From Plato's Timaeus:
“And there you dwelt as became the children of the gods, excelling all men in virtue, and many famous actions are recorded of you. The most famous of them all was the overthrow of the island of Atlantis. This great island lay over against the Pillars of Heracles, in extent greater than Libya and Asia put together, and was the passage to other islands and to a great ocean of which the Mediterranean sea was only the harbour; and within the Pillars the empire of Atlantis reached in Europe to Tyrrhenia and in Libya to Egypt. This mighty power was arrayed against Egypt and Hellas and all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Then your city did bravely, and won renown over the whole earth. For at the peril of her own existence, and when the other Hellenes had deserted her, she repelled the invader, and of her own accord gave liberty to all the nations within the Pillars. A little while afterwards there were great earthquakes and floods, and your warrior race all sank into the earth; and the great island of Atlantis also disappeared in the sea. This is the explanation of the shallows which are found in that part of the Atlantic ocean”
Excerpt From: Plato. “Timaeus.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/timaeus/id498663773?mt=11
Here, the Egyptian priest tells Solon that The Athenians' most famous action was the defeat of Atlantis, which apparently attempted the conquest of Athens. Shortly after the war, the island of Atlantis disappeared into the sea after earthquakes and floods. The defeat of Atlantis led to "liberty to all the nations within the pillars".
Do you think this passage locates accurately Atlantis? Are the Pillars of Heracles the same as the ones we refer today? Which is the ocean, which is so large that the Mediterranean is only a harbor of it? Which sunken land has led to shallow waters after the deglaciation period? Feel free to comment and attempt to answer the questions...
