French Literature Reviews - 2026

Vidal-Naquet: Atlantis: A Short History of a Platonic Myth
History, Politics and Society

Paperback edition of the final work by Pierre Vidal-Naquet, who passed away in July 2006.

Pierre Vidal-Naquet (1930-2006)
Atlantis: A Short History of a Platonic Myth

Editions du Seuil
Collection "Points-essais" n° 566
Paris, 2007
ISBN 2-7578-0040-9
198 pp
9€
Includes a "Foreword" from 2006.
First edition: Les Belles Lettres, 2005.

Review by Heinz-Guenther Nesselrath (Georg-August-Universität) in Bryn Mawr Classical Review: 2008.08.22

From the back cover:

Atlantis
This book begins around 355 BC, when Plato wrote Timaeus and Critias. Plato undoubtedly drew upon the culture of his time, from Homer to Herodotus and Thucydides, but the myth of the lost continent, inseparable from an equally imaginary Athens, is his own creation ¹.
Nevertheless, the myth underwent incredible developments, first in antiquity, and literally exploded during the Renaissance, particularly after the discovery of America, which some quickly identified with the continent imagined by Plato. Others, few in number, resisted, the most notable among them being Montaigne. Nationalists seized upon the subject, from Spain to Sweden and from Italy to Germany, particularly during the Nazi era. Scholars sought to explain, through the lost continent, sometimes the history of the planet, sometimes the Minoan prehistory of Greek civilization. Jules Verne's characters visited or reconstructed it. In the "model ghetto" of Theresienstadt, a poet and a musician identified the despot who incarcerated them before killing them with the emperor of Atlantis.
It was time for this long history to be written in French.

Contents:

Foreword (2005)
Acknowledgements
Introduction (2004)

Ch. I- In the Beginning was Plato
Ch. II- Ancient Atlantises
Ch. III- The Return of the Atlanteans, 1485-1710
Ch. IV- Atlantis and the Enlightenment, 1680-1786
Ch. V- The Great Turning Point, 1786-1841
Ch. VI- A Nation Must Be Open or Closed
Ch. VII- Interlude: Notes Without Music
Ch. VIII- Water, Earth, and Dreams

Notes
Index
Appendix (two articles from The Times, January 19, 1909)
Table of Illustrations

The reception of classical myths across subsequent centuries forms a vast area of inquiry within cultural history and classical reception studies. Scholars have long traced how ancient motifs are reinterpreted by later societies to serve changing political, ideological, and artistic ends. Pierre Vidal-Naquet examines how the legend originated in Plato's dialogues and evolved through various historical epochs, including the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the twentieth century. Readers interested in the afterlife of classical texts and the history of imaginary geographies may find this paperback edition relevant.

The page notes that the volume begins with Plato's composition of Timaeus and Critias around 355 BC, viewing the myth as the philosopher's creation drawing upon earlier Greek culture. It outlines the subsequent developments of the legend, noting its expansion after the discovery of America, its use by nationalist movements including during the Nazi era, and its interpretations by scholars, Jules Verne, and prisoners in Theresienstadt. The book concludes with notes, an index, and an appendix featuring articles from The Times.