Elegy for Atlantis

Story

Ancient stories of a catastrophic flood have been recorded by civilizations around the world. One such account comes down to us from Plato (427–347 B.C.E.) concerning an ancient continent called "Atlantis" that existed—as Plato said—9000 years before him. In fact, Plato's account is the only ancient account of Atlantis. He describes how Atlantis was founded by the Greek god Poseidon and his sons and daughters by a mortal woman named Cleito. Plato, in his Critias, describes at length the vast and wealthy nation they built:

For their intention were true and in all ways noble, and they showed gentleness with wisdom towards all their fortunes of life and in their dealings with each other. Thus, except for virtue, they paid little heed of their present wealthy circumstances and lightly bore, as it were, the burden of their gold and their ample possessions. In their sobermindedness they clearly saw that all these good things are increased when general amity is combined with virtue.

But, alas, later in Plato's account he reports:

But after that, when the portion of divinity within them became forgotten, they became unsightly through being unable to handle their present circumstances. And Zeus, the god of gods, who reigns in Law, was mindful of how this fair race was in a wretched plight, and wished to impose justice on them in order that having been chastised they might sound a truer note. So he assembled all the gods into their most honored abode [Olympus], and beholding all living things that partake of generation [mortals], and having assembled them he said...

At this point Plato's story comes to an abrupt end. The rest of his account, like Atlantis herself, has completely vanished into the mists of the distant past. All that remains is an ocean—the one into which Atlantis presumably disappeared—which still bears her name: the Atlantic Ocean.

(Translations from the Greek by William)