More than 2,500 years ago, Greek scientist and philosopher Plato wrote of a complex, beautiful city that disappeared in one night. According to Plato, the city Atlantis was consumed by earthquakes and floods. Since then, the story has become a legend.
Adventurers, treasure hunters and scientists alike have searched for the lost city of Atlantis. Theories abound as to where it might be. Researchers discovered a lost city off the coast of Cuba and thought it might be Atlantis. Others believe it lies under mud lands in southern Spain. Still others believe it lies somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea.
There’s good reason to believe it actually existed. After all, many other “lost” cities have been rediscovered, including Pompeii and Ubar. We know that earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis have great destructive power. In 373 B.C., the Mediterranean city of Helike was completely destroyed by an earthquake. Tsunami waves crashed over the island, killing any remaining survivors. Discovered in 1961, the ancient Greek port city, Pavlopetri, slipped beneath the ocean 3,000 years ago.
On the other hand, some researchers believe that Plato invented the legend of Atlantis to warn people about being prideful and greedy. He knew about the lost cities of Helike and Pavlopetri and may have based the story of Atlantis on those cities.
Fun Facts about the Lost City of Atlantis for Kids
- Plato first described Atlantis as “larger than Libya and Asia together”.
- According to Plato’s account Atlas, Poseidon’s oldest son, was made king of the entire island of Atlantis.
- In Plato’s story the Atlantic Ocean was named after Atlas.
- An old Hebrew writing speculates that Atlantis was at the point where longitude is zero.
- Ignatius Donnelly was a writer and in 1882 published Atlantis: the Antediluvian World which is why we still know about Atlantis today.
- Donnelly believed that the Garden of Eden from the Bible was located on Atlantis and that it was wiped out in the Great Flood also from the Bible.
The Lost City of Atlantis Vocabulary
- Speculate: To think or reflect on a subject
- Invent: To design a new process or mechanism
- Longitude: Distance measured east or west of the imaginary line that runs through Greenwich, England.
- Exist: To be or have reality
- Consume: To destroy completely
All about the Lost City of Atlantis Video for Kids
Here’s the best kids Lost City of Atlantis video you can watch right now to learn more all about the Lost City of Atlantis:
A National Geographic documentary about Atlantis with a computer-simulated model of the lost city.
The Lost City of Atlantis Q&A
Question: Are people still searching for Atlantis?
Answer: Yes. As recently as 2011 there was a team led by a professor who claimed there was evidence of Atlantis located in southwestern Andalusia. They had expanded on another study from just four years earlier.
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Question: How do researchers decide where to look when they search for the lost city?
Answer: Some have based their theories on satellite imagery, others try to extrapolate a location from Plato’s original writings and some believe it must be in the Atlantic Ocean simply because the names are similar.
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