-Plato's Atlantis

One of the most well known and enduring fictional places, Atlantis was first imagined by Plato in his works Timaeus and Critias. Plato describes Atlantis as an island that sunk into the seas following an earthquake caused by the people’s turning against the gods and their attempts to conquer surrounding regions. Atlantis is described as being composed of concentric circles of land and water, with a palace and temple of Poseiden at the center. Repeated attempts to identify a historical analog of Atlantis have focused on islands destroyed by volcanic activity, but nothing resembling Plato’s description has been discovered. In popular culture, Atlantis is imagined as a society with advanced technology, which may continue to exist underwater. The concept of a lost idyllic land would inspire the utopian works of Sir Thomas More and Francis Bacon, also on display.