Last Updated on August 6, 2021 by
Ever since the time of ancient Greece, stories have been told about the lost island, or continent, of Atlantis. It was thought to be a very large island in the Atlantic Ocean, just west of the Rock of Gibraltar. It was believed to be a perfect place a kind of paradise.
According to legends, Atlantis was a powerful kingdom whose people conquered all South Western Europe and North-Western Africa. They were finally defeated by the Athenians from Greece.
The people of Atlantis then became wicked. As a punishment, the island was swallowed up by the ocean. This legend is told in the Timueu, written in the 300’s B.C. by the Greek philosopher Plato. The island was supposed to have been lost more than 9,000 years before Plato’s time.
During the Middle Ages, the stories about Atlantis were believed to be true. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, many voyages were made to try to find Atlantis. The stories may have come from some true happenings. Perhaps a traveller brought back tales of his discovery of a new and strange land, and in time these tales became part of the legend of Atlantis.
Even today there are people who firmly believe there was such a place. According to the man who is considered the greatest expert on Atlantis by these believers, Atlantis was a place where man first became civilized. He also believes many of the gods worshipped by ancient peoples were really the kings and queens of Atlantis, and that the Atlanteans were the first to manufacture iron and have an alphabet.
When Was The Lost City Of Atlantis Lost?
Plato (c. 424–328 B.C.) describes it as a powerful and advanced kingdom that sank, in a night and a day, into the ocean around 9,600 B.C. The ancient Greeks were divided as to whether Plato’s story was to be taken as history or a mere metaphor.
Where is the lost land of Atlantis?
Atlantic Ocean
When was the lost city of Atlantis found?
1966
What does the word Atlantis mean?
The word “Atlantis” is derived from the Greek name Atlas, which means “spit out/expelled”.
How was Atlantis destroyed?
The story of Atlantis is said to be the stuff of myth by most people, but not by everyone. The ancient Greek city, supposedly built by Poseidon, the god of the sea, is said to have been destroyed by a massive underwater earthquake in the year 9600 BC. The only city on earth at the time, Atlantis was destroyed in a single day, when the sea rose up and surged over the city. It is said that only a single person survived the destruction, a person who was raised by the Nereids, the sea nymphs, who had tended to the city’s children.
