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{{short description|Dialogue by Plato}}
{{italic title}}
{{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>

==Introduction==
[[File:Atlantis_Kircher_Mundus_subterraneus_1678.jpg|thumb|upright=1|left|[[Athanasius Kircher]]'s map of [[Atlantis]] from ''[[Mundus Subterraneus (book)|Mundus Subterraneus]]'' ("The Subterranean World") (1669), drawn with south at the top.]]
The dialogue takes place the day after Socrates described his ideal state. In Plato's works, such a discussion occurs in the ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]''. Socrates feels that his description of the ideal state was not sufficient for the purposes of entertainment and that "I would be glad to hear some account of it engaging in transactions with other states" (19b).

Hermocrates wishes to oblige Socrates and mentions that Critias knows just the account (20b) to do so. Critias proceeds to tell the story of [[Solon]]'s journey to Egypt where he hears the story of [[Atlantis]], and how Athens used to be an ideal state that subsequently waged war against Atlantis (25a). Critias believes that he is getting ahead of himself, and mentions that Timaeus will tell part of the account from the origin of the [[universe]] to man.

Critias also cites the [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Egyptian priest]] in [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]] about long-term factors on the fate of mankind:<blockquote>There have been, and will be again, many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes; the greatest have been brought about by the agencies of fire and water, and other lesser ones by innumerable other causes. There is a story that even you [Greeks] have preserved, that once upon a time, [[Phaethon]], the son of [[Helios]], having yoked the steeds in his father's [[chariot]], because he was not able to drive them in the path of his father, burnt up all that was upon the earth, and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt. Now this has the form of a myth, but really signifies a [[declination]] of the bodies moving in the heavens around the earth, and a great conflagration of things upon the earth, which recurs after long intervals.<ref>Translation by [[Benjamin Jowett]] (1817-1893) reproduced in, for example, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wTNctKDjxaMC&dq=Jowett+Timaeus+Phaethon&pg=PA4 John Michael Greer, ''Atlantis'' (Llewelyn Worldwide 2007] {{ISBN|978-0-73870978-9}}), p. 9</ref></blockquote>

The history of Atlantis is postponed to ''Critias''. The main content of the dialogue, the exposition by Timaeus, follows.

==Synopsis of Timaeus' account==
[[File:Timaios beginning. Codex Parisinus graecus 1807.jpg|thumb|Greek manuscript of ''Timaeus'' (Codex Parisinus graecus 1807), {{circa|AD 900}}]]

===Nature of the physical world===

[[File:Raffael 067.jpg|thumb|upright=1.02|[[Plato]] is depicted in [[Raphael|Raphael's]] ''[[The School of Athens]]'' fresco in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], anachronistically carrying a bound copy of ''Timaeus''.]]
[[File:The Three Essences in Plato’s Timaeus.jpg|thumb|The Eternal Essence corresponds to the intelligible world, The Perishable Essence is the realm of sensory experience, where all things are subject to generation and decay. The Intermediate Essence acts as a bridge between these two, harmonizing the cosmos through the World Soul (ψυχὴ τοῦ κόσμου).]]
Timaeus begins with a distinction between the physical world, and the [[eternity|eternal]] world. The physical one is the world which changes and perishes: therefore it is the object of opinion and unreasoned sensation. The eternal one never changes: therefore it is apprehended by reason (28a).

The speeches about the two worlds are conditioned by the different nature of their objects. Indeed, "a description of what is changeless, fixed and clearly intelligible will be changeless and fixed," (29b), while a description of what changes and is likely, will also change and be just likely. "As being is to becoming, so is truth to belief" (29c). Therefore, in a description of the physical world, one "should not look for anything more than a likely story" (29d).

Timaeus suggests that since nothing "becomes or changes" without cause, then the cause of the universe must be a [[demiurge]] or a god, a figure Timaeus refers to as the father and maker of the universe. And since the universe is fair, the demiurge must have looked to the eternal model to make it, and not to the perishable one (29a). Hence, using the eternal and perfect world of "[[Theory of forms|forms]]" or ideals as a template, he set about creating our world, which formerly only existed in a state of disorder.

===Purpose of the universe===
Timaeus continues with an explanation of the creation of the universe, which he ascribes to the handiwork of a divine craftsman. The demiurge, being good, wanted there to be as much good as was the world. The demiurge is said to bring order out of substance by imitating an unchanging and eternal model (paradigm). ''[[Ananke]]'', often translated as 'Necessity', was the only other co-existent element or presence in Plato's [[cosmogony]]. Later Platonists clarified that the eternal model existed in the mind of the demiurge.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

===Properties of the universe===

Timaeus describes the substance as a lack of homogeneity or balance, in which the [[Classical element|four elements]] ([[earth (classical element)|earth]], [[air (classical element)|air]], [[fire (classical element)|fire]] and [[water (classical element)|water]]) were shapeless, mixed and in constant motion. Considering that order is favourable over disorder, the essential act of the creator was to bring order and clarity to this substance. Therefore, all the properties of the world are to be explained by the demiurge's choice of what is fair and good; or, the idea of a [[dualism in cosmology|dichotomy]] between good and [[evil]].

First of all, the world is a ''living creature''. Since the unintelligent creatures are in their appearance less fair than intelligent creatures, and since intelligence needs to be settled in a soul, the demiurge "put intelligence in soul, and soul in body" in order to make a living and intelligent whole. "Wherefore, using the language of probability, we may say that the world became a living creature truly endowed with soul and intelligence by the providence of God" (30a–b).

Then, since the part is imperfect compared to the whole, the world had to be one and only. Therefore, the demiurge did not create several worlds, but a [[monogenēs|single unique]] world (31b). Additionally, because the demiurge wanted his creation to be a perfect imitation of the Eternal "One" (the source of all other emanations), there was no need to create more than one world.

The creator decided also to make the perceptible body of the universe by four elements, in order to render it ''proportioned''. Indeed, in addition to fire and earth, which make bodies visible and solid, a third element was required as a mean: "two things cannot be rightly put together without a third; there must be some bond of union between them". Moreover, since the world is not a surface but a solid, a fourth mean was needed to reach harmony: therefore, the creator placed water and air between fire and earth. "And for these reasons, and out of such elements which are in number four, the body of the world was created, and it was harmonised by proportion" (31–33).

As for the figure, the demiurge created the world in the geometric form of a ''globe''. Indeed, the round figure is the most perfect one, because it comprehends or averages all the other figures and it is the most omnimorphic of all figures: "he [the demiurge] considered that the like is infinitely fairer than the unlike" (33b).

The creator assigned then to the world a rotatory or ''circular movement'', which is the "most appropriate to mind and intelligence" on account of its being the most uniform (34a).

Finally, he created the [[Anima mundi (spirit)|soul of the world]], placed that soul in the center of the world's body and diffused it in every direction. Having thus been created as a perfect, self-sufficient and intelligent being, the world is a ''god'' (34b).

===The creation of the world-soul===
Timaeus then explains how the soul of the world was created (Plato's following discussion is obscure, and almost certainly intended to be read in light of the [[Sophist (dialogue)|''Sophist'']]). The demiurge combined three elements: two varieties of ''Sameness'' (one indivisible and another divisible), two varieties of ''Difference'' (again, one indivisible and another divisible), and two types of ''Being'' (or ''Existence,'' once more, one indivisible and another divisible). From this emerged three compound substances: intermediate (or mixed) Being, intermediate Sameness, and intermediate Difference. Compounding these three intermediate substances together, one final substance resulted: the [[Anima mundi|world-soul]].<ref>"The components from which he made the soul and the way in which he made it were as follows: In between the ''Being'' that is indivisible and always changeless, and the one that is divisible and comes to be in the corporeal realm, he mixed a third, intermediate form of being, derived from the other two. Similarly, he made a mixture of the ''Same,'' and then one of the ''Different,'' in between their indivisible and their corporeal, divisible counterparts. And he took the three mixtures and mixed them together to make a uniform mixture, forcing the Different, which was hard to mix, into conformity with the Same. Now when he had mixed these two with Being, and from the three had made a single mixture, he redivided the whole mixture into as many parts as his task required, each part remaining a mixture of the Same, the Different and Being." (35a-b), translation Donald J. Zeyl</ref> He then divided following precise mathematical proportions, cutting the compound lengthways, fixed the resulting two bands in their middle, like in the letter [[Chi (letter)|chi]] (Χ) and connected them at their ends, to have two crossing circles. The demiurge imparted on them a circular movement on their axis: the outer circle was assigned Sameness and turned horizontally to the right, while the inner circle was assigned to Difference and turned diagonally and to the left (34c–36c).

The demiurge gave the primacy to the motion of Sameness and left it undivided; but he divided the motion of Difference in six parts, to have seven unequal circles. He prescribed these circles to move in opposite directions, three of them with equal speeds, the others with unequal speeds, but always in proportion. These circles are the orbits of the [[Geocentrism|heavenly bodies]]: the three moving at equal speeds are the Sun, Venus and Mercury, while the four moving at unequal speeds are the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (36c–d). The complicated pattern of these movements is bound to be repeated again after a period called a 'complete' or [[Platonic year|'perfect' year]] (39d).

Then, the demiurge connected the body and the soul of the universe: he diffused the soul from the center of the body to its extremities in every direction, allowing the invisible soul to envelop the visible body. The soul began to rotate and this was the beginning of its eternal and rational life (36e).

Therefore, having been composed by Sameness, Difference and Existence (their mean), and formed in right proportions, the soul declares the sameness or difference of every object it meets: when it is a sensible object, the inner circle of the Diverse transmits its movement to the soul, whereby opinions arise, but when it is an intellectual object, the circle of the Same turns perfectly round and true knowledge arises (37a–c).

The world as a whole, the planets, and the stars are living, visible gods (39e) that have an important role in creating human beings and regulating their moral life (41d).<ref>For a fuller discussion, see Bartninkas, V. (2023). Traditional and Cosmic Gods in Later Plato and the Early Academy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 44-51, 96-104.</ref>

===The elements===
Timaeus claims that the minute particle of each element had a special [[Platonic solid|geometric shape]]: [[tetrahedron]] (fire), [[octahedron]] (air), [[icosahedron]] (water), and [[cube]] (earth).

{| style="border:1px solid #ddd; text-align:center; margin: auto;" cellspacing="4"
| [[File:Tetrahedron.gif|140px]] || [[File:Octahedron.gif|150px]] || [[File:Icosahedron.gif|150px]] || [[File:Hexahedron.gif|125px]] ||
|-
| [[Tetrahedron|Tetrahedron (fire)]] || [[Octahedron|Octahedron (air)]] || [[Icosahedron|Icosahedron (water)]] || [[Cube|Cube (earth)]] ||
|}
[[File:Dodecahedron.gif|thumb|upright=0.56|[[Dodecahedron]] – the [[Aether (classical element)|fifth element]]]]
Timaeus makes conjectures on the composition of the four elements which some [[ancient Greeks]] thought constituted the physical universe: earth, water, air, and fire. Timaeus links each of these elements to a certain [[Platonic solid]]: the element of earth would be a cube, of air an octahedron, of water an icosahedron, and of fire a tetrahedron.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plat.+Tim.+53c Plato, Timaeus, 53c]</ref> Each of these perfect [[polyhedron|polyhedra]] would be in turn composed of triangular faces the [[Special right triangles#Angle-based|30-60-90]] and the 45-45-90 triangles. The faces of each element could be broken down into its component right-angled triangles, either isosceles or scalene, which could then be put together to form all of physical matter. Particular characteristics of matter, such as water's capacity to extinguish fire, was then related to shape and size of the constituent triangles. The fifth element (i.e. Platonic solid) was the [[dodecahedron]], whose faces are not triangular, and which was taken to represent the shape of the Universe as a whole, possibly because of all the elements it most approximates a sphere, which Timaeus has already noted was the shape into which God had formed the Universe.<ref>Plato offers an analysis of third kind of reality, between the intelligible and the sensible, namely as [[Khôra]] (χώρα). This designates a receptacle (Timaeus 48e), a space, a material substratum, or an interval in which the "[[Theory of Forms|forms]]" were originally held; it "gives space" and has maternal overtones (a womb, matrix). For recent studies on this notion and its impact not only in history of philosophy but on [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]] see for example: [[Nader El-Bizri]], "{{'}}''Qui-êtes vous Khôra?''{{'}}: Receiving Plato's Timaeus''," ''Existentia Meletai-Sophias'', Vol. XI, Issue 3-4 (2001), pp.&nbsp;473–490; [[Nader El-Bizri]], "''ON KAI KHORA'': Situating [[Heidegger]] between the ''[[Sophist]]'' and the Timaeus," ''Studia Phaenomenologica'', Vol. IV, Issue 1-2 (2004), pp.&nbsp;73–98 [http://www.zetabooks.com/studia-phaenomenologica-volume-4-issue-1-2-2004-issues-on-brentano-husserl-and-heidegger.html]; Nader El-Bizri, "''Ontopoiēsis'' and the Interpretation of [[Plato]]'s ''Khôra''," ''Analecta Husserliana: The Yearbook of Phenomenological Research'', Vol. LXXXIII (2004), pp.&nbsp;25–45.''</ref>

The extensive final part of the dialogue addresses the creation of humans, including the [[soul]], [[anatomy]], [[perception]], and [[transmigration of the soul]]. Plato also discusses the creation of the body, as well as the causes of bodily and psychic diseases.<ref>For psychic diseases, see Douglas R. Campbell, "The Soul's Tomb: Plato on the Body as the Cause of Psychic Disorders," ''Apeiron'' 55 (1): 119-139. 2022. For bodily diseases, see Harold W. Miller, "The Aetiology of Disease in Plato's ''Timaeus''," ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'' 93: 175-187. 1962.</ref>

==Later influence==

[[File:Timaeus trans calcidius med manuscript.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|Medieval manuscript of [[Calcidius]]'s Latin ''Timaeus'' translation.]]
The ''Timaeus'' was translated into Latin first by [[Cicero|Marcus Tullius Cicero]] around 45 BC (sections 27d–47b),<ref>Cicero's version can be found at http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/cicero_timaeus.html</ref> and later by [[Calcidius]] in the 4th century AD (up to section 53c). Cicero's fragmentary translation was highly influential in late antiquity, especially on Latin-speaking Church Fathers such as Saint [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] who did not appear to have access to the original Greek dialogue.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Plato's Timaeus and the Latin Tradition|last=Hoenig|first=Christina|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2018|pages=220}}</ref> The manuscript production and preservation of Cicero's ''Timaeus'' (among many other Latin philosophical works) is largely due to the works of monastic scholars, especially at [[Corbie Abbey|Corbie]] in North-East France during the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]] Period.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Corbie in the Carolingian Renaissance|last=Ganz|first=D.|year=1990|location=Paris}}</ref>

Calcidius' more extensive translation of the ''Timaeus'' had a strong influence on medieval [[Neoplatonic]] cosmology and was commented on particularly by 12th-century Christian philosophers of the [[Chartres School]], such as [[Thierry of Chartres]] and [[William of Conches]], who, interpreting it in the light of the Christian faith, understood the dialogue to refer to a [[creatio ex nihilo]].<ref>{{cite book | author=Stiefel, Tina | title=The Intellectual Revolution in Twelfth Century Europe | publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] | location=New York | date=1985 | isbn=978-0-312-41892-2 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/intellectualrevo00stie }}</ref> Calcidius himself never explicitly linked the Platonic creation myth in the ''Timaeus'' with the Old Testament creation story in Genesis in his commentary on the dialogue.<ref>{{Cite book|title=On Plato's Timaeus. Calcidius.|last=Magee|first=John|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2016|pages=viii–xi}}</ref>

Although there's no evidence that any of the works of Plato were ever translated into Arabic during the medieval era, the dialogue was still highly influential in Arabic-speaking regions beginning in the 10th century AD, albeit indirectly, via a translation by the Syrian Nestorian Christian [[Hunayn ibn Ishaq]] (809 – 873 AD) of a synopsis of the work by [[Galen]], which is still extant. The ''Catalogue'' (fihrist) of [[Ibn al-Nadim|Ibn al-Nadīm]] provides some evidence for an early translation by [[Eutychius of Alexandria|Ibn al-Bitriq]] ([[Al-Kindi|Al-Kindī]]'s circle) of this synopsis.<ref>{{Cite thesis| url=http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/61917/|title=Galen and the Arabic traditions of Plato's Timaeus|date=September 2013|publisher=University of Warwick|type=phd|last1=Das|first1=Aileen R.}}</ref>

During much of the Middle Ages in the Latin-speaking West the ''Timaeus'' was the sole work of Plato which was typically available in monastic libraries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hopwag.podbean.com/e/hop-030-a-likely-story-platos-timaeus-1409207802/|website=History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps|title=A Likely Story - Plato's Timaeus.}}</ref> In the fourteenth century, Petrarch (1304-1374) noted having difficulty locating a copy.<ref>Jayne, S. (1995). The Chrysoloras Revival of Plato in Italy (1350–1456). In: Plato in Renaissance England. Archives Internationales D’Histoire des Idées / International Archives of the History of Ideas, vol 141. Springer, Dordrecht. {{doi|10.1007/978-94-015-8551-4_1}}</ref>

In his introduction to Plato's ''Dialogues'', 19th-century translator [[Benjamin Jowett]] comments, "Of all the writings of Plato, the Timaeus is the most obscure and repulsive to the modern reader."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bauer|first=Susan Wise|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/891611100|title=The Story of Science: From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory|publisher=[[W.&nbsp;W. Norton]]|year=2015|isbn=978-0-393-24326-0|edition=1st|location=New York|pages=13|oclc=891611100|author-link=Susan Wise Bauer}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Critias (dialogue)|''Critias'' (dialogue)]]
* [[Sophist (dialogue)|''Sophist'']]
* [[Statesman (dialogue)|''Statesman'']]
* ''[[Philebus]]''
*[[Proclus]]
* [[Johannes Kepler]]
* [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]]
* [[Plotinus]]
* [[Esoteric cosmology]]
* [[Khôra]]
* [[Religious cosmology]]
* [[Creation myth]]
* [[Teleological argument]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Bartninkas, V. (2023). ''[https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009322638 Traditional and Cosmic Gods in Later Plato and the Early Academy]'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9781009322591}}
* Broadie, S. (2012). ''Nature and Divinity in Plato's Timaeus.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
*Campbell, Douglas R. "The Soul's Tomb: Plato on the Body as the Cause of Psychic Disorders," ''Apeiron'' 55 (1): 119–139. 2022.
*{{cite book |author=Cornford, Francis Macdonald |author-link=Francis Cornford |title=Plato's Cosmology: The Timaeus of Plato, Translated with a Running Commentary |orig-year=1935 |date=1997 |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. |location=Indianapolis |isbn=978-0-87220-386-0 }}
* Gregory, A. (2000). ''Plato's Philosophy of Science.'' London: Duckworth.
* {{cite book |last1=Kalderon |first1=Mark Eli |title=Cosmos and Perception in Plato's Timaeus: In the Eye of the Cognitive Storm |date=2023 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-86230-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GOa3EAAAQBAJ |language=en}}
* Lennox, J. (1985). "Plato's Unnatural Teleology." In ''Platonic Investigations.'' Edited by D. J. O'Meara, 195–218. Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy 13. Washington, DC: Catholic Univ. of America Press.
*Johansen, Thomas. 2004. ''Plato's Natural Philosophy: A Study of the Timaeus-Critias''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Thomas Henry |title=Études sur le Timée de Platon |orig-year=1841 |date=1981 |publisher=[[Librairie philosophique J. Vrin]] |location=Paris }}
*Miller, Harold W. "The Aetiology of Disease in Plato's ''Timaeus,''" ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association''
* Mohr, R. D., and B. M. Sattler, eds. (2010). ''One Book, the Whole Universe: Plato's Timaeus Today.'' Las Vegas, NV: Parmenides.
* Morgan, K. A. (1998). "Designer History: Plato's Atlantis Story and Fourth-Century Ideology". ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 118:101–118.
* Morrow, G. R. 1950. "Necessity and Persuasion in Plato's Timaeus." ''Philosophical Review'' 59.2: 147–163.
* {{cite book|author=Murray, K. Sarah-Jane |title=From Plato to Lancelot: A Preface to Chretien de Troyes|publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]]|date=2008|isbn=978-0-8156-3160-6}}
* Osborne, C. (1996). "Space, Time, Shape, and Direction: Creative Discourse in the Timaeus." In ''Form and Argument in Late Plato.'' Edited by C. Gill and M. M. McCabe, 179–211. Oxford: Clarendon.
* Pears, Colin David. (2015-2016). "Congruency and Evil in Plato's Timaeus." ''The Review of Metaphysics: A Philosophical Quarterly'' 69.1: 93–113.
* Reydams-Schils, G. J. ed. (2003). ''Plato's Timaeus as Cultural Icon.'' Notre Dame, IN: Univ. of Notre Dame Press.
* {{cite book | author=Sallis, John | author-link=John Sallis | title=Chorology: On Beginning in Plato's "Timaeus" | publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |location=Bloomington | date=1999 | isbn=978-0-253-21308-2 }}
* Slaveva-Griffin, Svetla. (2005). "'A Feast of Speeches': Form and Content in Plato's Timaeus." ''Hermes'' 133.3: 312–327.
*{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Alfred E. |title=A Commentary on Plato's Timaeus |date=1928 |publisher=Clarendon |location=Oxford }}

==External links==
{{wikisource|Timaeus|''Timaeus''}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Plato's Timaeus |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
*{{cite SEP |url-id=plato-timaeus |title=Plato's ''Timaeus'' |last=Zeyl |first=Donald}}
*{{cite IEP |url-id=platoorg |title=Plato: Organicism}}
*Greek text at [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0179%3ATim. Perseus]
*Greek text at [https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%A4%CE%AF%CE%BC%CE%B1%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%82 Greek Wikisource]
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/plato/dialogues/benjamin-jowett|Display Name=''{{PAGENAMEBASE}}'', in a collection of Plato's Dialogues|noitalics=true}}
*[[Project Gutenberg]] [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1572 edition] (includes Benjamin Jowett's introduction)
*R. G. Bury translation at [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0180%3Atext%3DTim. Perseus]
*York University [http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Plato/Timaeus edition]
*[http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/plato-timaeus/default.asp Bilingual Edition of Plato's ''Timaeus''] in English and Greek side by side
*{{MathPages|id=home/kmath096/kmath096|title=Platonic Solids and Plato's Theory of Everything}}
*[https://archive.today/20121202102249/http://timaeus.baylor.edu/ Digby 23 Project] at Baylor University

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