This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.

In the fourth century BCE, the Greek philosopher Plato introduced the world to one of history's most enduring mysteries through his dialogues "Timaeus" and "Critias." Within these philosophical works, he described a magnificent island civilization called Atlantis, a powerful maritime empire that existed nine thousand years before his own time. According to Plato's account, this advanced society possessed technology and knowledge far beyond anything known to the ancient world, yet it vanished beneath the waves in a single day and night of catastrophic destruction.

The story begins with Solon, the renowned Athenian lawgiver, who traveled to Egypt around 590 BCE. There, in the ancient city of Sais, Egyptian priests shared with him the tale of Atlantis, claiming their records stretched back thousands of years. These priests spoke of a time when the Mediterranean was but a harbor, and beyond the Pillars of Hercules—what we now call the Strait of Gibraltar—lay a vast ocean containing a large island larger than Libya and Asia combined.

Plato's description painted Atlantis as a utopian society blessed by the sea god Poseidon. The island was arranged in concentric circles of land and water, with elaborate canals and bridges connecting the various districts. At its center stood a magnificent palace complex surrounded by walls plated with brass, tin, and the mysterious metal orichalcum, which gleamed like fire. The Atlanteans were described as a noble people, descendants of Poseidon himself, who ruled over a vast empire that extended across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean, controlling parts of Europe as far as Italy and Africa as far as Egypt.