Message #160294

[Autolocus]

' Atlantis, the "Lost" Continent: A Review of Termier's Evidence, Geogr. Rev.,
Vol. 3, 1917, pp. 61-66; reference on p. 62



14 ATLANTIS

and art before Plato do not supply this in any unequivocal and
reliable form. Certain hints or contributory items will be dealt
with below, but they do not affect the character of the story as a
whole nor tend to establish the reality of its main features.

We do not need to ascribe to Plato all the fancy and invention
in the story. The romancing may have been done in part by the
priests of Sais or by Solon or by Dropides or by Critias; or pos-
sibly all these may have contributed successive strata of fancy,
crowned by Plato. Practically we have to treat the tale as
beginning with him. Its circumstantiality and air of realism
have sometimes been taken as credentials of accuracy; but they
are not beyond the ordinary skill of a man of letters, and Plato
was much more than equal to the task.