Corruption and Urban Landscape in Plato: The Story of Atlantis, the Chronicle of Thucydides and the Geometry of the Town Plan

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study Plato's use of landscape to convey the historical-political meaning of the Atlantis story. As the crux of the argument, I will argue two interlinked hypotheses: first, that the descriptions of Atlantis and primaeval Athens provide the key to identifying these cities, respectively, as mirror images of fifth-century Athens and of an idealised Sparta, suggesting that the story conceals an evocation of the Peloponnesian War. Secondly, I will propose that Plato expresses the cause of this conflict also through the landscape and, specifically, through the symbolism of the corruption of the circular layout that initially defines Atlantis.