From Esther Lombardi,
Your Guide to Classic Literature.
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In Discovery of Atlantis, Robert Sarmast discusses the origins of the Atlantis legend, starting with the first written records by Plato more than 2,000 years ago. He takes a look at Plato's famous works, Timaeus and Critia, explaining how these two works were influenced by even older manuscripts, which have since been lost.

In Sarmast's new book, the search for Atlantis comes to life, with maps, diagrams, figures, charts, and more. Sarmast even offers excerpts from Plato's Timaeus and Critia, both translated by Benjamin Jowett, "to familiarize the reader with the original description of the lost island of Atlantis." Those first dialogues "unwittingly launched one of the greatest mysteries of all time." He explains that Plato's Atlantis legend has "maintained a grasp on the human imagination ever since."

Atlantis Legend in Perspective

In his discussion of Atlantis, Sarmast puts the legend into a larger context of world mythology. He touches upon some of the most famous stories in literary history and mythology, drawing from the Bible, Plutarch, Herodotus, Milton's Paradise Lost, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Bacon's The New Atlantis, Bellamy's The Atlantis Myth, the Gilgamesh Epic, Campbell's The Mask of God, Jung, and Dalley's Myths of Mesopotamia.

In his journey, Sarmast sees himself as "a storyteller, researcher, sleuth, and explorer," as he tracks down every fragment of myth and legend that has even the slightest bit to do with a lost civilization that could be linked to Atlantis.

As he traces the legend, it only grows in our imagination, becoming ever-more popular as it continues to be explored in books, movies, television programs, and other multimedia adventures. Perhaps we can explain the legend's popularity by exploring how the legend has evolved in our "collective memory." Placed into the context of world mythology, the Atlantis legend is a timeless classic, complete with a Paradise civilization, mysterious people (the Atlanteans, children of the gods), human arrogance, calamity, a flood, destruction, and an age-old mystery, which has yet to be unraveled. Sarmast quotes Ignatius Donnelly, who once wrote: "Atlantis was the true Antediluvian world; the Garden of Eden; the Gardens of Hesperides; the Elysian Fields; the Gardens of Alcinous; the Mesomphalos; the Olympos; the Asgard of the traditions of the ancient nations; representing the universal memory of a great land, where early mankind dwelt for ages in peace and happiness."

The End of an Era

We dream of a lost civilization that might someday be re-discovered, a place that might tell us something about ancient peoples, their literature and legends. By discovering the lost civilization of Atlantis, we could reach back into the past, rediscovering a lost part of ourselves. Sarmast says, "The ancients believed that the demise of Atlantis marked the end of an era on earth--the Golden Age, when gods dwelled among humanity and ruled according to the wisdom of heaven." What could the discovery of that place tell us? Now, we can only imagine such a breakthrough; but if Sarmast's theories and explorations are correct, we could discover the reality behind the legend.