Atlantis

A legendary island first mentioned by Plato in two of his dialogues, Timaeus (Timaios) and Kritias (Critias).

Plato described Atlantis as an island in the Atlantic Ocean west of the Pillars of Herakles (Heracles); in Timaeus, Plato merely mentioned Atlantis but in Kritias, he gave a more complete description of the island, its rulers and its history.

According to Plato, Atlantis was the size of Libya, i.e. Africa, and Asia combined; the empire of Atlantis extended its rule to many parts of Libya and Europe but when it tried to subjugate the Greeks, it was defeated and pushed out of the Mediterranean area.

Afterwards, violent floods and earthquakes sank Atlantis in a single day and night; after the destruction of Atlantis, the Atlantic ocean became impassable and impenetrable because of the mud shoals created by the island’s subsidence.

Atlantis existed nine thousand years prior to Plato’s time, i.e. 8600 BCE; the ancient gods, in their ultimate wisdom, divided the domains of the earth fairly and evenly; the lord of the Sea, Poseidon, held dominion over the island of Atlantis; he took a mortal woman, Kleito (Cleito), as his wife and they fostered five pairs of twin male children; the eldest of the first pair was named Atlas and he was made king over all the other brothers; from king Atlas we derive the name for the Atlantic Ocean but whether Atlas was named after Atlantis or vice versa is not clear.

Plato described the island as a paradise with every form of food, an abundance of natural resources and all types of animals (the only animals specifically mentioned by Plato were: bulls, horses and elephants); the industrious citizens of Atlantis built palaces, temples, harbors and docks.

The center of the island was dominated by a massive silver and gold temple dedicated to Poseidon and Kleito; at the center of the temple was a pillar made of orichalcum with a list of commandments and immutable laws which Poseidon had dictated to the first kings of Atlantis.

For uncounted years the kings governed themselves with dignity and restraint but, as the generations progressed, the divine spark of Poseidon began to fade from his bloodline; eventually, the rulers and people of Atlantis became repellant to Zeus and the other Immortals and divine punishment was prescribed; the island was rocked by earthquakes and inundated with floods which caused the island to sink beneath the waves in a single day and night with only a muddy shoal to mark the site of the greatest civilization to ever populate the earth.

• Plato, Timaeus and Kritias (Critias)