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A JOURNEY TO ATLANTIS
It all begins with Plato
Everything we have received from antiquity about Atlantis is contained in two dialogues by Plato, the Critias and, to a lesser extent, the Timaeus. Every other reference we have is almost certainly derived ultimately from the authority of these two dialogues.
Modern ideas take their cues elsewhere
In particular, in the English speaking world, notions of Atlantis derive in large part from the work of the American politician Ignatius L. Donnelly, with a sizeable side-serving from the notions of the Russian mystic Helena P. Blavatsky.
We know where Atlantis "was"
The dialogues furnish us with a pretty precise location for Atlantis: west of the Pillars of Heracles (i.e. the Strait of Gibraltar) out in the Atlantic Ocean.
Plato used tropes!
The idea that the seas west of the Strait of Gibraltar, for example, had some not inconsiderable pedigree in the ancient Greek world, likely finding its origin in Phoenician (or Carthaginian) misinformation. Plato was the first two posit an origin for this situation.
A continent surrounding the ocean?
The world view of the Timaeus-Critias seems to have been derived in no small part from Plato's ideas about archetypal images in a supernal realm, represented in the dialogues in the form of a "true continent" surrounding the entirety of the then-known world plus Atlantis.
Hesiod, Herodotus and Hellanicus...
... betray no knowledge of Atlantis as described by Plato. They may mention the word atlantis, but never in reference to a vast island to the west.
The lure of Egypt
Plato states that Solon first heard of Atlantis from an ancient priest at Egyptian Saïs, though the philosopher himself held the Egyptians to be somewhat suspect as eyewitnesses.
We do not know whether Solon mentioned the tale
We have a number of surviving fragments attributed to the great Athenian statesmen, but none can be ascribed to the poetic notes described by Critias in the dialogues.
Critias: not a nice dude
The Critias who narrates the story of Atlantis in the dialogues is very likely the man who arose as the most powerful - and bloodthrirsty - of the Spartan-imposed oligarchs who ruled Athens and Piraeus during the post-Peloponnesian War period. Attempts to suggest that the narrator was the oligarch's grandfather are based on a need to amend Plato's chronology to fit with the dates for Solon given in the Aristotlean Constitution of Athens.
Atlas, first high king of Atlantis, was not the famous Atlas
Greek mythology tells us of Atlas, a son of Iapetus compelled to support the heavens (or the earth) on his shoulders. The Atlas of the dialogues, Poseidon's eldest son and Atlantis' first paramount ruler, was based on, but not identical to, this figure.
PLATO'S ATLANTIS: THE BASICS
What is Atlantis?:
This page looks for clues as to the reality of Atlantis, investigates Plato's possible sources, his motives for writing about it and why Plato's ancient Athens had to be destroyed.Where is Atlantis?:
Where does Plato locate Atlantis? Where are the Pillars of Heracles according to Plato's predecessors and contemporaries? Where did the notion of the shallow, impassable sea come from? Also, a digression on reports of monsters in the Atlantic.Characters and transmission:
Who were Critias, Timaeus, Socrates, Hermocrates and Solon? How does Plato describe the transmission of the story of Atlantis? What are Plato's dates for Solon's career? What about Amynander? And was Plato there when the four discussed Atlantis?
Who were the Atlanteans?:
Plato gives a list of thirteen names of people - including Evenor, Leucippe, Cleito, Eumelus-Gadeirus and, of course, Atlas - who lived at the beginning of the Atlantean civilisation.Plato and his thought:
Who was this Plato chap anyway? This page introduces him, his dialogues, his political thought and adds a few notes on his relevance in the present day.Plato's myths:
A look at how Plato makes use of "myths" in his dialogues, as well as providing a brief run-down of these particular tales.
SOME HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Atlantis, Greece and the lure of Egypt:
For the ancient Greeks, the great civilisation of Egypt, with its storied history and hoary past, held an irresistible appeal. Both Solon and Plato were said to have visited. This page also seeks to answer the question of whether or not the "Sea Peoples" came from Atlantis.Thera, Crete and Atlantis:
One of the more popular theories about Atlantis posits a connection with the eruption of Thera and the end of the Minoan civilisation. But did the Greeks of Plato's time remember the Thera eruption? The page also looks at the "9.000 years" of the Timaeus-Critias.
Truth, lies, Apaturia:
What are the concepts muthos and lógos? What is truth? What were the significance of the Apaturia and Panathenaea festivals which feature in the dialogues?The Phaethon myth and ancient catastrophism:
Plato is the earliest extant source for the Greek myth of Helios' son Phaethon and his disastrous attempt to steer his father's chariot. This myth is couched in terms of ancient catastrophism, a concept which this page also attempts to trace in Classical sources.
MOTIFS IN THE TIMAEUS-CRITIAS
The opposite continent:
One of the more neglected themes dealt with in the Timaeus-Critas is Plato's innovative suggestion of a continental land mass existing beyond the Atlantic. This page looks at the etymological connection to Anaximander's ἄπειρον and the Aperaea of the Odyssey, before tracing precursors and analogues in the works of Herodorus, Theopompus and Plutarch and, moving beyond the Greek world, among the Persians, Babylonians, Indians and even the Norsemen!What is the significance of red, white and black?:
Stones of these colours, says Plato, were used in buildings on the citadel at Atlantis. The colour theory of the Timaeus is invesigated, as well as the white and black horses in the myth of the chariot of the soul from the Phaedrus, before seeking precursors in ancient Uruk, among the early Indo-Europeans and Apuleius' description of Isis.
Sacred springs:
There are hot and cold springs at Atlantis and Troy. Similar springs appear elsewhere in Homer's works, as well as in Pomponius Mela (the Fortunate Isles), Pausanias (the Styx and Alyssus), and in the underworld according to Plutarch and Orphic sources. Also covered are the Asbama in Anatolia, the Illyrian "Land of Bliss" and the qrtj from which the Nile begins in Egyptian material. The possibility that Atlantis was a volcanic island is also considered.Twins in ancient Greek myth:
Plato's depiction of five sets of twins being born to Poseidon and Cleito in Atlantis requires closer examination in light of myths involving twins in wider Greek mythology. Featured on this page are the Aloidai, Aeolus and Boeotus, Chrysaor and Pegasus, Lycus and Nyctimus, and the Moliones.
ATLANTIS BEYOND PLATO?
Who else wrote about Atlantis?:
A variety of writers other than Plato are said to have (more or less independently) made references to Atlantis. This essay features those few which are most commonly cited, namely Hesiod, Herodotus, Hellanicus of Lesbos, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Theopompus, Crantor, "Marcellus," and Claudius Aelianus, as well as some supposed Indian references to Atlantis.Atlanteans in Africa:
A people known as Atlantes or Atlanteans appear in north-western Africa in the works of Herodotus and, alongside Amazons and Gorgons, in Dionysius Skytobrachion.
Was Thoth an Atlantean and other Egyptian matters:
Addressing a number of dubious claims that Atlantis was the precursor civilisation of pharaonic Egypt, including Thoth as an Atlantean (obviously), alongside a supposed western origin for the Egyptians in Diodorus Siculus, Laurence A. Waddell on Menes' western expedition, Carleton S. Coon's description of Osiris' homeland and the Auriteans.Atlantis and the druids?:
Some have claimed that a reference to Gaulish druids' origin stories appearing works by Timagenes and Julius Caesar refer to the destruction of Atlantis.
