Atlantis

Atlantis was a fictional island nation described in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias. In these works, Plato portrayed Atlantis as a mighty naval power that ruled the western world until it attempted to conquer "Ancient Athens," lost divine favor, and sank into the Atlantic Ocean. The tale served as an allegory about national hubris and illustrated the superiority of Plato's ideal state.

Though Atlantis played only a small role in Plato's writings, it has had an enormous cultural impact. Renaissance writers used it as inspiration for utopian works, while nineteenth-century pseudo-historians began interpreting it as historical fact. Plato's vague details about its location and age have fueled centuries of speculation, making Atlantis a permanent fixture in popular culture as the archetypal lost civilization. While modern scholars agree the story is fictional, they continue to debate whether Plato drew inspiration from historical events like the Thera eruption or created the tale entirely from imagination.