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Arcadian King Atlas and Plato’s Atlantis
- Author(s):
- Oliver D. Smith (see profile)
- Date:
- 2021
- Subject(s):
- Plato, Mythology, Greek
- Item Type:
- Article
- Tag(s):
- Atlantis, Arcadia, Methydrium, Atlas, Classics, Greek mythology
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/xbmy-9280
- Abstract:
- Plato in his dialogue Critias (c. 355 BCE) wrote about an imaginary king named Atlas and an island civilisation (Atlantis) which derived its name from him. This article argues Plato based his king Atlas on a mythical Arcadian king of the same name and his main inspiration for Atlantis was the town Methydrium and nearby city Megalopolis, both in Arcadia. Based on an ancient anecdote, it is argued Plato might have visited Megalopolis in the 360s BCE.
- Notes:
- I submitted the manuscript to two peer-reviewed classics journals but both times, it was rejected. I have therefore decided to self-publish the paper.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 2 years ago
- License:
- Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
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arcadian-king-atlas.pdf