 If, in the Republic, the goodness of the individual soul is explained in terms of its being a smaller copy of a harmonious society, in the Timaeus, Plato goes for a larger model. The universe now supplies the ‘large’ text for deciphering the nature of the human soul. The structure of the world-soul is replicated in the nature of the human soul. That there is, nevertheless, a close affinity between the Republic and the project that Plato meant to pursue in the Timaeus and its intended sequels is clearly indicated in the preface to the Timaeus. The tale of the origin of the universe, including human nature, is presented as the first step in a reply to Socrates’ wish to see his own best city ‘in action’ (Ti. 19b–c). From antiquity on, this introduction has created the impression that the Timaeus is the direct continuation of the Republic, an impression that explains its juxtaposition in the Corpus Platonicum. Strong indications speak, however, for a much later date for the Timaeus. If Plato establishes a link between these two works, his intent is to compare as well as to contrast. The continuity consists solely in the fact that Socrates reaffirms that he still considers his city’s order as the best (Ti. 17c–19b). It is this ideal order that Critias promises to illustrate by narrating the tale of the war between pre-historic Athens, a city that exempified the ideal order, and Atlantis, a powerful tyrannical superpower (Ti. 20d–26e). However, Plato eventually set aside the project of illustrating the ideal city in action: the Critias breaks off after 15 pages, in mid-sentence, and the third dialogue in the series, Hermocrates, was never written at all. So the story of Socrates’ ideal city in action and of the life of its citizens remains untold. All we have is Plato’s cosmic model.