Did Atlantis Really Exist?
Did Atlantis Exist? Known as one of the world’s greatest mysteries, Atlantis is a legend written by the Greek philosopher Plato. The legend was written thousands of years ago, but it is still talked about today (Smith Michael and Debora Smith). Scholars often argue that Atlantis existed, but those that do not agree remind those scholars that there is no evidence to support that Atlantis ever existed and that Plato “added fantasy and excitement to his writings” (“Atlantis”). The question is, how could the city disappear in one night? Researchers say that Atlantis never disappeared because it did not exist. Atlantis, the city said to be “beautiful and idyllic”, that has been said to have sunken by a “cataclysmic natural disaster”, has been located by many scientist, researchers and historians in various locations all over the world (“Lost Island”). Some of those locations include “Africa, at the bottom of the Caribean Sea, Spain, Ireland”, and in many other locations (“Atlantis”). Researchers base their findings on the geographical data that Plato provided, in which he said that Atlantis was “300 miles long” and “200 miles wide” (“Lost Island”). Some researchers explain that with the little information that they have about the city, it is not easy to “find a sunken city” that they do not know if it ever existed (“Atlantis”). Other researchers believe that Atlantis was inspired by a “Greek island called Santorini, where a volcanic eruption buried an ancient civilization around 1500 B. C. (Smith Michael and Debora Smith). But once again, where is the evidence? No one has found any supporting evidence or clues that suggest that Atlantis existed and the “only historical information found comes from Plato, who wrote about Atlantis in two ancient texts in which there is a lot of fantasy” (Smith Michael and Debora Smith). Since Plato wrote about Atlantis thousands of years ago experts cannot figure out if Atlantis is a legend or not (“Lost Island”). Experts explain,
Cited: “Atlantis: Has the Lost City been found?” Weekly Reader, Senior Edition [including Science Spin] 19 Nov. 2004: 2+. General OneFile. Web. 2 Oct. 2010. “Lost Island of Atlantis…Found?” Odyssey Feb. 2005: 5. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 1 Oct. 2010. Smith Michael and Debora Smith. “Atlantis.” National Geographic 27 July 2005: 26. Wilson Web. Web. 2 Oct. 2010.