The story of Atlantis has captured the minds and hearts of historians, scientists, artists, and writers for millennia, and yet it never ceases to amaze people when told that the only literary evidence that exists comes from a single fourth century BCE author. The Athenian philosopher Plato, famous for his dialogues in which the Socratic Method was invented, was the first writer to mention the mysterious continent of Atlantis. In his works Timaeus and Critias, Plato outlines the beginning of the story of Atlantis, but the Critias, where the longer and more detailed account takes place, was never finished and, therefore, has become the mysterious germ for millennia of thought.

Put simply, what Plato wrote of Atlantis has all the elements of a great Hollywood narrative, combined with the precision of a mapmaker. According to the story, the god of the sea Poseidon was allotted the island of Atlantis (larger than Libya and Asia, according to Plato), somewhere in the Pillars of Heracles. (This could be as far from Greece as Gibraltar). Poseidon's 10 sons, who were princes, ruled the beautiful island, which was fertile and rich in resources, providing everything a paradise needed. Still, Atlantis was not solely an uncultivated Garden of Eden. Fortifications, roads, palaces, and constructions made this island a rich and well-constructed city.