The firstborn son of Poseidon and Cleito. Ruler of the central and most important part of Atlantis. Both the island and the Atlantic Ocean were named after him, a symbol of strength, endurance, and lasting legacy.
Plato (Critias):
“He also begat and brought up five pairs of twin male children; and dividing the island of Atlantis into ten portions, he gave to the first-born of the eldest pair his mother’s dwelling and the surrounding allotment, which was the largest and best, and made him king over the rest… And he named them all; the eldest, who was the first king, he named Atlas, and after him the whole island and the ocean were called Atlantic.”
Ignatius Donnelly (Atlantis: The Antediluvian World, 1882) closely follows Plato, emphasizing Atlas as the firstborn who inherits the central kingdom and whose name defines the Atlantic. Donnelly highlights how Atlas’s lineage and Atlantean civilization influenced later cultures worldwide.
Bridgman-Metchum (Atlantis: The Book of the Angels, 1903) stays faithful to Plato: Atlas as the eldest son and primary ruler of the central portion, with the island and ocean named after him. The focus remains on his central role in governance and the enduring symbolic power of his name (strength and stability).
