The Lost City Atlantis Essay -- Mythology

Introduction We have all heard about the legend of Atlantis. It’s said that Atlantis was an advanced civilization with highly developed economy and technology. But one day, catastrophe occurred in sudden. Atlantis entirely sank beneath the waves in only one day and one night. In thousands of years, Atlantis has caught the imagination of people from all over the world. Many adventurers, historians and anthropologists spent their whole life trying to open the mysterious veil of Atlantis. But has Atlantis ever existed? Description of Atlantis Plato gave the first and principal written account of Atlantis in his dialogues, â€Å"Critias† and â€Å"Timaeus†. In his description, Atlantis was a huge island located near the Straits of Gibraltar. In this island, there was a great empire which had flourished more than nine thousand years earlier. Atlantean residents had extraordinary intelligence. Their society was far more advanced than any other civilization at that time. The wealth of Atlantis was so unimaginable that even the walls were covered in gold. Furthermore, Atlantis had a huge trading network and a powerful navy. But with the passage of time, the Atlanteans became more and more arrogant, and they even wanted to rule the whole world. They were defeated by brave Athens soldiers. After that, fatal earthquakes and floods occurred in Atlantis; and in a single day and night, the island of Atlantis was swallowed up by the sea. Arguments about existence of Atlantis In 1882, Ignatius L. Donnelly published a book named â€Å"Atlantis: the Antediluvian World†. In this book, Donnelly tried to demonstrate his hypothesis that all known ancient civilizations were descended from a specific civilization, which was Atlantis. He observed that ancie... ....co.uk. 24 Feb. 2012 . Mystery Quest: Lost City of Atlantis. Prod. Ryan Miller. DVD. A&E Home Video, 2010. News, CBC. "Signs of Atlantis found in southern Spain." CBCnews. 14 Mar. 2011. CBC/Radio Canada. 24 Feb. 2012 . Staff, Msnbc.com, and News Service Reports. "Lost city of Atlantis believed found off Spain." Msnbc.com. 14 Mar. 2011. Msnbc Digital Network. 24 Feb. 2012 . Stewart, Iain. "Echoes of Plato's Atlantis." BBC News. 17 Feb. 2011. BBC. 24 Feb. 2012 .