Plato's Atlantis by Azaylia Clifton

Atlantis- Setting

azclifton24 — 2024-05-31 20:54:11 UTC

Atlantis was circular in shape a landmass larger than Libya and Asia Minor combined and occupied a vast part of the ocean west of the Strait of Gibraltar. It's culture was advanced and had a constitution suspiciously similar to the one outlined in Plato’s “Republic.” Protected by the god Poseidon and his son Atlas who he had made king and namesake of the island and the ocean that surrounded it. As the Atlanteans grew powerful, their ethics began to decline. Their armies eventually conquered Africa as far as Egypt and Europe as far as Tyrrhenia (Etruscan Italy) before being forced back by an Athenian-led alliance. Later, said to be by way of divine punishment, the island was beset by earthquakes and floods, and sank into muddy sea.

Class Definition

azclifton24 — 2024-05-31 21:28:32 UTC

The class definition of a legend is "a story about a person, place, object, or series of events that is often presented as historical, but is unauthenticated or unproven. It evolves, changes, and/or builds over time. It takes place in a specific, realistic setting and it has a seed of truth." In this case the legend of Atlantis covers all of the defining elements. The story is about a place (Atlantis) and the gods who ruled and resided there. The stories of Atlantis are presented as historical but have never been able to be proven, stories have evolved, changed slightly with different details over time. Atlantis has a specific setting, the strait of Gibraltar.

Origin

azclifton24 — 2024-05-31 21:47:57 UTC

Plato first mentioned Atlantis 2,400 years ago (360 B.C) in Plato’s dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critias". The story of Atlantis has been told throughout time, adapted slightly, changed in some way, details added or taken away, there's even movies adapted from the story.

Major Characters

azclifton24 — 2024-05-31 22:14:16 UTC

Unlike most legends, the story of Atlantis doesn't necessarily focus on any one person. The island belonged to the god Poseiden who fell in love with a woman named Cleito whom he had 10 children, his son Atlas being the namesake and King. In many adaptations the people were descendants of gods. Atlantis itself is the main focus of all adaptations including Platos original mentions, however there are also mentions of conquering Europe and Africa (where the Atlanteans had colonies) and embarking on wars of conquest.

Consistency

azclifton24 — 2024-06-04 07:20:12 UTC

I was only able to find 3 slightly different versions of Atlantis, including a children's bedtime version. Throughout the versions of Atlantis many details remain consistent, including the kids version. Its described "larger than Asia and Libya combined" the people are described as demigods or "half human" and "half divine". Atlantis was described to be built by Posieden, it was a paradise full of gold and silver but two of the stories (the children's story and a version from The Collector) mention orichalcum a gold-red metal. All three of the stories talk about how the Atlanteans started to move away from their morals and conquere their surrounding lands mainly Greece and Athens. While some of the stories don't go in to the same details they all mention similar ideals about how the war played out.

"Top 6 Theories About Atlantis." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 16 Oct. 2015. Web. 8 Jan. 2016. http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/top-6-theories-about-atlantis

"The Lost City of Atlantis for Kids." Bedtime History Stories,

bedtimehistorystories.com/lost-city-of-atlantis-for-kids/. Accessed 4 June

2024.

Bileta, Veldran. "Atlantis' Tragic Tale: What Is the Truth behind the Myth?"

The Collector, 21 Dec. 2022, www.thecollector.com/

atlantis-truth-behind-myth/. Accessed 4 June 2024.

Differences

azclifton24 — 2024-06-04 08:13:43 UTC

While they're aren't major differences in the stories across time they do provide different details. The beginnings of the stories all start by describing how Atlantis looks, the childrens story describing 3 rings getting gradually smaller surrounding a central island with moats of water between the rings, and bridges connecting the rings and canals cut through the ring islands for boats. Platos story on EBSCO describes it in shorter detail "continent was divided into concentric islands separated by moats and linked by a central canal". Only the childrens bedtime story mentions developing art and technology, crossing the sea to trade with their neighbors, creating tools from iron and bronze, and paying tribute to Poseidon through sacrifices and prayers. As for the war all the story's have pretty similar descriptions however only The Collector mentions the Atlanteans’ mighty navy conquering and enslaving most of their technologically inferior neighbors.

Retelling

azclifton24 — 2024-06-04 14:14:10 UTC

I think Atlantis has been retold so many times because its a whimsical yet accurate story, while the people of Atlantis are demigods they are not immune from becoming morally corrupt. The story of Atlantis has so much detail that it has the possibility to be true, Plato included details about location and technology but just like the greek gods we have no way of knowing if this is just a story, which makes it nice to tell. Atlantis is also easy to interpret and paint a picture in your mind of what it might have looked like even if you've never seen photos. The story was also adapted and turned into a Disney movie with a sequel, however the movie embellishes a little and adapts it into an exploration and makes it their own version without taking away from key details.

Sources

azclifton24 — 2024-06-04 14:17:40 UTC

Bileta, Veldran. "Atlantis' Tragic Tale: What Is the Truth behind the Myth?"

The Collector, 21 Dec. 2022, www.thecollector.com/

atlantis-truth-behind-myth/. Accessed 4 June 2024.

Editors, History.com. "Atlantis." History.com, 21 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/

topics/folklore/atlantis. Accessed 4 June 2024.

"The Lost City of Atlantis for Kids." Bedtime History Stories,

bedtimehistorystories.com/lost-city-of-atlantis-for-kids/. Accessed 4 June

2024.

Dixon-Kennedy, Mike. "Atlantis." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2024, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/586751. Accessed 3 June 2024.

Sheposh, Richard "Atlantis (lost civilization)" EBSCO Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2022 Accessed 4 June 2024 https://research.ebsco.com/c/j52gng/viewer/html/ggjogob6wr