‘Is there any literary evidence that Plutarch believed that Plato’s account of Atlantis in Timaeus and Critias of Atlantis was based upon an allegory?’

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AI – ‘Based on the surviving literary evidence, there is no clear indication that Plutarch believed Plato’s account of Atlantis was a pure allegory, and there is stronger evidence suggesting he took it as a historical, though perhaps embellished, tradition. 

Plutarch, writing in the early Roman Empire (c. 46–120 AD), treated the story as a “lost” historical record rather than a fictional story, and he specifically linked it to the transmission of knowledge from Egyptian priests to Solon, rather than an invention of Plato. 

Evidence in Plutarch’s Writings

  • Life of Solon: In his biography of Solon, Plutarch describes the Atlantis story as a, “large description, or rather fabulous account [mythos]” that Solon heard from the priests of Saïs. However, in this context, “fabulous” (or mythos) in the ancient sense does not necessarily mean “fictional” (allegory), but rather a story passed down about a distant, grand event.
  • A “Historical” Project: Plutarch notes that Solon attempted to turn this Egyptian account into a poem, and later, “Plato, ambitious to elaborate and adorn the subject of the lost Atlantis … began the work”. This description presents the story as a real, “unoccupied” history that Plato was expanding upon, not as a metaphor for the Republic.
  • Unfinished Work: Plutarch mentions that Plato was “late in beginning, and ended his life before his work” was finished, treating the Critias as a piece of historical narrative that was simply left incomplete, rather than an allegory that didn’t need to be finished.
  • No Explicit Mentions of Allegory: While modern scholars often view the Atlantis story as an allegory of the ideal state, there is no passage in Plutarch’s work that explicitly states, “Plato was using Atlantis as a symbol for his political theories,” or “Atlantis is not a real place”. 

The Context of Ancient Interpretation

  • Crantor’s Influence: Earlier in the Hellenistic period, the academic philosopher Crantor (c. 300 BC) is often cited as treating the story as historical truth, a view that was prominent in the early Roman period.
  • The Shift to Allegory: The interpretation of Atlantis as a pure allegory primarily grew in popularity later, with Proclus (5th century AD) reporting that earlier people were divided on the issue, but it was generally later philosophers who pushed for the “allegory only” interpretation. 

Therefore, Plutarch’s own words in the Life of Solon and his treatment of the Timaeus-Critias in his biographies suggest he accepted it as an ancient tradition passed down from Egypt, rather than a literary allegory created by Plato.’