Editing Atlantis (section)

===Ancient versions===
[[File:POxy1084 Hellanicus Atlantis.png|thumb|upright=0.8|A fragment of ''Atlantis'' by [[Hellanicus of Lesbos]]]]
In order to give his account of Atlantis [[Verisimilitude (fiction)|verisimilitude]], Plato mentions that the story was heard by [[Solon]] in Egypt, and transmitted orally over several generations through the family of Dropides, until it reached Critias, a dialogue speaker in ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias''.<ref>Smith, O. D. (2016). "The Atlantis Story: An Authentic Oral Tradition?". ''Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures''. 10(2): 10-17.</ref> Solon had supposedly tried to adapt the Atlantis [[oral tradition]] into a poem (that if published, was to be greater than the works of [[Hesiod]] and [[Homer]]). While it was never completed, Solon passed on the story to Dropides. Modern classicists deny the existence of Solon's Atlantis poem and the story as an oral tradition.<ref>Mauro Tulli, "The Atlantis poem in the Timaeus-Critias", in ''The Platonic Art of Philosophy'', Cambridge University 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uXRGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA269 pp. 269–282]</ref>

Instead, Plato is thought to be the sole inventor or fabricator.
[[Hellanicus of Lesbos]] used the word "Atlantis" as the title for a poem published before Plato,<ref>Bell, H. Idris, "Bibliography: Graeco-Roman Egypt A. Papyri (1915–1919)", ''The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology'', Vol. 6, No. 2 (Apr. 1920), pp. 119–146. "The following papyrus, 1359, which Grenfell and Hunt identified as also from the Catalogue, is regarded by C. Robert as part of a separate epic, which he calls Atlantis."</ref> a fragment of which may be [[Oxyrhynchus]] Papyrus 11, 1359.<ref>P.Oxy. 1359. See Carl Robert (1917): ''Eine epische Atlantias'', ''Hermes'', Vol. 52, No. 3 (Jul. 1917), pp. 477–79.</ref> This work only describes the Atlantides, the daughters of Atlas, and has no relation to Plato's Atlantis account.

In the new era, the third century AD [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonist]] Zoticus wrote an epic poem based on Plato's account of Atlantis.<ref>[[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]], ''Life of Plotinus'', 7=35.</ref> Plato's work may already have inspired [[parody|parodic]] imitation, however. Writing only a few decades after the ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias'', the historian [[Theopompus]] of [[Chios]] wrote of a land beyond the ocean known as [[Meropis]]. This description was included in Book 8 of his ''Philippica'', which contains a dialogue between [[Silenus]] and King [[Midas]]. Silenus describes the Meropids, a race of men who grow to twice normal size, and inhabit two cities on the island of Meropis: ''Eusebes'' ({{lang|grc|Εὐσεβής}}, "Pious-town") and ''Machimos'' ({{lang|grc|Μάχιμος}}, "Fighting-town").<ref name="Nesselrath 1998 pp. 1">[[Heinz-Günther Nesselrath|Nesselrath, HG]] (1998). 'Theopomps Meropis und Platon: Nachahmung und Parodie', ''Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaft'', vol. 1, pp.&nbsp;1–8.</ref>

He also reports that an army of ten million soldiers crossed the ocean to conquer [[Hyperborea]], but abandoned this proposal when they realized that the Hyperboreans were the luckiest people on earth. Heinz-Günther Nesselrath has argued that these and other details of Silenus' story are meant as imitation and exaggeration of the Atlantis story, by parody, for the purpose of exposing Plato's ideas to ridicule.<ref name="Nesselrath 1998 pp. 1"/>