The story of Atlantis was derived from two Socratic dialogues, Timaeus and Critias, written in about 360 BCE by Plato, who lived from around 424 to 328 B.C. although it is not totally known. These dialogues were festival speeches to be told on the day of Panathenaea, an annual or quadrennial festivities in ancient Athens to honor goddess Athena for several days during the third year of each olympiad. According to Plato's Critias, the story of Atlantis has been passed down through many people. It says Plato learned the story of Atlantis from his grandfather, who learned it from the Athenian statesman Solon, who in turn learned it from an Egyptian priest.
|
Plato Pio-Clemetino by Marie-Lan Nguyen, n.d. Public Domain.
|
During medieval period, also known as Middle Ages, medieval European writers, who received the tale from Arab geographers, believed the story and later writers tried to identify Atlantis from an already existing country. From time to time, Atlantis found a way onto maps, specifically after the discovery of the New World, concluding the 15th century. After Renaissance period, people attempted to identify Atlantis with America, Scandinavia, and the Canary Islands while in 1627, Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, published The New Atlantis, a utopian novel which followed closely to Plato's story.
|