Analyzing the theories between the fictional Atlantis and its real-life counterpart

Atlantis is a fantastical myth which has occupied the minds of many for centuries, being passed down from person, to priest, to poet. While many argue on the legitimacy of Plato’s story, claims of Atlantis being found have risen with the discovery of the “Eye of the Sahara.”

The Eye is a wondrous looking bright blue spiraled dome in the west of the Sahara Desert. There is a working theory that it was formed by Pangaea, an old supercontinent torn apart by moving tectonic plates and leaving behind a layer of molten rock that attempted to push up out of the earth. The Eye then erupted and the rocks it formed eroded, creating its magical look.

So, how does all this educational ranting tie into the mythical Atlantis? Essentially, when Plato wrote of Atlantis, he described it as “(…) (A) great canal to the sea, and alongside the bridges carved tunnels into the rings of rock so that ships could pass into the city around the mountain; they carved docks from the rock walls of the moats…The walls were constructed of red, white and black rock quarried from the moats, and were covered with brass, tin and orichalcum, respectively.” This description ties coincidentally to the appearance of the Eye; the spiral-like structure, river connecting to the ocean, the length allegedly being 25 miles wide, and other key highlights matching the features of Atlantis.

The Youtuber who began this study, Jimmy of Bright Insight, made a forty-minute video essay elaborating on the connection between the Eye and Atlantis. However, there are many clues that destabilize his claim.

Steven Novella, a journalist for the Neurologica blog believes Atlantis is used as a rhetorical device in Plato’s writing, that the Eye’s rings are not a rare geological occurrence, and that it does not match its history of being a man-made city.

It’s clear that the link between the Eye of the Sahara and Atlantis is just that– a theory. There’s a consensus among scholars that Atlantis is solely a myth, most likely used as a literary device or an exaggeration of a real place Plato discovered.

However, the speculation of the Eye being Atlantis isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it’s a new form of storytelling, the same way humans thousands of years ago spread the folklore of Atlantis. Whether the Eye is Atlantis or not, it still displays the spirit of humanity through our ability to dream, hope, and skepticize; and the beauty of nature: to create, fascinate, and inspire.