Megale Hellas, Atene, Atlantide: Paradigmi utopici e distopici dai Presocratici a Platone

This paper attempts to reappraise the role of politics and utopian projects in Greek thought from early Greek philosophy to Plato. An analysis of the sources reveals utopian elements in Presocratic philosophy, especially in Magna Graecia, not connected to ideal projects concerning nonexistent worlds, but rather to ‘eu-topic’ programs intended for the new colonies made available by Greece’s, and particularly Athens’, expansion. The union of politico-colonial realism and utopia as a concretely achievable model of good government provides a new avenue for interpretation that relies on the perspective of an utopian ‘architecture.’ Such a mode of interpretation may also project Plato’s utopian projects onto an ‘architectural’ level, not only in the Republic, but also (and particularly) in the Critias, where, however, the boundaries between utopia and dystopia are weaker than at first appear.