Atlantis
The major source of knowledge concerning the world’s most famous lost continent comes from Plato. The great philosopher was the solely remarkable reference about the long lost island race and while researchers write long theories about the age and position of Atlantis, nobody is completely sure that Plato did not just invent the Atlantean people as an allegory for what occurs when a civilization over-reaches itself. Despite these notions, the search for Atlantis is more vicious than ever.
Plato lived in Greece between 424 and 347 BC, and revealed the story of Atlantis in his dialogues ‘Timaeus’ and ‘Critias’, written in 360 BC. Many of his tales were fictional creations used to elucidate a point, but the history of Atlantis was incessantly stated as fact. The dialogues recount the story of Solon, a Greek scholar who traveled to egypt around 600 BC to acquire knowledge about the ancient world. The Egyptians were known to have knowledge and records dating back centuries, and as Solon tried to impress his hosts with tales of Greece’s achievements, the wise Egyptians priests put him in his place. They disclosed a story about a continent and a race completely unknown to him.
Around 10, 000 BC, an influential race lived on an island in the west, beyond the ‘Pillars of Hercules’, now believed to be the land masses along the coasts of the Straits of Gibraltar. The island was the kingdom of Poseidon, who is “God of the Sea”, and also referred to as as “Earth-Shaker” due to his role in causing earthquakes. It had a huge central mountain with a temple dedicated to the deity, and on the outskirts was an elaborate system of canals to irrigate its successful farms, and busy central city.
The inhabitants of Atlantis were a powerful but fair race. They were developed people with a thriving trade industry, a noble army, and a highly educated, spiritually advanced society. Their extensive influence reached far throughout the globe, and controlled areas of Asia, Africa, and the Mediterranean. While the island left the Atlanteans wanting nothing, their taste for power and prestige led to the over-extension of themselves. Their blatant attempt to conquer Athens failed, and they retreated home to face a cataclysmic disaster. Legend states that the great god Zeus saw the corruption that had enveloped the island’s people, and sent down an intense deluge of earthquakes, fire and water inevitably causing Atlantis to disappear under the waves.
Although Plato’s was thoroughly known, a renewed interest in Atlantis began in 1882 with the publication of Atlantis: The Antediluvian World by a former US congressman, Ignatius Donnelly. His book was a compendium of conjecture, misinterpreted facts and actual history, but there was also some fascinating ideas. He described similarities in the science and culture of native races compared to the modern era which could have never been met. Correspondingly, the great flood, which is noted as having destroyed Atlantis, is inscribed in ancient writings and traditions of cultures all over the globe.
It’s unknown to exactly who the Atlanteans were. It’s believed by some that they were an alien race whom descended upon the earth from an outer planet, while some say they were descendants of the Lemurians, and a minute group believe they traveled westward and became the Native American tribes. Similarly, the precise location of Atlantis has been an a constant argument of debate. Many researchers suggest the island was actually in the Mediterranean, and a consistent flow of archaeological investigations in the area has attempted to prove this.
Common theories suggest that Sardinia within the Mediterranean, and the island of Thera within the Aegean Sea, could be Atlantis. Other experts say that Atlantis was located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and all that is left of the island are its mountains, the peaks of which show through the waves. The are believed by many to be the Azores islands. Additionally, two 23,000-feet-deep holes have been identified on the seabed close to Puerto Rico as evidence to suggest that an asteroid or huge comet crashed into the southwest Atlantic Ocean thousand upon thousands of years ago. Geological and Astronomical experts believe that the falling rock that caused them would have created immense natural movements with enough force to destroy any mid-Atlantic islands.
