One of the great mysteries and puzzles of our time is Atlantis. Despite the passage of thousands of years, no one has been able to solve the enigma of Atlantis.

Plato was the person that started all of the trouble regarding Atlantis. In his Timaeus and Critias narratives, he talked of Atlantis in glowing terms. He identified it as a large island located in the Atlantic Ocean. By large, we mean huge. Plato claimed it was the size of North Africa! The people of Atlantis supposedly controlled much of the Mediterranean, but were defeated by the ancestors of the Greeks. Both societies were then destroyed in “a great deluge.”

With just these snippets of information, one might assume Plato was taking some liberties in his writing. Then an odd thing occurred. Archeologists discovered Egyptian records detailing Atlantis, its ruling family and a utopian type culture. There are a lot of timing inconsistencies between the two stories, but the race to discover Atlantis has been on ever since. We do, after all, like a good puzzle.

So, where is Atlantis? Therein is the problem. The descriptions are so vague that Atlantis could be just about anywhere. Heck, you might be sitting above the main city as you read this. At one time or another, popular theory has suggested Atlantis is Antarctica, Turkey, North America, South America, Santorini, Crete, Indonesia and a pure figment of someone’s imagination. After years of searching, the imagination theory seems the most credible.

Although theorists rage back and forth, there was one event during Plato’s lifetime that might have given rise to the basis for the Atlantis story. A massive earthquake hit the City of Helike. Located on the shores of the Corinth Bay, it literally sank into the sea. Both then and now, you can take a boat out over the city and look down upon the ruins of Helike. Does this make Helike the lost civilization of Atlantis? It is unlikely since Helike was a basic Greek city. Still, it certainly could have formed the basis of the Atlantis tales.

Is Atlantis a real place or just a tale from wily, old Plato? You will have to decide for yourself by getting out there and solving the puzzle.

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