Ficino On Timaeus

All Things Natural: Ficino On Plato's Timaeus

"Near the beginning of this dialogue [Timaeus] Plato relates an account of the war that was once faught between the Athenians and the men of Atlantis. It is clear that Crantor, the principal expounder of Plato at the time, takes the account to be devoid of any allegory. Some, on the other hand, take it as pure allegory, but they are refuted by Platonists of the highest standing, who declare that it is an historical account because Plato has uttered it. The tale that follows is indeed amazing, but totally true." -- Marsilio Ficino, polymath, On Plato's Timaeus, Chapter 4, 15th century

"Here I ask you once more to remember that nine thousand years are calculated by Eudoxus as a thousand months; and that Phaethon, offspring of the Sun, consumed the Earth with thunderbolts, which, according to some, means that a huge comet [Venus], solar by nature and eventually disintegrating, provoked unbearable periods of heat and perhaps the fires which Moses says were sent by divine intervention." -- Marsilio Ficino, polymath, On Plato's Timaeus, Chapter 5, 15th century