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in particular; greater than all the rest。 This we will now rehearse。

It will be a fitting monument of our gratitude to you; and a hymn of

praise true and worthy of the goddess; on this her day of festival。

  Soc。 Very good。 And what is this ancient famous action of the

Athenians; which Critias declared; on the authority of Solon; to be

not a mere legend; but an actual fact?

  Crit。 I will tell an old…world story which I heard from an aged man;

for Critias; at the time of telling it; was as he said; nearly

ninety years of age; and I was about ten。 Now the day was that day

of the Apaturia which is called the Registration of Youth; at which;

according to custom; our parents gave prizes for recitations; and

the poems of several poets were recited by us boys; and many of us

sang the poems of Solon; which at that time had not gone out of

fashion。 One of our tribe; either because he thought so or to please

Critias; said that in his judgment Solon was not only the wisest of

men; but also the noblest of poets。 The old man; as I very well

remember; brightened up at hearing this and said; smiling: Yes;

Amynander; if Solon had only; like other poets; made poetry the

business of his life; and had completed the tale which he brought with

him from Egypt; and had not been compelled; by reason of the

factions and troubles which he found stirring in his own country

when he came home; to attend to other matters; in my opinion he

would have been as famous as Homer or Hesiod; or any poet。

  And what was the tale about; Critias? said Amynander。

  About the greatest action which the Athenians ever did; and which

ought to have been the most famous; but; through the lapse of time and

the destruction of the actors; it has not come down to us。

  Tell us; said the other; the whole story; and how and from whom

Solon heard this veritable tradition。

  He replied:…In the Egyptian Delta; at the head of which the river

Nile divides; there is a certain district which is called the district

of Sais; and the great city of the district is also called Sais; and

is the city from which King Amasis came。 The citizens have a deity for

their foundress; she is called in the Egyptian tongue Neith; and is

asserted by them to be the same whom the Hellenes call Athene; they

are great lovers of the Athenians; and say that they are in some way

related to them。 To this city came Solon; and was received there

with great honour; he asked the priests who were most skilful in

such matters; about antiquity; and made the discovery that neither

he nor any other Hellene knew anything worth mentioning about the

times of old。 On one occasion; wishing to draw them on to speak of

antiquity; he began to tell about the most ancient things in our

part of the world…about Phoroneus; who is called 〃the first man;〃

and about Niobe; and after the Deluge; of the survival of Deucalion

and Pyrrha; and he traced the genealogy of their descendants; and

reckoning up the dates; tried to compute how many years ago the events

of which he was speaking happened。 Thereupon one of the priests; who

was of a very great age; said: O Solon; Solon; you Hellenes are

never anything but children; and there is not an old man among you。

Solon in return asked him what he meant。 I mean to say; he replied;

that in mind you are all young; there is no old opinion handed down

among you by ancient tradition; nor any science which is hoary with

age。 And I will tell you why。 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; which

even you have preserved; that once upon a time Paethon; 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; at such times those who live upon the mountains and in

dry and lofty places are more liable to destruction than those who

dwell by rivers or on the seashore。 And from this calamity the Nile;

who is our never…failing saviour; delivers and preserves us。 When;

on the other hand; the gods purge the earth with a deluge of water;

the survivors in your country are herdsmen and shepherds who dwell

on the mountains; but those who; like you; live in cities are

carried by the rivers into the sea。 Whereas in this land; neither then

nor at any other time; does the water come down from above on the

fields; having always a tendency to come up from below; for which

reason the traditions preserved here are the most ancient。

  The fact is; that wherever the extremity of winter frost or of

summer does not prevent; mankind exist; sometimes in greater;

sometimes in lesser numbers。 And whatever happened either in your

country or in ours; or in any other region of which we are informed…if

there were any actions noble or great or in any other way

remarkable; they have all been written down by us of old; and are

preserved in our temples。 Whereas just when you and other nations

are beginning to be provided with letters and the other requisites

of civilized life; after the usual interval; the stream from heaven;

like a pestilence; comes pouring down; and leaves only those of you

who are destitute of letters and education; and so you have to begin

all over again like children; and know nothing of what happened in

ancient times; either among us or among yourselves。 As for those

genealogies of yours which you just now recounted to us; Solon; they

are no better than the tales of children。 In the first place you

remember a single deluge only; but there were many previous ones; in

the next place; you do not know that there formerly dwelt in your land

the fairest and noblest race of men which ever lived; and that you and

your whole city are descended from a small seed or remnant of them

which survived。 And this was unknown to you; because; for many

generations; the survivors of that destruction died; leaving no

written word。 For there was a time; Solon; before the great deluge

of all; when the city which now is Athens was first in war and in

every way the best governed of all cities; is said to have performed

the noblest deeds and to have had the fairest constitution of any of

which tradition tells; under the face of heaven。

  Solon marvelled at his words; and earnestly requested the priests to

inform him exactly and in order about these former citizens。 You are

welcome to hear about them; Solon; said the priest; both for your

own sake and for that of your city; and above all; for the sake of the

goddess who is the common patron and parent and educator of both our

cities。 She founded your city a thousand years before ours;

receiving from the Earth and Hephaestus the seed of your race; and

afterwards she founded ours; of which the constitution is recorded

in our sacred registers to be eight thousand years old。 As touching

your citizens of nine thousand years ago; I will briefly inform you of

their laws and of their most famous action; the exact particulars of

the whole we will hereafter go through at our leisure in the sacred

registers themselves。 If you compare these very laws with ours you

will find that many of ours are the counterpart of yours as they

were in the olden time。 In the first place; there is the caste of

priests; which is separated from all the others; next; there are the

artificers; who ply their several crafts by themselves and do not

intermix; and also there is the class of shepherds and of hunters;

as well as that of husbandmen; and you will observe; too; that the

warriors in Egypt are distinct from all the other classes; and are

commanded by the law to devote themselves solely to military pursuits;

moreover; the weapons which they carry are shields and spears; a style

of equipment which the goddess taught of Asiatics first to us; as in

your part of the world first to you。 Then as to wisdom; do you observe

how our law from the very first made a study of the whole order of

things; extending even to prophecy and medicine which gives health;

out of these divine elements deriving what was needful for human life;

and adding every sort of knowledge which was akin to them。 All this

order and arrangement the goddess first imparted to you when

establishing your city; and she chose the spot of earth in which you

were born; because she saw that the happy temperament of the seasons

in that land would produce the wisest of men。 Wherefore the goddess;

who was a lover both of war and of wisdom; selected and first of all

settled that spot which was the most likely to produce men likest

herself。 And there you dwelt; having such laws as these and still

better ones; and excelled all mankind in all virtue; as became the

children an

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