Synopses & Reviews
Ever since Plato created the legend of the lost island of Atlantis, it has maintained a uniquely strong grip on the human imagination. For two and a half millennia, the story of the city and its catastrophic downfall has inspired people--from Francis Bacon to Jules Verne to Jacques Cousteau--to speculate on the island's origins, nature, and location, and sometimes even to search for its physical remains. It has endured as a part of the mythology of many different cultures, yet there is no indisputable evidence, let alone proof, that Atlantis ever existed. What, then, accounts for its seemingly inexhaustible appeal?
Richard Ellis plunges into this rich topic, investigating the roots of the legend and following its various manifestations into the present. He begins with the story's origins. Did it arise from a common prehistorical myth? Was it a historical remnant of a lost city of pre-Columbians or ancient Egyptians? Was Atlantis an extraterrestrial colony? Ellis sifts through the "scientific" evidence marshaled to "prove" these theories, and describes the mystical and spiritual significance that has accrued to them over the centuries. He goes on to explore the possibility that the fable of Atlantis was inspired by a conflation of the high culture of Minoan Crete with the destruction wrought on the Aegean world by the cataclysmic eruption, around 1500 b.c., of the volcanic island of Thera (or Santorini).
A fascinating historical and archaeological detective story, Imagining Atlantis is a valuable addition to the literature on this essential aspect of our mythohistory.
Synopsis
With the exception of aliens landing on earth, possibly no legend has inspired as much conjecture and controversy as that of the lost city of Atlantis. Even today, scientists cannot say definitively where, or if, it ever existed.
The first recorded reference to Atlantis came in the fourth century B.C., in one of Plato's great dialogues -- and in this informative and highly diverting investigation, the author of Deep Atlantic and Monsters of the Sea traces the legend's development from the ancient commentaries to more recent hypotheses, such as those of Ignatius Donnelly, Karl Georg Zschaetzsch (who posited a blond, blue-eyed race of vegetarian Atlanteans), Jacques Cousteau, and Rachel Carson. Ellis shows how the legend, with its high gloss of fantasy, has vaulted into the sphere of popular culture, and how and why a time and place that may never have been continue to fascinate the world.
About the Author
Richard Ellis is the author of seven previous books, including The Book of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, Monsters of the Sea, and Deep Atlantic. He is also a celebrated marine artist whose paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, and has written and illustrated articles for numerous magazines, including Audubon, Reader's Digest, National Geographic, and Scientific American. He lives in New York City.