The legend of Atlantis has been told many times in everything from advanced reports to children's movies. Many people think that Atlantis is just a myth made up by the Greeks. Atlantis is first recorded in books written by the Greek philosopher Plato. He describes the island of Atlantis in extreme detail; describing it west of the Pillars of Hercules, or the Strait of Gibraltar. He described the people living on the island too, a very culturally advanced people for their time. Whether Atlantis is real or not, it has caused many questions and finding this ancient continent would solve many of those questions.

Top Three Atlantis Location Theories

1.    The Ancient Island of Thera
2.    Easter Island
3.    West of the Straits of Gibraltar, in the Atlantic Ocean.

     Atlantis would validate the continental drift theory, the reason why continents are where they are today. All the continents seem to fit together except for North America and Europe. If Atlantis is found then it might fit inside of North America and Europe, solving a puzzle and showing what the ancient world might have looked like. If Atlantis will ever be found, scientists will have an answer to the shift of the continents and also things like the spread of humankind.

     Plato describes the people of Atlantis to be not only very culturally advanced, but also very blessed. All of the people of Atlantis seemed to be perfect, but Plato also described a different feature of these people. He described them to have the best and greatest technology, however, all of the technology and power and wealth made them forget about the gods. In ancient Greek culture forgetting about and not worshiping the gods is considered an intolerable deed. A deed that is punished by bad fortune and usually death. It is said not worshiping the gods caused the supposed flood that wiped out the city of Atlantis and its people and culture. A flood that wipes out humankind is a very common theme that occurred in older civilizations. This might mean that the city of Atlantis actually did exist, because the tale was told of so many times. Another thing that has been told of in many cultures are lost cities called Atlanta, Atlantae, and Atlai. All of these common occurrences could mean one thing, the city of Atlantis did exist.

     If all of these cultures are true, and the legend of Atlantis did once exist, then we can look for the lost island. Plato described the island west of the Pillars of Hercules. These directions are very broad, if we assume that the pillars of Hercules are the rocks of Gibraltar. There are many places where this island could be, but the most probably place that the island could be is above the island of Crete, or Santorina. This island housed the Minoans in the time when Atlantis is believed to have existed. Traces of a powerful volcanic eruption came forth on this island and wiped out all the people at that time. Could this have been the island of Atlantis; and could this be the fate the Atlantean people came to? This idea is highly doubtful as many scientists covering this subject will say that this is not the island of Atlantis; but instead saying that the city of Atlantis is now under the ocean.

     Wherever the city of Atlantis is, the tales of this city are amazing. Plato described the people as culturally and technologically advanced, even saying that they had items such as airships. What seems to be to good to be true might just be a myth made up to fit the great scholars dreams of a perfect nation, and the city of Atlantis just may have been a figment of Plato's mind. Or was it?