Commentary on Plato's Timaeus

...viewed alone and in only a few instances according to their form; as for the many, they stand close at hand to the materials. They make their explanations concerning natural things, showing you how they perform much of the guidance of the universal world...

Regarding the character of the dialogue:

So much for these matters. Next, let us discuss the form of the dialogue and what its specific character original: "charaktēr" — the distinctive style or "stamp" of a piece of writing. is. It is agreed by all that Plato, having taken the book of Timaeus the Pythagorean, composed his own work on the universe based on it, which is why he undertook the Pythagorean style of writing in the Timaeus.

It is also agreed by those who have even a slight acquaintance with Plato that his character original: "ethos" — the underlying disposition or moral tone of the work. is Socratic, being benevolent and demonstrative. If, then, he mixed something else with the Pythagorean and Socratic [styles], it is through this that the character of these dialogues appears to be made. For there is in it for it is said, according to the Pythagorean custom, the lofty, the intellectual aspect, the divinely inspired, the tendency to suspend everything from the intelligible realms, and the defining of wholes within the sensible world. It contains the mystical and the spiritual, the symbolic and the enigmatic, the invincible, and that which transcends partial applications, as well as the declarative mode original: "apophantikon" — a style that makes direct assertions or revelations rather than engaging in step-by-step argument..

From Socratic benevolence, [the dialogue takes] its competitive vigor, its gentleness, its demonstrative nature, the contemplation of beings through images, the ethical dimension, and all such things. Therefore, the dialogue is majestic and has exalted itself, making its applications to the more divine principles. However, it uses both the declarative and the demonstrative modes, treating natural things through the lens of the natural world. But it is right to understand that it omits nothing; and through it, nature itself indicates that the whole is dependent upon the gods and under those who remain [steadfast], becoming a category that strikes?... and again he did not look to those things I mentioned...