Hermocrates is a hypothetical dialogue, assumed to be the third part of Plato's late trilogy along with Timaeus and Critias. Since Plato never completed the Critias for an unknown reason, it is generally assumed that he never began writing the Hermocrates. In any case, the persons that would have appeared are very likely to be the same as in the former dialogues – Timaeus, Critias, Hermocrates, and Socrates – and the unnamed companion mentioned at the beginning of the Timaeus might have unveiled his identity. The intention of Plato to write this third dialogue becomes evident among others, from the following passage of Critias: Hermocrates had only a small share of the conversation in the previous dialogues. Since the Critias recounted the story of the ideal state in ancient Athens of nine thousandyears ago – and why it was able to repel the invasion by the imperialist naval powerAtlantis – by referring to prehistoric accounts via Solon and the Egyptians, it might have been Hermocrates' task to tell how the imperialist naval power, into which Athens of Plato's lifetime had turned, had suffered a bitter defeat in the Sicilian expedition against Syracuse and eventually in the Peloponnesian War againstSparta – since he was a Syracusanstrategos during the time of the Sicilian expedition. The sequence of names of the three participants in these dialogues could also have a significance. The name of Timaeus is derived from the Greekword, timaō meaning to pay honor to; the name of Critias is derived from the word, krisis meaning judgment; and the name of Hermocrates, means gifted by Hermes, messenger of the gods.
In the video gameIndiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis the Lost Dialogue of Plato is known as the Hermocrates. In the game, the book was actually existent in an English manuscript, translated by one of the characters, and was an important tool for Dr. Jones throughout the game. Its contents, however, are about the location of Atlantis, entry to the city, and notes about its inhabitants and culture.
