• “Atlantis: Fact or Fiction?”
    When was the last time you heard about a real mystery? Well, you've probably been hearing about them your whole life, but now I’m going to tell you all about another famous mystery. It’s about an ancient civilization named Atlantis. Before this essay is over, you’ll be informed about the legend of Atlantis, where the legend came from, and whether or not I think that Atlantis did exist at one time, based on my research. Hopefully, by the time I’m done you’ll share the same views about this lost civilization as me.

    To begin with, I’m going to tell the story of Atlantis, the lost civilization. Throughout this speech, I’ll be referring to the legend to support my side of the argument. The legend states that Atlantis was a civilization. It got its name from one of Poseidon’s sons. Poseidon was the Greek God of the sea. The legend says that his oldest son was a giant named Atlas and that the Atlanteans were all descendents of him. The legend tells of a huge temple built for Poseidon in the middle of Atlantis’s largest city. The civilization existed about twelve thousand years ago. Some modern day theories state that Atlantis was the first civilization and that every known civilization has descended from them. That could explain why civilizations across the Atlantic Ocean had similar structures. Pyramids in Egypt and South America are examples. Anyways, back to the legend, the Atlantis Civilization existed on an island and was very advanced for its time. The people who lived there knew how to use iron and bronze and even created the first alphabet (Wallace, 10). They had a great army and navy that they used to conquer parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Then, something happened. One day Atlantis just disappeared due to a natural disaster and sank below the sea. No proof of Atlantis has ever been found except from where the legend originated. It was written by a Greek philosopher named Plato.

    Plato wrote about many things and is one of the brightest men from his time. He lived from 439 B.C. to 347 A.D. Last year we learned how he was a pupil of Socrates, another known Greek philosopher and also wrote the first political science book titled, “The Republic”. As you can see, he was a very smart man and did many things throughout his life (Danilko, notes). Plato also wrote about Atlantis in his book, “Timaeus”, two people are holding a discussion about Atlantis. One character named Kritias is an Egyptian Priest and says that the Legend of Atlantis has been in his family for generations (unmuseum.org). He then goes on to tell the other character the legend. Throughout “Timaeus”, it’s mentioned again and again that the legend is a true historical account. Plato also included a lot of necessary information about Atlantis that was not necessary to the story. From this information, I started to think that Atlantis really did exist. I was convinced of this because Plato was a brilliant man who would have no reason to lie about a civilization, throughout Plato’s writing it’s mentioned that the legend is true, and Plato includes a lot of unnecessary information about Atlantis that isn’t relevant to the story. All of those reasons make me believe that Plato’s account of Atlantis is true. But everyone always asks, “If Atlantis really did exist, then where is it now?”

    From the research that I have done, I believe that Atlantis was the Ancient Island of Thera. Thera was a volcanic island about 10 miles away from the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. Before I explain why I think that Thera is the home of the Atlanteans, I’m going to give you some background information about Crete. Crete was the home of the Minions, a highly advanced civilization for its time. The Minions traded with Egypt and also had a powerful army and navy, just like that Atlanteans. Crete is also located close to Greece. This is important because that means that it would not have been hard for Plato to hear of this legend because it happened close enough to him that he would be able to easily hear about it. But what do the Minions have to do with Thera? Well, as mentioned earlier, Thera is only about 10 miles away from Crete. That means that the Minions had a colony there. So the story of Thera says that the Minions had a colony on Thera. The Minions were highly advanced for their time and have many things in common with Atlantis based on Plato’s story. Then one day, a huge volcano on Thera erupted. The eruption there was more powerful than any other volcano in history. To put things in perspective, the eruption that took place on Thera was four times as powerful as Krakatoa. When the eruption occurred, the entire volcano on Thera collapsed and sank into the sea. A huge tsunami then crashed into Crete, destroying everything in its way, including the Minion civilization. That relates directly to Atlantis because both civilizations were highly advanced with a strong army and navy. Both civilizations also ceased to end because of a natural disaster. Furthermore, Thera sunk beneath the sea, just like Atlantis did. Now do you remember how I mentioned earlier that the Minions traded with Egypt? Well, the destruction of the Minion Civilization wouldn’t have gone unnoticed to the Egyptians. That also backs up Plato’s account of Atlantis because it was an Egyptian Priest who was telling the legend. The above reasons defiantly convinced me that Atlantis did exist and that that ancient Minion Civilization is what Atlantis actually was.

    So the question is, what do you think about Atlantis now? I defiantly think that it existed based on the legend, the origin of the legend, and the similarities between the Minion civilization and Atlantis. The legend sounds true enough based on it was first told by Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher, and all of the information that’s not relevant to the story in Plato’s writings. I have also come to the conclusion that Atlantis was located on Thera because of all of the similarities between the two civilizations. For these reasons, I believe that Atlantis is not a legend, but a true account of a civilization that existed long ago. Now, what do you think?

    Works Cited**
    "Atlantis." The Active Mind Directory. Ed. Bradley Keyes. Bradley Keyes, 1 June 1999. 15 Dec. 2009. <http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/Atlantis/>.
    Krystek, Lee. "The UnMuseum - The Lost Continent of Atlantis." Directory of the Museum of Unnatural Mystery. Lee Krystek, 2006. 15 Dec. 2009. <http://www.unmuseum.org/atlantis.htm>.
    Miclaus, Claudia. "The Lost City of Atlantis Fact or Fiction." Buzzle Intelligent Life on the Web. Buzzle.com, 2009. 15 Dec. 2009. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-lost-city-of-atlantis-fact-or-fiction.html>.
    Wallace, Holly. The Mystery of Atlantis (Can Science Solve). Chicago: Heinemann, 2006.
    Danilko, Megan. “Ancient Greek Philosophers Comparison Sheet”. Notes from Megan Danilko’s seventh grade global studies class.