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Recently I read the Timaeus and Critias Dialogue (the part about atlantis). A guy called Solon is mentioned there as the source of the Atlantis story...or better as the guy who brought it from Egypt to Greece. Solon was an Athenian politician who may have been responsible for many reforms in the athenian society that weakened the nobles, helped heavily indebted farmers and created a democracy-like society in which your politcal influence depents on your wealth.
The Atlantis story is about an island, witch was
that later tried to invade greece and probably (the last part is missing) was defeated by the greeks lead by the athenians.
My first guess was that the whole Dialogue is a fictional story to back up one of Paltos thesis about how a state should or shouldn't be run and why Athen is superior. And why hybris is bad even if you feel superior.
So...I thought the poem of Solon was A) fictional or B) interpreted by Platon so it fits in his story.
But after all I heard about Solon...it would also make sense that HE wrote a poem that back up HIS political ideas.
Maybe he was the first conspiracy theorist...he claimed to have secret knowledge (from a far away civilisation) that tells something about the origin of all greeks and tells the secret history of their glorious victory against the Atlantians. I guess people would have liked to hear such things.
So my questions are:
Does anybody know the poem Platon is talking about in his Dialogues
Is there a egyptian version of the Atlantis myth...are the egyptian persons in Platons text...
Do you think that Platon and/or Solon was writing about real happenings or more or less fictional stuff
