Mine is a bit of fiction and utopia. The land of the never never .... in history terms.
I was always kind of neutral toward the idea. I like to keep the possibility in mind.
Most likely it didn't exist. I often see it as a pseudo-theological metaphor. That it wasn't wise to anger, or go against the wishes of the Gods, or some such religious bunkum.
But according to Plato, he visited a priest, Sais, in Egypt. Who told him of the land of Atlantis. According to Sais, this was about 9600 BC. It had been a Naval power ruled over by a succession of kings.
I think that it may actually have been a task of self-glorifying for Plato, really. Considering he saw Athenian civilisation as the epitome of perfection and success. Atlantis was its adversary and its antithesis. Athens was the divine republic, Atlantis was the Godless monarchy. The supposed victory of Athens when Atlantis had attacked was sheer vanity. The Atlanteans would have had to be very poor seafarers (unlikely if they were a naval power), very poor fighters (they were supposedly the leading power - and very imperialistic - of their time against a pre-civilised Athens not even in the Classical age as yet) or incredibly stupid with their logistics (again unlikely if they had so much experience), or a mixture of these.
However, think "what if" and keep your mind open. It may be that history shall need to be rewritten. But if so, i'd suggest they were far different from what Plato claimed.
