Watch this video about the legend of Atlantis, the lost city.
Video Transcript
Olly Steeds: Ever since I first read the story of Atlantis told by the Greek philosopher Plato back in 360 BC, I've been hooked. Now I'm determined to solve this ancient mystery, the mystery of a great city that simply vanished.
Plato paints a picture of Atlantis as an architectural wonder. He says it was composed of a series of concentric walls and canals separated by huge moats. Standing at its very center, he says, was a hill with a temple to Poseidon, the god of the sea. Gates and towers guarded the city with bridges and tunnels connecting the island with each other.
Plato's descriptions, detailed as they may be, are all we have to go on. There are no other historical accounts of the great Atlantis. There aren't even records of the massive cataclysm that brought the city to such a spectacular end. All we have is what Plato wrote.
There occurred portentous earthquakes and floods, and in one grievous day, the whole island of Atlantis was swallowed up by the sea and vanished.
Well, that's Plato's description, but could it have actually happened? Could there really be forces of nature so powerful that they could wipe out an entire civilization in just a single day? Well, that's what I want to investigate.
I'm Olly Steeds, and I'll do anything in my search for the truth.
Voiceover: Solving History with Olly Steeds. Wednesdays at 10:00. It's all new on Discovery.