the continuance in them of a divine nature, the qualities which we have
described grew and increased among them; but when the divine portion began
to fade away, and became diluted too often and too much with the mortal
admixture, and the human nature got the upper hand, they then, being unable
to bear their fortune, behaved unseemly, and to him who had an eye to see
grew visibly debased, for they were losing the fairest of their precious
gifts; but to those who had no eye to see the true happiness, they appeared
glorious and blessed at the very time when they were full of avarice and
unrighteous power. Zeus, the god of gods, who rules according to law, and
is able to see into such things, perceiving that an honourable race was in
a woeful plight, and wanting to inflict punishment on them, that they might
be chastened and improve, collected all the gods into their most holy
habitation, which, being placed in the centre of the world, beholds all
created things. And when he had called them together, he spake as
follows--*

* The rest of the Dialogue of Critias has been lost.