INTRODUCTION egends of lost places or peoples have captured the imaginations of many different civilizations throughout history Such tales have existed as long as humans have told each other stories One of the most famous and long lived legends has been that of Atlantis Atlantis first appeared in the classical Greek writings of the famous philosopher and mathemati cian Plato Atlantis was said to be a once powerful island nation that was completely destroyed by a great disaster one that submerged it beneath the ocean Many civilizations and cultures share such stories Some of these tales were inspired by real places or events Others were merely born from the vivid imaginations of storytellers Lost cities of gold ideal or magical places and other mysterious sites have inspired exploration through out the centuries They have also been common subjects of literature and other media such as movies and television It is vital to investigate the origins of these stories how they relate to reality and also what makes them so popular with different cultures and peoples By doing So one can dive deep into the mysteries of Atlantis and other lost cities and begin to understand
INTRODUCTION The mythical lost civilization of Atlantis has inspired legends and speculation for centuries It is often depicted as seen here abandoned and submerged beneath the ocean with architecture resembling that of ancient Greece or Rome
CH A PTER ONE PLATO S ATLANTIS ne of the first people to describe the legend of Atlantis in detail was Plato Plato was one of the most important thinkers of ancient Greece Around 360 BCE Plato wrote Timaeus This dialogue of Plato s mostly consists of a monologue a kind of dra matic story or speech told by a sole speaker or narrator Timaeus the speaker tells other characters among them the famous philosopher Socrates about the nature of the world and humanity Before Timaeus s monologue begins however another character named Critias first tells a tale about his fellow Athenian statesman Solon While traveling to Egypt an Egyptian priest had told Solon of the battle between ancient Athens and another power Beyond the Strait of Gibraltar which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean there lay a large
Pictured here is a marble bust of Plato the ancient Greek philosopher writer and mathematician whose mentions of Atlantis in his writings still intrigue readers and historians
