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Atlantis
Plato wrote of a powerful island civilization that sank beneath the sea in a single day. Is it myth, allegory, or memory of a real disaster? Candidates include Santorini, the Richat Structure, and Antarctica.
9600 BCE (alleged)
Unknown
0 Atlantis is history’s most famous lost civilization—if it existed at all.
The Legend
According to Plato’s accounts:
Plato wrote:
- In Timaeus and Critias (360 BCE)
- Of a powerful naval empire
- 9,000 years before his time
- Beyond the “Pillars of Hercules”
- Destroyed in a day and night
Plato’s Description
Atlantis was:
- Larger than Libya and Asia Minor
- Concentric rings of water and land
- Advanced civilization
- Worshipped Poseidon
- Became corrupt, was destroyed
The Search
Proposed locations:
- Santorini/Minoan civilization
- Richat Structure (Mauritania)
- Antarctica (before ice)
- Caribbean
- Mediterranean
- North Sea
The Santorini Theory
The Minoan eruption:
- Around 1600 BCE
- Destroyed Minoan civilization
- Tidal waves devastated region
- Memory passed to Egyptians
- Plato heard it there
Allegory or History?
Scholars debate:
- Most say Plato invented it
- As political allegory
- About hubris and divine punishment
- No archaeological evidence
- But memory of disasters possible
Enduring Appeal
Atlantis remains:
- A cultural phenomenon
- Subject of thousands of books
- Films and TV shows
- Ongoing expeditions
- Probably fictional