The story of Atlantis, as we know it today, comes almost entirely from two ancient dialogues written by the philosopher Plato: the Timaeus and the Critias. These dialogues, written around 355 BCE, are the only known records from antiquity about the legendary submerged island. Before Plato, no Greek writer mentioned Atlantis, and all later references to it are based on his account. The gap between his text and centuries of research makes the story of Atlantis particularly intriguing, as it has inspired endless speculation and debate. According to Plato’s narrative, the story of Atlantis is presented as a moral lesson, told by the character Critias to Socrates. Critias claims that the story was passed down through generations, starting with Solon, an Athenian legislator, who heard it from an Egyptian priest. The priest described a time when Athens had the most beautiful political institutions, which served as a model for the Egyptians. This was followed by a great war between the virtuous Athenians and the powerful, but arrogant, Atlanteans. The conflict ended in a cataclysmic disaster that submerged Atlantis and destroyed the Athenian army. Plato’s timeline places the events of Atlantis nine thousand years before his time, long before the invention of writing. This makes it impossible to verify with historical records, which adds to the mystery and allure of the story. While the description of Atlantis is detailed—featuring concentric rings of land and water, canals, and grand palaces—scholars argue that the purpose of the narrative was not geographical. Instead, it was a philosophical and political treatise. The story contrasts a primitive Athens, representing order and justice, with Atlantis, a civilization that grew too powerful and was ultimately destroyed by its own excesses. Many experts believe that Plato’s Atlantis is a fictional creation, not a historical memory. The narrative functions as a utopian thought experiment, imagining a perfect society and its downfall. The story ends abruptly, with the Atlantean offensive never fully described, because the moral message is already clear: greed leads to downfall. Despite this, some researchers continue to search for a real-world basis for the myth. One popular theory, proposed by volcanologist Haroun Tazieff, suggests that the Atlantis story may be inspired by the eruption of the Thera volcano on Santorini, which devastated the Minoan civilization around 1600 BCE. However, the timeline and geography do not align with Plato’s account, and the connection between the eruption and the fall of Minoan civilization remains debated. What has been sought for centuries is not a physical ruin or a lost document, but a deeper meaning. Each generation has projected its own fears and hopes onto the myth, from concerns about environmental destruction to anxieties about lost civilizations. Plato himself never intended to describe a real place, but rather to explore the nature of civic virtue and its dangers. As philosopher Jean-François Pradeau notes, the story’s lack of concrete details has allowed it to endure across centuries, continually inspiring new interpretations and reflections.