Atlantis-Scout          Contents Overview         

The Atlantis theme is complex and controversial, therefore there is no comprehensive introductory work. The following lists of literature help the interested newcomer to find a reasonable first access to the Atlantis theme.

Important: Some literature is available only in German resp. the original is in German. So please have a look at the German version of this page, too!

In favour of, or open for Existence

• Rhys Carpenter, Discontinuity in Greek Civilization, 1966.
• Desmond Lee, Appendix on Atlantis, in: Desmond Lee, Plato – Timaeus and Critias, Translated with an introduction and an appendix on Atlantis by Desmond Lee, The Penguin Classics series, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1971; reprinted with revisions 1977; pp. 146-167.
• John V. Luce, The Literary Perspective – The Sources and Literary Form of Plato's Atlantis Narrative, in: Edwin S. Ramage (ed.), Atlantis – Fact or Ficton?, 1978; pp. 49-78.
• Eberhard Zangger, The Flood from Heaven – Deciphering the Atlantis Legend, 1992.

Against Existence

• Pierre Vidal-Naquet, The Atlantis Story – A Short History of Plato's Myth, 2007.
• Christopher Gill, Plato – The Atlantis Story, Timaeus 17-27, Critias, 1980. Revised edition 2017.
• Gunnar Rudberg, Atlantis and Syracuse – Did Plato's experiences on Sicily inspire the legend?, 1917/2012.
• Rodney Castleden, Atlantis Destroyed, 1998.
• Phyllis Young Forsyth, Atlantis – The Making of Myth, 1980.

Plato and Egypt

• Thomas Alexander Szlezák, Reading Plato, 1999.
• J. N. Findlay, Plato and Platonism – An introduction, 1978.
• Piotr O. Scholz, Ancient Egypt – Crash Course, 1997.
• Ian Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 2000.

Translations and Commentaries

All translations of Plato's text have their flaws since a translation is already an interpretation. You should in any case read more than one translation, at best of course the original text. Helpful are academic commentaries which comment on Plato's text sentence by sentence, word by word:

English resp. German:

• Christopher Gill, Plato – The Atlantis Story, Timaeus 17-27, Critias, 1980. Revised edition 2017.
• Heinz-Günther Nesselrath, Platon Kritias – Übersetzung und Kommentar, 2006.
• Alfred E. Taylor, A commentary on Plato's Timaeus, 1928.

Popular Science Overview Books

In the 1930s two popular science overview books on the Atlantis theme were published, which became classic. The 2015 published book "Meet me in Atlantis" can be put at their side:

German resp. English:

• Alexander Bessmertny, Das Atlantisrätsel – Geschichte und Erklärung der Atlantishypothesen, 1932.
• James Bramwell, Lost Atlantis, 1937.
• Mark Adams, Meet me in Atlantis, 2015.

How to get this Literature

Older translations of Plato's text are available for free on the internet. Some of the books are out of print. You can buy them e.g. on www.abebooks.com. Articles from academic journals are available via libraries.

Tip for your internet searches: Do not search for "Atlantis" but for "Atlantis Plato". The quality of the results will rise drastically.

Conclusion

Of course, these recommendations are not meant to set any limit to your own thoughts and research. But I hope I could make a reasonable access to the Atlantis theme easier for you!

Thorwald C. Franke