Plato, Critias 120e · 120e
Kings who obeyed the laws
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Critias — ἐπὶ πολλὰς μὲν γενεάς, μέχριπερ ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ φύσις αὐτοῖς ἐξήρκει, κατήκοοί τε ἦσαν τῶν νόμων καὶ πρὸς τὸ συγγενὲς θεῖον φιλοφρόνως εἶχον· τὰ γὰρ φρονήματα ἀληθινὰ καὶ πάντῃ μεγάλα ἐκέκτηντο, πρᾳότητι μετὰ φρονήσεως πρός τε τὰς ἀεὶ συμβαινούσας τύχας καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους χρώμενοι, διὸ πλὴν ἀρετῆς πάντα ὑπερορῶντες μικρὰ ἡγοῦντο
For many generations, as long as the nature of the god lasted in them, they were obedient to the laws and kindly disposed toward the divine that was their kin. They held thoughts that were true and in every way great, using gentleness together with wisdom, both toward the chances that ever befell them and toward one another. And so, looking down on everything except virtue, they thought small
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The setting
For many generations, Critias says, the god's nature lasted in the kings of Atlantis, and they kept the laws, felt kindly toward the divine that was their kin, and thought little of what they had.
A note on this passage
The first half of the sentence turns on hē toû theoû phýsis, "the nature of the god." It "lasted" in the kings, exḗrkei, a verb that means to be enough, and the clause is bounded by méchriper, "as long as." The kings are katḗkooi, obedient, to the laws, and they stand in a kindly relation, philophrónōs, toward tò syngenès theîon, "the kindred divine." The adjective syngenés is the word for a relative by blood, so the divine part in them is spoken of as family.
The second half says what their minds were like. Their phronḗmata, thoughts or spirits, are alēthiná, true, and pántēi megála, great in every way. The pairing praiótēti metà phronḗseōs sets gentleness beside practical wisdom, and both are used toward chance events and toward each other. The Greek holds back the object of the last verb: ḗgounto, "they thought," has its object, tà parónta, "what they had," only in the next section.
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