Plato3

Plato's work on Atlantis

This page contains:-

	Story summary
	Facts
	Cast

You will find the full texts in Plato 1 and Plato 2.

There are many views as to where Atlantis was, and people who have claimed to have found various evidence all over the place. Geographically from Plato's description it was where the Azores are now. Perhaps all that remains is the tips of mountains ?, but there again a legend at the time he says was 9,000 years old and up to then unwritten, so perhaps over time the story got changed some.

This is a summary of the story told by Plato around 360 BC in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias. These writings of Plato are the only specific known references to Atlantis. They have prompted controversy and debate for over two thousand years.

The Story of Atlantis

Over 11,000 years ago there existed an island nation located in the middle of the Atlantic ocean populated by a noble and powerful race. The people of this land possessed great wealth thanks to the natural resources found throughout their island. The island was a center for trade and commerce. The rulers of this land held sway over the people and land of their own island and well into Europe and Africa.

This was the island of Atlantis.

Atlantis was the domain of Poseidon, god of the sea. When Poseidon fell in love with a mortal woman, Cleito, he created a dwelling at the top of a hill near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land to protect her.

Cleito gave birth to five sets of twin boys who became the first rulers of Atlantis. The island was divided among the brothers with the eldest, Atlas, first King of Atlantis, being given control over the central hill and surrounding areas.

At the top of the central hill, a temple was built to honor Poseidon which housed a giant gold statue of Poseidon riding a chariot pulled by winged horses. It was here that the rulers of Atlantis would come to discuss laws, pass judgments, and pay tribute to Poseidon..

To facilitate travel and trade, a water canal was cut through of the rings of land and water running south for 5.5 miles to the sea.

The city of Atlantis sat just outside the outer ring of water and spread across the plain covering a circle of 11 miles. This was a densely populated area where the majority of the population lived.

Beyond the city lay a fertile plain 330 miles (530 km) long and 110 miles (190 km) wide surrounded by another canal used to collect water from the rivers and streams of the mountains. The climate was such that two harvests were possible each year. One in the winter fed by the rains and one in the summer fed by irrigation from the canal.

Surrounding the plain to the north were mountains which soared to the skies. Villages, lakes, rivers, and meadows dotted the mountains.

Besides the harvests, the island provided all kinds of herbs, fruits, and nuts. An abundance of animals, including elephants, roamed the island.

For generations the Atlanteans lived simple, virtuous lives. But slowly they began to change. Greed and power began to corrupt them. When Zeus saw the immorality of the Atlanteans he gathered the other gods to determine a suitable punishment.

Soon, in one violent surge it was gone. The island of Atlantis, its people, and its memory were swallowed by the sea.

Extracted facts and measurements

From Timaeus

Below you'll find an outline of the details about Atlantis - the island and its people - provided by Plato in Timaeus and Critias.

	Based in the Atlantic Ocean - Opposite the Pillars of Heracles* (Straits of Gibraltar)
	The Atlantic was then navigable
	Larger than Libya and Asia combined
	From Atlantis you could reach other islands and then a true continent

*Note: Throughout Atlantis literature (there have been thousands of books written on the subject) you will see references to the Pillars of Heracles and Pillars of Hercules. Heracles and Hercules are variations on the spelling and pronunciation of the same person. He was the heroic son of Zeus and Alcmene who possessed superior strength.

From Critias

Note: The unit of measurement given in translation of Timaeus and Critias is typically the stade or stadia. The conversion is:

1 stade = 607 ft or 185 meters (mile = 5280 feet so 1 stade = .11 mile)

Canal From Sea

	Canal 300' wide, 100' deep
	50 stades from the sea was a hill where the rings of Sea and Land were built (5.5 miles)

Inner Ring

	Next ring of water was 1 stade - 600'
	Center land was 5 stades in diameter - 3000' (.5 miles)
	Surrounded on both sides by a wall covered with orichalcum

Middle Ring

	Next set of water / land rings were 2 stades in width - 1200'
	Surrounded on both sides by a wall covered with tin

Outer Ring

	Ring closest to sea and its internal land both 3 stades in width - 1800'
	Surrounded on both sides by a wall covered with brass
	Contained horse racing track

Outer Wall

Wall which circled the outer ring at a distance of 50 stades (11 miles in diameter)

Bridges

	Bridges were 100 feet wide (a sixth of a stadia)
	Walled
	Towers and gates on the bridges
	Guarded at either end

Plain

	Oblong, 3000 stadia long, 1000 stadia wide (330 miles long and 110 miles wide)
	Open to the sea on the south (where the canal exited to the sea)
	Surrounded by mountains to the north

Ditch around the Plain

	100 feet deep
	1 stade wide
	10,000 stade long (surrounding the whole plain) (1100 miles long)

Military

Plain consisted of 10 stade square lots - 1.1 mile x 1.1 mile

	1.1 miles = 5808 ft there we get 33,732,864 sq. ft = 774.4 acres
	acre = 43560 sq. ft or 4840 sq. yd.
	for total of 60,000

total acres = 46,464,000

Each lot supplied

	1/6 of a war chariot
	2 horses and riders
	one pair of chariot horses, a horseman, and a charioteer
	2 heavily armed soldiers
	2 slingers
	3 stone shooters
	3 javelin men
	4 sailors (for fleet of 1200 ships)

Miscellaneous

	5 sets of Twins - Atlas was first King
	Fruits hard to store but providing drink, food & oil
	They governed other land into Egypt and Tyrrhenia
	2 harvests - one from winter rains - one from summer irrigation
	Orichalc, a metal unknown to Plato was mined in quantities - 2nd in value to gold
	Abundant timber, elephants, marshes, swamps, rivers, mountains, plains
	Hot and cold springs
	Stone was white, black, and yellow - stone was excavated from center island and land rings to form covered docking areas

Cast of Characters

All of the men, except for Timaeus, who take part in or are mentioned in Timaeus and Critias are known to have actually existed in ancient Greece. Records of their lives and deeds have been recorded in other writings from the time period.

Note: There are 2 people named Critias related to the story of Atlantis and this can lead to some confusion. There is the Critias who actually takes part in the dialogues. He is the one who tells the story of Atlantis to Socrates. Then there is Critias who was the grandfather of the Critias of the dialogues. This elder Critias told the story of Atlantis to his grandson, Critias, who then conveyed the story to Socrates in the dialogues.

Those who actually take part in the dialogues:

· Timaeus - there is no historical record of him.

· Critias - Plato's great grandfather.

· Socrates - Plato's mentor and teacher. He was condemned to death by authorities in Athens for "corrupting the moral of Athenian youth"; He lived from 469 to 399 BC.

· Hermocrates - statesman and soldier from Syracuse.

Those mentioned in the dialogues:

· Solon - Athenian traveler, poet, and lawgiver who lived from approximately 638-559 BC. According to Plato it was he who learned of the story of Atlantis from an Egyptian priest.

· Dropides - Critias' great grandfather who was told the story of Atlantis by Solon, a distant relative and close friend.

· Critias - Son of Dropides and grandfather of the Critias who takes part in the dialogues. It was he who related the story of Atlantis to the Critias of the dialogues.