Professor Edith Hall

And he's the one who said, this isn't me at all. This is the first work of historical fiction. But you still find, despite people saying, yes, that's the case, they tend to try to say, you know, the Atlanteans are Phoenicians or the Atlanteans are Persians or very often because of the cataclysm. They are the Minoans or Mycenaeans. This has been a very, very popular explanation.

And he's the one who said, this isn't me at all. This is the first work of historical fiction. But you still find, despite people saying, yes, that's the case, they tend to try to say, you know, the Atlanteans are Phoenicians or the Atlanteans are Persians or very often because of the cataclysm. They are the Minoans or Mycenaeans. This has been a very, very popular explanation.

And he's the one who said, this isn't me at all. This is the first work of historical fiction. But you still find, despite people saying, yes, that's the case, they tend to try to say, you know, the Atlanteans are Phoenicians or the Atlanteans are Persians or very often because of the cataclysm. They are the Minoans or Mycenaeans. This has been a very, very popular explanation.

So classical Greeks know that the Bronze Age civilizations of Mycenae and Crete had gone under. They'd been destroyed. The Greeks had entered a dark age. They'd lost writing. Their mode of production had actually regressed rather than progressed. In the case of Crete, it was very much regressed. know that there had been some kind of terrible flood. So there's a bit of that in it as well.

So classical Greeks know that the Bronze Age civilizations of Mycenae and Crete had gone under. They'd been destroyed. The Greeks had entered a dark age. They'd lost writing. Their mode of production had actually regressed rather than progressed. In the case of Crete, it was very much regressed. know that there had been some kind of terrible flood. So there's a bit of that in it as well.

So classical Greeks know that the Bronze Age civilizations of Mycenae and Crete had gone under. They'd been destroyed. The Greeks had entered a dark age. They'd lost writing. Their mode of production had actually regressed rather than progressed. In the case of Crete, it was very much regressed. know that there had been some kind of terrible flood. So there's a bit of that in it as well.

The Atlanteans are a conglomerate of lots of different earlier civilizations. And what I do is insist that no one will work. This is Plato imagining the most glamorous but decadent possible primordial civilization that was destroyed. And he's using every kind of other civilization he can to color that in.

The Atlanteans are a conglomerate of lots of different earlier civilizations. And what I do is insist that no one will work. This is Plato imagining the most glamorous but decadent possible primordial civilization that was destroyed. And he's using every kind of other civilization he can to color that in.

The Atlanteans are a conglomerate of lots of different earlier civilizations. And what I do is insist that no one will work. This is Plato imagining the most glamorous but decadent possible primordial civilization that was destroyed. And he's using every kind of other civilization he can to color that in.

Well, the story is that the Atlanteans' empire grows ever bigger and eventually the proud and noble race of Athenians decides to stand up against them. They're not going to become part of that empire. So there we very much have resonances of the Persian war story. Noble Greeks standing up against vastly larger forces from abroad and the huge navy as well as a huge army.

Well, the story is that the Atlanteans' empire grows ever bigger and eventually the proud and noble race of Athenians decides to stand up against them. They're not going to become part of that empire. So there we very much have resonances of the Persian war story. Noble Greeks standing up against vastly larger forces from abroad and the huge navy as well as a huge army.

Well, the story is that the Atlanteans' empire grows ever bigger and eventually the proud and noble race of Athenians decides to stand up against them. They're not going to become part of that empire. So there we very much have resonances of the Persian war story. Noble Greeks standing up against vastly larger forces from abroad and the huge navy as well as a huge army.

And they come into conflict. But in fact, the gods before the Atlanteans can take over the Athenians, decide to destroy the entire civilization and submerge it.

And they come into conflict. But in fact, the gods before the Atlanteans can take over the Athenians, decide to destroy the entire civilization and submerge it.

And they come into conflict. But in fact, the gods before the Atlanteans can take over the Athenians, decide to destroy the entire civilization and submerge it.

Because of its own doing. And this is traced to this human strand from the original founding heroine that Poseidon had impregnated. They've got this bit of humanity in them, whereas the Athenians are rather mysteriously assumed to have somehow sprung from the soil, not through an act of sexual intercourse. They're kind of divinely created from the soil of Athens.

Because of its own doing. And this is traced to this human strand from the original founding heroine that Poseidon had impregnated. They've got this bit of humanity in them, whereas the Athenians are rather mysteriously assumed to have somehow sprung from the soil, not through an act of sexual intercourse. They're kind of divinely created from the soil of Athens.

Because of its own doing. And this is traced to this human strand from the original founding heroine that Poseidon had impregnated. They've got this bit of humanity in them, whereas the Athenians are rather mysteriously assumed to have somehow sprung from the soil, not through an act of sexual intercourse. They're kind of divinely created from the soil of Athens.

So the origins of these two different races ultimately help to explain why one survives and the other doesn't. One is simply more divine and less morally corrupt.

So the origins of these two different races ultimately help to explain why one survives and the other doesn't. One is simply more divine and less morally corrupt.