Ambiguities and Contradictions are to be found in Plato’s Atlantis text. Similar difficulties can be found in other documents that originated in the same period. Readers may be familiar with the discrepancies and apparent contradictions that are to be found throughout the Old Testament. Most of these difficulties stem from the fact that these texts were written in archaic languages that are still not totally understood and where the original text are no longer extant. In addition, these original have been translated into other languages that often included translation and transcription errors.

All these factors have led to most ancient writings being the subject of extensive debates. Plato’s work is no exception.            The greatest controversy has arisen regarding the location of Atlantis with the focus on the position of the Pillars of Heracles. Until relatively recently the accepted wisdom was that the ‘Pillars’ could only have been at the Strait of Gibraltar. However, writers such as Eberhard Zangger, Anton Mifsud, Sergio Frau and others have offered equally legitimate alternative locations for the ‘Pillars’, leading to a broadening of the debate on the location of Atlantis itself.

Another subject that receives ongoing heated discussion is the date of Atlantis’ destruction. Although Plato repeatedly states that it occurred 9,000 years before Solon’s Egyptian visit, it is clear that such an early date is incompatible with the Bronze Age society, which he so clearly describes.

Other matters that continue to generate controversy are the size of Atlantis, whether Atlantis was a continent, an island or a peninsula and what will surprise some people, the exact location of Plato’s ‘Atlantic Ocean’.   These arguments usually arise because of the limitations of the Greek language and their numerical notation, as they existed at the time of Solon and Plato.