The story of Atlantis tantlises all five senses. The vivid scenery and incredible detail Plato uses in his dialogues lead people to believe, Plato was recounting actual events and adding his own traditional flare. Thourghout the years groups of people have organized groups, cults, and evidence in hopes of finding the traditional Atlantis. Many have dreamed of a day when a pristene city still in tact would rise from its watery grave and Atlantis would be restored in all of its glory. I admitt even as a girl I use dream of raising the Titanic. When the Titanic was found I remember watching the special on TV and finding the Titanic resting on the bottom in not one piece but two was devasting. The wreck was almost unrecongizable. So, could Atlantis be found? Most agree Plato was not telling a tall tale, but was he telling an absolute truth. You have to admitt reading about superhumans is little bit more exciting then just retelling a natural disaster.

The Tantalus Theroy works under the assumption that there was no actual Atlantis in a literal sense. The author of the Tantalus theroy disguards the fluff about the gods and the super humans. He searches more for fact and basis in the Atlantis story. He began his search after the popular Thera theroy began to fail for several reasons.

The first problem the author finds with the Thera Theroy is the fact that it happened on their own soil. The Greeks were reasonably familiar with the ancient Cretan civilization. This is evident from the 'strories of Minos' and 'Theseus and the minotaur in the labyrinth.' Therefore, making it unrealistic that the Greeks first heard of this fantastical story from the Egyptians.

Then During the 1980's evidence began to surface, that lead people to believe that the destruction on Thera did not lead to the end of the Minoan civilization. The end of the Minoan civilization directly coincides with the greatest period in the Mycenaean civilization. This coincidence suggest that the warlike Mycenaeans conquered the Minoans.

The theroy also doubts the possible egyptian connection. The egyptians take pride in the fact they are the oldest civilization. This makes it unlikely they could've recorded events that were 1,000 years, before their own beginings. Egyptians also took a dim view of foreigners, and more than likely didn't keep records on such a powerful civilizations. Therefore, the theroy contends Solon must've gotten the story on one of his other journeys.This is were the theroy takes a look at Solons other journeys and finds a connection on his visit to Lydia in Western Anatolia (Turkey).

After close examination of the story of Atlas you find that Atlas' home before his punishment in the West was in the East. This conclusion is confirmed by the large amount of pictorial and literary evidence from the Hittite civilization of the Bronze Age, Anatolia.

Classical scholars have long accepted the mythological figure Tantalus as the Lydian Atlas. The classical author Pausanias wrote that the city of king Tantalus was believed to lie near Mt. Sipylus which is modern day Manisa Dagh. Tantalus was described as the original capital of Lydia and the seat of the Mycenaean kings. This comes fro the ancient archives of the Hittite Emperors. The Hittite text of 1400 B.C. This text describes a vassal from the mountain land of Zippasla. He had gained control of the smaller states of western and southeren Anatolia, then went on to challenge Hittite rule in Cyprus.

Finally, it answers were this capital could be. Until about 30 years ago there was a small lake north of Mt. Sipylus. This lake is just a few miles from the rock cut tomb of (as it is believed) king Tantalus. Nineteenth century scholars including Sir James Frazer, believe this fertile land to be the spot of Tantalus.

Above this site 300 ft. up the mountain side is a 30 ft. sculpture of a Mother Goddess. The statue looks out over the spot were it is believed Tantalus lies. Pausanias believes it was carved by Tantalus' son. It is undeniable the statue dates from the Bronze Age. This is evident in the style of the statue's features and the 13th century Hittite hieroglyphics.

Finally, the Izmir region is one of ther worst earthquake zones in the world. Making it entirely possible to swallow up an entire city in a day and a night.

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Thus, concludes Adventure Jones' search for Atlantis- for now.