What was Xenocrates’ view of Plato’s account of creation in the Timaeus?

Xenocrates, a successor of Plato as head of the Academy, was the first known philosopher to address the long-standing controversy regarding the nature of the creation account presented in Plato’s Timaeus.1

While some thinkers, such as Aristotle, interpreted the Timaeus as describing a literal, chronological sequence of events, Xenocrates argued that the account was merely expository. By viewing the creation narrative as a pedagogical tool rather than a historical timeline, Xenocrates established an interpretation that became the most favored view throughout the history of Platonism.1