Atlantis, the island-continent that vanished under the sea, is one of the most haunting themes of legend. Described by Plato more than two thousand years ago, it is, seemingly, a philosophic myth; yet one recounted with a magnificence and a wealth of detail which have convinced many that it must have had some reality. Prehistorians have seen Atlantis as the fountain-head of all civilization; mystics have had revelations about it; archeologists have claimed to locate it - sometimes in surprising places. But one fact little realized is that Plato's genius indirectly created a different myth from that which he intended - a unique case history in the workings of the human spirit as it searches for origins and the dawn of wisdom.