GardenBanter.co.uk - Atlantis in the middle of a pond

People often assume meanings in Plato's account of Atlantis where the
Greek text does not literally support said meaning.

1. Atlantis larger than Libya and Asia? [Timaeus 24e]

The literal Greek is "greater than Libya and Asia." It can mean
bigger, but it can also mean greater in other ways as well. Plato uses
"greater" with different meanings, including "larger."

Some people who assume Plato meant "larger" have claimed that Asia
meant only Asia Minor (Today's region around Turkey) evidently to make
the size more believable. Herodotus (after Solon) includes more of
what we call Asia and includes Egypt as well. The Egyptian priest who
spoke with Solon also speaks of Egypt as part of Asia in Timaeus 24b.

2. Atlantis was destroyed in a single day and night? [Timaeus 25d]

Plato says the Greek army was destroyed in a single day and night. He
then says "in like manner" or "in a similar way" Atlantis was
destroyed. Applying the "day and night" to Atlantis is speculative, as
is assuming both events occurred at the same time; though it is of
course possible they did. Stating the Atlantis was destroyed in a
single day and night, without explaining the context, is misleading,
possibly deceptive.

3. Atlantis was destroyed in the war or the destruction ended the war?

Plato says the Greeks were victorious over the Atlanteans. Thus the
war ended [Timaeus 25c]. After this, he says at a "later time"
(hustero chrono) was when the Athenian army was destroyed, and
Atlantis followed "in like manner." So the destruction was at a time
after the the war.

Moreover, the word "chronos" or "time" can be translated "age". This
is the same word that is applied to mean "ages" in describing the full
history of both Athens and Atlantis. Thus the rendering of the phrase
in Timaeus could imply "a later age" instead of "a later time." Either
way, there was a period of time between the war and the destruction.

4. The war ended 9000 years before Solon?

Jowett's translation implies this in Critias 108e.

A comparison of Critias 109b and 113b shows that Plato assigns the
founding of both Athens and Atlantis to the same period; namely when
the gods allocated the earth. Timaeus 23e assigns that date to 9000
years before Solon. Plato also shows each nation existed form many
ages, many generations, before the end. [c.f. Timaeus 23c; Critias
111b, 118c, 120d,e]

Therefore the war could not have ended at the point in time 9000 years
before Solon. That is when Plato says Athens and Atlantis were
founded. A careful contextual analysis of Plato demonstrates the war
ended "many ages" later.

The problem here is only in a couple English translation. The Greek
literally means "the beginning of a war" not the end. The Penguin
Classics edition translates it as a "declaration of war."

http://www.greekatlantis.com/