Atlantis: An Interpretation

Plato's account of Atlantis in his Critias and Timaeus is interpreted. A diagram of the Orphic Key to the Atlantic Fable is included, as well as a bibliography. The most famous of all accounts describing the condition of Atlantis and the causes for its destruction are to be found in the Critias and Timaeus of Plato. Most modern books dealing with the problem of Atlantis are built upon Plato s description. The integrity and learning of this great philosopher cannot easily be assailed. Had it not been for the weight of Plato s authority, the whole subject would have been discredited by modern archeologists. There is, however, in fairness to both sides of the controversy, a certain weakness in Plato's story. The thoughtful reader is impressed immediately by the allegorical and symbolical parts of the account. While these do not detract from the possibility that an Atlantic continent actually existed, they do present the necessary elements for an alternative interpretation. The anti-Atlantists contend that in the Critias Plato takes a flight into fiction, in the words of Plutarch, "manuring the little seed of the Atlantis myth which Solon had discovered in the Egyptian temples."