Plato, Timaeus 23e · 23e

Eight thousand years in the temple writings

Critias — ὑμῖν ἔτεσιν χιλίοις, ἐκ Γῆς τε καὶ Ἡφαίστου τὸ σπέρμα παραλαβοῦσα ὑμῶν, τήνδε δὲ ὑστέραν. τῆς δὲ ἐνθάδε διακοσμήσεως παρʼ ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν ὀκτακισχιλίων ἐτῶν ἀριθμὸς γέγραπται. περὶ δὴ τῶν ἐνακισχίλια γεγονότων ἔτη πολιτῶν σοι δηλώσω διὰ βραχέων νόμους, καὶ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῖς ὃ κάλλιστον ἐπράχθη· τὸ δʼ ἀκριβὲς περὶ

you, a thousand years earlier, taking your seed from Earth and Hephaestus, and ours later. Of our ordering here, a count of 8,000 years is written in our sacred writings. Now about the citizens who lived 9,000 years ago, I will show you briefly their laws and the finest of their deeds that was done; but the exact account about

Word by word

Critias

ὑμῖνhymînyouἔτεσινétesinyearsχιλίοιςchilíoisa thousand,ἐκekfromΓῆςGêsEarthτεte—καὶkaìandἩφαίστουHēphaístouHephaestusτὸtò—σπέρμαspérmaseedπαραλαβοῦσαparalaboûsatakingὑμῶνhymônyour,τήνδεtḗndeoursδὲdèandὑστέρανhystéranlater.τῆςtêstheδὲdèbutἐνθάδεenthádehereδιακοσμήσεωςdiakosmḗseōsorderingπαρʼparʼamongἡμῖνhēmînusἐνeninτοῖςtoîstheἱεροῖςhieroîssacredγράμμασινgrámmasinwritingsὀκτακισχιλίωνoktakischilíōn8,000ἐτῶνetônyearsἀριθμὸςarithmòscountγέγραπταιgégraptaiis written.περὶperìaboutδὴdḕnowτῶνtôntheἐνακισχίλιαenakischília9,000γεγονότωνgegonótōnwho livedἔτηétēyearsπολιτῶνpolitôncitizensσοιsoiyouδηλώσωdēlṓsōI will showδιὰdiàinβραχέωνbrachéōnbriefνόμουςnómouslaws,καὶkaìandτῶνtônof theἔργωνérgōndeedsαὐτοῖςautoîsby themὃhòthatκάλλιστονkállistonfinestἐπράχθηepráchthēwas done·τὸtòtheδʼdʼbutἀκριβὲςakribèsexact detailsπερὶperìabout

The setting

The priest says the goddess founded Athens a thousand years before Saïs, and that Egypt's sacred writings count 8,000 years; he promises the laws of the Athenians of 9,000 years ago.

A note on this passage

The priest gives the two cities hard dates. The goddess took the spérma, the seed, of the Athenians from Gês te kaì Hēphaístou, Earth and Hephaestus, and the Athenian city is étesin chilíois, by a thousand years, the earlier of the two. Seed from Earth and a craftsman god makes an origin story, and the priest puts it forward as a fact to set beside the temple records.

The records come next: oktakischilíōn etôn arithmòs gégraptai, "a count of 8,000 years is written" in the sacred writings, and for the citizens of enakischília étē, 9,000 years back, he promises the laws and the finest deed. The number 8,000 belongs to the ordering at Saïs, and the 9,000 years reaches back to the early Athenians. The section stops on akribès, "exact," where the priest puts off the full account to the next stretch.

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