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'''Atlantis''' is the name given to the island which was supposedly located somewhere in the [[Atlantic]] before it sank in a single day.  

'''Atlantis''' is the name given to the island which was supposedly located somewhere in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] before it sank in a single day and night, though other locations have also been proposed. The earliest known references to Atlantis occur in the Ancient Greek philosopher [[Plato]]’s dialogues, ''Timeaus'' and (the unfinished) ''Critias''.<ref>Plato and Atlantis[http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/Atlantis/plato.html]</ref>

The earliest known references to Atlantis occur in [[Plato]]’s Timeaus and his Critias <ref>Plato and Atlantis[http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/Atlantis/plato.html]</ref>.

In the ''Timaeus''<ref>24e-25d[http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/plato-timaeus/atlantis-athens.asp]</ref> Plato recounts (in the voice of Critias, recounting a story told to him by his grandfather Critias the Elder, who had heard it from the famous lawgiver [[Solon]]. Solon in turn was said to have learned from an [[Egypt|Egyptian]] priest) the heroic stand of [[Athens|Athenian]] solders against the forces of Atlantis which sought to enslave them and the Egyptians, and that as the Athenians fought the Atlantians the island of Atlantis sunk below the ocean — no explanation is given for this sinking of the island. Before its fall Atlantis was said to be a vast empire “Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia.”<ref>25a-b [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/plato-timaeus/atlantis-athens.asp]</ref>

In the Timaeus <ref>24e-25d[http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/plato-timaeus/atlantis-athens.asp]</ref> Plato recounts (in the voice of Critias, recounting a story told to him by his grandfather Critias the elder, which his grandfather heard from Solon, which Solon was said to have learned from an Egyptian priest) the heroic stand of Athenian solders against the forces of Atlantis which sought to enslave them and the Egyptians, and that as the Athenians fought the Atlantians the island of Atlantis sunk below the ocean—no explanation is given for this sinking of the island.  Before its fall Atlantis was said to be a vast empire “Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia.” <ref>25a-b [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/plato-timaeus/atlantis-athens.asp]</ref>

In the ''Critias'',<ref>108e-121e[http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/plato/plato-critias.asp]</ref> of which we have only a fragment, Plato (again in the voice of Critias) gives many more details about Atlantis (spending nearly all of the surviving portion of the dialogue on the subject). Here, we are told that the war between Atlantis and Athens and the sinking of Atlantis (by earthquake) occurred some 9,000 years before the time of Solon,<ref>108e [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/plato/plato-critias.asp]</ref> which would place the battle somewhere around 9600 BC.<ref>Date of Critias’s writing [http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/critias.html]</ref> The island of Atlantis is said to have been larger than Asia and Lybia combined<ref>108e [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/plato/plato-critias.asp]</ref> (though in Plato's time “Asia” only referred to what we today call [[Asia Minor]]), and on it were ten provinces each ruled by one of ten royal princes each of whom was said to be descended from one of ten sons that [[Poseidon]] (who was the patron God of Atlantis) sired on Clito (the daughter of two members of the first race of men who lived on the island).<ref>113c-114d [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/plato/plato-critias.asp]</ref>

In the Critias <ref>108e-121e[http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/plato/plato-critias.asp]</ref>, of which we have only a fragment, Plato (again in the voice of Critias) gives much more details about Atlantis (spending nearly all of the surviving portion of the dialogue on the subject). Here, we are told that the war between Atlantis and Athens and the sinking of Atlantis (by earthquake) occurred some 9,000 years before the time of Solon<ref>108e [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/plato/plato-critias.asp]</ref>, which would place the battle somewhere 9600 B.C. <ref>Date of Critias’s writing [http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/critias.html]</ref>.  The island of itself is said to have been larger than Asia and Lybia combined <ref>108e [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/plato/plato-critias.asp]</ref>, and on it were ten provinces each ruled by one of ten royal princes each of whom was said to be descended from one of ten sons that [[Poseidon]] (who was the patron God of Atlantis) was said to have sired on Clito (the daughter of two members of the first race of men who lived on the island) <ref>113c-114d [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/plato/plato-critias.asp]</ref>.

Since Plato's time theories about Atlantis have proliferated. For example, according the the [[Theosophical Society]] the history of the earth has been punctuated by a series of natural catastrophes which have radically altered the shape of the contininents and destroyed many civilisations. There once flourished [[Lemuria]], a vast continent and civilisation covering what is now India, Australia, and much of the Pacific. This was later eroded and replaced by Atlantis covering the Atlantic Ocean and surrounding coasts, which reached its zenith about a million years ago. A cataclysm 800,000 years ago reduced Atlantis in size, and another one 200,000 years ago split it into two islands, Ruta and Daitya. A cataclysm 80,000 years ago destroyed Daitya and reduced Ruta to an island called Poseidonis. Poseidonis was finally destroyed in 9564 BC becoming the Atlantis of legend.

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