Episode #38 – Was There a Real Atlantis? (Part I)

In 360 BCE the Greek philosopher Plato wrote of a powerful island nation that had been sunk to the bottom of the ocean by wrathful gods. Plato called this lost city Atlantis. Little did he know that this story would go on to launch an entire genre of pseudo-historical speculation. The myth of the dazzling lost civilization would inspire countless amateur theorists and would-be archaeologists. Was a there a real city that inspired Plato’s story, or was Atlantis just a figment of the philosopher’s imagination? Tune in and find out how Graham Hancock, Charles Darwin, and the OFH drinking game all play a role in the story.

Works Cited

Adams, Mark. Meet Me in Atlantis: My Obsessive Quest to Find the Sunken City. NY, NY: Dutton, 2015. Print.

“A Closer Look: Is Plato’s Story of Atlantis a Myth?” Plato’s Myth of Atlantis. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Donnelly, Ignatius. Atlantis, the Antediluvian World. New York: Dover Publications, 2013. Print.

Plato, and Benjamin Jowett. The Complete Works of Plato. United States?: Akasha Pub., 2008. Print.

Radford, Benjamin. “‘Lost’ City of Atlantis: Fact & Fable.” LiveScience. Purch, 31 Oct. 2014. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Schoder, Raymond V., and Edwin S. Ramage. “Atlantis: Fact or Fiction?” The Classical World 73.1 (1979): 44. Print.

Tyree, JM. “Ignatius Donnelly, Prince of Cranks.” The Believer. 01 Aug. 2005. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

“Welcome To Atlantipedia.” Atlantipedia. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.