Did the ancient civilization of Atlantis exist?
The question is problematic. On the one hand Plato cited his ancestor Solon who really did go to Sais in Egypt. And there is a pillar there which we are told tells a similar story — using the Egyptian word for Minoans rather than Atlanteans. Plato claims his source was notes which Solon made towards writing a patriotic ode of the sort he is said to have (though the quality of the lines which have survived explain why now Athens is no longer Independent the poems have not been preserved) and that Solon admitted changing the names of the civilization and most important figures when he discovered the Egyptians had done the same thing. On the other hand the tale is supposedly told by Critias, either his grandfather or Uncle (both of whom were named that) before he was born. This is not unique among plato’s works. What we call facts are something which depend on easy access to records which printing made possible. His reliability isn’t exactly bad, it’s just something he has no interest in
