Plato's Timaeus - Reading and Commentary

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The Timaeus is the most important dialogue of the Platonic corpus in relation to the creation and purpose of the universe. It is the pagan equivalent to the Book Of Genesis in the Bible. It recounts a discussion between Socrates and Timaeus a famous Pythagorean sage who gives his account of how the universe came into being, how mankind was created, and how and why the various Gods continue to supervise our moral and intellectual development. It is a tour de force and was studied deeply in the ancient and mediaeval schools of philosophy. Even in Mediaeval Christian Europe it was a core text in the early universities for all students curious to understand our original and purpose. This commentary is therefore a key to figuring out the meaning and purpose of life as seen through the classical lens of Platonic philosophy.