Editing Timaeus (dialogue) (section)

{{short description|Dialogue by Plato}}
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{{Platonism|dialogues=show}}

'''''Timaeus''''' ({{IPAc-en|t|aɪ|ˈ|m|iː|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Τίμαιος|Timaios}}, {{IPA|grc|tǐːmai̯os|pron}}) is one of [[Platonic dialog|Plato's dialogues]], mostly in the form of long monologues given by [[Critias]] and [[Timaeus of Locri|Timaeus]], written {{circa}} 360 BC. The work puts forward reasoning on the possible nature of the physical world and human beings and is followed by the dialogue ''[[Critias (dialogue)|Critias]]''.

Participants in the [[dialogue]] include [[Socrates]], Timaeus, [[Hermocrates]], and Critias. Some scholars believe that it is not the Critias of the [[Thirty Tyrants]] who appears in this dialogue, but his grandfather, also named Critias.<ref>See Burnet, John (1913). ''Greek Philosophy, Part 1: Thales to Plato''. London: Macmillan, p. 328</ref><ref>Taylor, AE (1928). ''A commentary on Plato's Timaeus''. Oxford: Clarendon, p. 23.</ref><ref>Nails, Debra (2002). "Critias III," in ''The People of Plato''. Indianapolis: Hackett, pp. 106–7.</ref> At the beginning of the dialogue, the absence of another, unknown dialogue participant, present on the day before, is bemoaned. It has been suggested from some traditions—[[Diogenes Laertius]] (VIII 85) from [[Hermippus of Smyrna]] (3rd century BC) and [[Timon of Phlius]] ({{circa}} 320 – {{circa}} 235 BC)—that ''Timaeus'' was influenced by a book about [[Pythagoras]], written by [[Philolaus#Writings|Philolaus]], although this assertion is generally considered false.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philolaus/|title=Philolaus|website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref>