On paper, one of the best sources of inspiration for Plato’s Atlantis would be the bronze-age Minoan civilization (via PBS). Centered on the island of Crete, the Minoans were seafaring people whose culture was heavily rooted in their maritime surroundings. Dolphins and fish are among the animals that adorn their palace walls (pictured above), while the art of other civilizations such as Egypt similarly depicts the Minoans as a people of the sea. Their apparent carefree way of life ended in 1613 B.C. when a massive volcano and a possible subsequent tsunami crippled the island. Then ancient Crete was in some sense a real Atlantis that differed only in its location and method of destruction, right?

For modern enthusiasts, sure. However, for Plato, it remains uncertain how much he knew about them for such continuity to have been possible. Plato lived in the 5th century B.C., over 1,000 years after the Minoan collapse. By his time the people of Crete would have culturally differed little from mainland Greeks, while much of the Minoan ruins known today were still buried (via Daily History). It is entirely possible that enough oral tradition and written records survived for him to have been influenced by them. However, more information would be needed on Plato’s personal thoughts to know just how much of Atlantis was more than a philosophical allegory.