evenor by name, 113d with his wife Leucippe; and they had for offspring an only-begotten daughter, Cleito. And when this damsel was now come to marriageable age, her mother died and also her father; and Poseidon, being smitten with desire for her, wedded her; and to make the hill whereon she dwelt impregnable he broke it off all round about; and he made circular belts of sea and land enclosing one another alternately, some greater, some smaller, two being of land and three of sea, which he carved as it were out of the midst of the island; and these belts were at even distances on all sides, so as to be impassable for man;

113e for at that time neither ships nor sailing were as yet in existence. And Poseidon himself set in order with ease, as a god would, the central island, bringing up from beneath the earth two springs of waters, the one flowing warm from its source, the other cold, and producing out of the earth all kinds of food in plenty.

And he begat five pairs of twin sons and reared them up; and when he had divided all the island of Atlantis into ten portions, he assigned to the first-born of the eldest sons