Plato, Timaeus 25b · 25b
The power of Atlantis marches on the strait
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Critias — Λιβύης μὲν ἦρχον μέχρι πρὸς Αἴγυπτον, τῆς δὲ Εὐρώπης μέχρι Τυρρηνίας. αὕτη δὴ πᾶσα συναθροισθεῖσα εἰς ἓν ἡ δύναμις τόν τε παρʼ ὑμῖν καὶ τὸν παρʼ ἡμῖν καὶ τὸν ἐντὸς τοῦ στόματος πάντα τόπον μιᾷ ποτὲ ἐπεχείρησεν ὁρμῇ δουλοῦσθαι. τότε οὖν ὑμῶν, ὦ Σόλων, τῆς πόλεως ἡ δύναμις εἰς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους διαφανὴς ἀρετῇ τε καὶ ῥώμῃ ἐγένετο· πάντων γὰρ προστᾶσα εὐψυχίᾳ καὶ τέχναις ὅσαι κατὰ πόλεμον,
Critias: Of Libya they ruled as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. This whole power, gathered into one, once attempted in a single rush to enslave your land and ours and every place inside the mouth. Then it was, Solon, that the power of your city became plain to all mankind, in excellence and in strength. For standing first of all in courage and in all the skills of war,
Word by word
The setting
Critias lists how far the kings of Atlantis ruled inside the strait, then says they gathered all their force to enslave Athens, Egypt and every land inside the mouth in one attack. The Egyptian priest turns to Solon and praises the courage of ancient Athens.
A note on this passage
Two pronouns carry the priest's whole point of view. Par' hymin is "among you," the Athenians, and par' hēmin is "among us," the Egyptians; between them they cover the lands inside the mouth, ton entos tou stomatos panta topon. Critias is repeating what the priest said to Solon, so the ō Solōn halfway through the passage is the priest's address, heard through several retellings. The ruling is given with the imperfect ērchon, a standing state of affairs, and the attack with the aorist epecheirēsen, one attempt made once.
The attack is described as mia hormē, a single rush, by a power that had been synathroistheisa eis hen, gathered into one. The two ideas match: the many parts of the empire are drawn together to move in a single push. The Athenians then stand out with diaphanēs aretēi te kai rhōmēi, "conspicuous in excellence and in strength," and the next clause gives the reason with gar and the participle prostasa, "having stood before" all others in courage and in the crafts of war.
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