Critias in the context of "Hermocrates (dialogue)"

Timaeus (/taɪˈmiːəs/; Ancient Greek: Τίμαιος, romanized: Timaios, pronounced [tǐːmai̯os]) is one of Plato's dialogues, mostly in the form of long monologues given by Critias and Timaeus, written c. 360 BC. The work puts forward reasoning on the possible nature of the physical world and human beings and is followed by the dialogue Critias.

Participants in the dialogue include Socrates, Timaeus, Hermocrates, and Critias. Some scholars believe that it is not the Critias of the Thirty Tyrants who appears in this dialogue, but his grandfather, also named Critias. At the beginning of the dialogue, the absence of another, unknown dialogue participant, present on the day before, is bemoaned. It has been suggested from some traditions—Diogenes Laertius (VIII 85) from Hermippus of Smyrna (3rd century BC) and Timon of Phlius (c. 320 – c. 235 BC)—that Timaeus was influenced by a book about Pythagoras, written by Philolaus, although this assertion is generally considered false.

The helots (/ˈhɛləts, ˈhiːləts/; Greek: εἵλωτες, heílotes) were a subjugated group that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia – the territories ruled by Sparta in Ancient Greece. There has been controversy since antiquity as to their exact characteristics, such as whether they constituted an Ancient Greek tribe, a social class, or both. For example, Critias described helots as "slaves to the utmost", whereas according to Pollux, they occupied a status "between free men and slaves". Tied to the land, they primarily worked in agriculture as a majority and economically supported the Spartan citizens.

The proportion of helots in relation to Spartan citizens varied throughout the history of the Spartan state; according to Herodotus, there were seven helots for each of the 5,000 Spartan soldiers at the time of the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. Thus the need to keep the helot population in check and to prevent rebellion were major concerns of the Spartans. Helots were ritually mistreated and humiliated. Every autumn the Spartan polis declared war on the helots, allowing them to be killed and abused by members of the Crypteia without fear of religious repercussion. Uprisings and attempts to improve the lot of the helots did occur, such as the conspiracy of Cinadon of 399 BC. Plato on the other hand does not mention the killings by the Crypteia at all in Laws. The population was largely liberated by the Theban commander Epaminondas following the Theban-Spartan War.

Orichalcum (or aurichalcum) /ˌɔːrɪˈkælkəm/ or orichalc /ˌɔːrɪˈkælk/ is a metal mentioned in several ancient writings, including the story of Atlantis in the Critias of Plato. Within the dialogue, Critias (460–403 BC) says that orichalcum had been considered second only to gold in value and had been found and mined in many parts of Atlantis in ancient times, but that by Critias's own time, orichalcum was known only by name.

Orichalcum may have been the name for some noble metal, such as platinum, as it was supposed to be mined, but has been identified as pure copper or certain alloys of bronze, and especially brass alloys in the case of antique Roman coins, the latter being of "similar appearance to modern brass" according to scientific research.

Lanike or Lanice pronounced (Lan iss) (Greek: Λανίκη), also called Hellanike or Alacrinis, daughter of Dropidas, who was son of Critias, was the sister of Cleitus the Black, and the nurse of Alexander the Great. She was born, most likely, shortly after 380 BC; for she is named as the mother of Proteas and two other sons who died in the Siege of Miletus in 334 BC. Her husband may have been Andronicus of Olynthus.

In Greek mythology, Mestor (/ˈmɛstər/; Ancient Greek: Μήστωρ means "adviser" or "counsellor") was the name of four men.

• Mestor, a Mycenaean prince. According to the mythographer Apollodorus, he was the son of Perseus and Andromeda and the brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Sthenelus, Electryon, and Gorgophone. By Lysidice, daughter of Hippodamia and Pelops, Mestor became the father of Hippothoe, who mothered Taphius by the god Poseidon.
• Mestor, a son of king Pterelaus, thus a great-great-grandson of the above.
• Mestor, a son of King Priam. Apart from a single mention in the Iliad, where he is praised by his father, he appears in the Bibliotheca and Hyginus. He was taken captive by Neoptolemus, who later dressed up in Mestor's Phrygian clothes to deceive Acastus.
• In Plato's Critias, Mestor was the second of the fourth set of twins borne of Poseidon and the mortal, Cleito, and one of the first princes of Atlantis. His older twin brother was Elasippus, and his other siblings were Atlas and Eumelus, Ampheres and Evaemon, Mneseus and Autochthon, and lastly, Azaes and Diaprepes. Mestor, along with his nine siblings, became the heads of ten royal houses, each ruling a tenth portion of the island, according to a partition made by Poseidon himself, but all subject to the supreme dynasty of Atlas who was the eldest of the ten.