Atlantis

Atlantis (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek" >Ancient Greek</a>: Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, "island of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas(mythology)" title="Atlas (mythology)" >Atlas</a>") is the name of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiction" title="Fiction" >fictional</a> island mentioned within an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory" title="Allegory" >allegory</a> on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubris" title="Hubris" >hubris</a> of nations in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato" title="Plato" >Plato</a>'s works <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timaeus(dialogue)" title="Timaeus (dialogue)" >Timaeus</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critias(dialogue)" title="Critias (dialogue)" >Critias</a>, where it represents the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antagonist" title="Antagonist" >antagonist</a> naval power that besieges "Ancient Athens", the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfactual_history" title="Counterfactual history" >pseudo-historic</a> embodiment of Plato's ideal state (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Republic(Plato)" title="The Republic (Plato)" >The Republic</a>). In the story, Athens was able to repel the Atlantean attack, unlike any other nation of the (western) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_geography#Greco-Roman_world" title="History of geography" >known world</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-1" >[1]</a>supposedly giving testament to the superiority of Plato's concept of a state.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-Hackforth-2" >[2]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-David-3" >[3]</a> At the end of the story, Atlantis eventually falls out of favor with the gods and famously submerges into the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean" title="Atlantic Ocean" >Atlantic Ocean</a>.

Despite its minor importance in Plato's work, the Atlantis story has had a considerable impact on literature. The allegorical aspect of Atlantis was taken up in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia" title="Utopia" >utopian</a> works of several <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance" title="Renaissance" class="mw-redirect" >Renaissance</a> writers, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon" title="Francis Bacon" >Bacon</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Atlantis" title="New Atlantis" >New Atlantis</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More" title="Thomas More" >More</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia(book)" title="Utopia (book)" >Utopia</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-4" >[4]</a> On the other hand, 19th-century amateur scholars misinterpreted Plato's account as historical tradition, most notably in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_L.Donnelly" title="Ignatius L. Donnelly" >Donnelly</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis:The_Antediluvian_World" title="Atlantis: The Antediluvian World" >Atlantis: The Antediluvian World</a>. Plato's vague indications of the time of the events—more than 9,000 years before his day<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-5" >[5]</a>—and the alleged location of Atlantis—"beyond the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Hercules" title="Pillars of Hercules" >Pillars of Hercules</a>"—has led to much <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience" title="Pseudoscience" >pseudoscientific</a>speculation.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-6" >[6]</a> As a consequence, Atlantis has become a byword for any and all supposed advanced prehistoric <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_World(genre)" title="Lost World (genre)" >lost civilizations</a> and continues to inspire contemporary fiction, from comic books to films.

While present-day philologists and historians unanimously accept the story's fictional character,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-7" >[7]</a> there is still debate on what served as its inspiration. The fact that Plato borrowed some of his allegories and metaphors—most notably the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Gyges" title="Ring of Gyges" >story of Gyges</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-8" >[8]</a>—from older traditions has caused a number of scholars to investigate possible inspiration of Atlantis from Egyptian records of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thera_eruption" title="Thera eruption" class="mw-redirect" >Thera eruption</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Peoples" title="Sea Peoples" >Sea Peoples</a> invasion, or the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_War" title="Trojan War" >Trojan War</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-Luce-9" >[9]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-10" >[10]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-11" >[11]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-12" >[12]</a> Others have rejected this chain of tradition as implausible and insist that Plato designed the story from scratch,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-Gill-13" >[13]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-Naddaf-14" >[14]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-Morgan-15" >[15]</a> drawing loose inspiration from contemporary events like the failed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Expedition" title="Sicilian Expedition" >Athenian invasion of Sicily</a> in 415–413 BC or the destruction of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helike" title="Helike" >Helike</a> in 373 BC.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis#cite_note-16" >[16]</a>

Atlantis

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