Essay:Is there any truth in the story of Atlantis

The purpose of this essay is to determine if there is any truth in the tale of Atlantis.

This is an Essay I choose to do for my Australian Year 11 (NSW) Ancient History Assignment.

Is there any truth in the story of Atlantis?
Atlantis is a topic, when mentioned, most people turn a blind eye to. A lot of people say “since mankind cannot find it, it does not exist.” That is as far from the truth as possible. Until Heimlich Schliemann found the city of Troy in 1865, most people never truly believed that it existed. To determine the possibility of Atlantis’ existence, the following needs to be considered: 1)What is Atlantis, and why is everyone so obsessed with it? 2) What ancient texts (both directly and indirectly) support the theory of Atlantis, and what scholars have opinions on the matter? 3) If Atlantis does in fact exist, where is it located?

What is Atlantis?
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato first set the Atlantis pin rolling for the public when he published two books “Timaeus” and “Critias” around 370 B.C.E [1]. Timaeus describes how Solon, “a relative and a dear friend of my great-grandfather” [2] travelled to Egypt to be told the story of Atlantis by a priest, who had translated the history of Atlantis and Athens, recorded on pillars in Heiroglyphics. The story continues to claim that the god Poseidon founded Atlantis. Poseidon fell in love with a woman and bore 5 pairs of male twins, one of which, Atlas, became king of Atlantis, which is named after him.

The book Critias describes the war that took place 9000 years ago (from Plato’s viewpoint, 11,600 years ago from today’s date) between “between those who dwelt outside the Pillars of Heracles [Hercules] and all who dwelt within them” [3] (see figure 1) and Atlantis’ eventual destruction, "But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea." [3] Critias ends suddenly, literally midsentence, just when Zeus, king of the gods, calls a meeting with the other gods to discuss the fate of Atlantis.

The Peri Reis map is pictorial evidence that supports certain theories about Atlantis, as it has what appears to be Antarctica near the Atlantic Ocean.[6] The Athanasius Kircher’s map is another map that certain scholars believe to be Antartica in the Atlantic, although it looks more like Australia. The map’s compass points to the south, like the Ancient Egyptians used to do in their days, thus the map needs to be viewed upside down in order to correctly identify the surrounding landmarks. (see figure 2)[6][5.i]

What ancient texts give reference (either directly or indirectly) to Atlantis?
There are many ancient texts that give reference either to the island of Atlantis (Plato, Plutarch, Herodotus, Diodorus, Aristotle, Marcellus, Proculus, Crantor, Homer and Hesiod, to name a few from Greece alone!), or to a “destruction of mankind” as plainly evident in the Bible, and the hundreds of destruction myths from around the world. Almost every single myth mentions an earthquake, flood or fire/volcano. [6] Texts that do not specifically mention the word “Atlantis” or some phonetic variation, should not be disregarded at this point in time, as scholars are unable to determine whether Plato’s version of events is accurate. Accounts of the other lost civilisation Lemuria also should not be disregarded, even though Lemuria dates to even older to Atlantis and is believed to have existed in the Pacific Ocean, around the approximate location of Easter Island, simply because scholars are unable to confirm what Plato meant by “Atlantic Ocean” i.e. in Plato’s time, the region was called the “Western Ocean”[8].

The Biblical Account of Genesis is a prime example of evidence for Atlantis, as it reads very similarly to Plato’s Dialogues [11]. For Example, Genesis recounts the blood line from Adam/Eve to Noah, the Dialogues recount the line of kings from Poseidon to Hermes Trismegistus (Thoth or “Hermes, thrice born”), the last of the kings before Atlantis’ demise, as shown by the Manetho’s kings list compared to the Turin Papyrus. [9][7]. Both texts state that their respective people (Noah, Adam etc / Atlantean kings) lived for overwhelming lengths of time, and that the last of their respective kind would survive the cataclysm i.e. noah & family survived; Thoth & his chosen few survived & came to Egypt. This is further backed up when the Emerald Book of Thoth, a very ancient literary text said to have been written by Thoth himself [7] and found in a chamber in the Great Pyramid at Giza, which was supposedly built by the Great Architect himself. It starts off with the words “I, THOTH, the Atlantean”[10]

There are a multitude of other major and minor texts which also refer to the cataclysm, which thus backs up the validity of Plato’s Dialogues. For Example, the Oera Linda, which is a collection of Flood related myths from Holland. The book is one of the oldest texts ever found. It mentions the island of “Atland” which was engulfed in the fire of a volcano. Most scholars who specialise in “Atlantology”, including Ignatius Donnelly, believe that all destruction myths are based on the Atlantis Cataclysm.[1][6][7][13]

What theories are there to propose the location of Atlantis?
Scholars are constantly bickering about Atlantis’ true location, mixing truth, myth, and making a judgement based on only 1 fact and distorting the rest of the facts in order to support their own version of the truth. Many locations have been hypothesised, from Thera (Santorini), to the Azores, to Antartica & even the United Kingdom, with every place in between, even land-locked locations! The most popular theory is that of Thera, because it have an active volcano, however the dates and size do not match those quite clearly pointed out in Plato’s Dialogues. [6][7][2][3][12.2]

Most scholars make reference to at least 3 key evidences: Plato’s Dialogues, the Piri Reis’ map and Kircher’s map. In 1886 Ignatius Donnelly proposed the Azores region as the most likely location, incorporating the legends of nearby civilizations, evidence found on the shores of Africa & South America,various unanswered asked by previous scholars, and much more. [12.2][7] There are as many as 12 volcano’s situated in the Azores region, as well as reports of frequent violent marine activity, with the loss of several trans-Atlantic cables in the area,[12.2] which may explain why there have been no artefacts recovered from the area.

Professor Arysio Nunes dos Santos theorised that Atlantis was located in the West Indies, by connecting the creation myths of the Garden of Eden and other Paradises with Atlantis [12.3][13]. Prof. Santos’ ideas are very credible, and he uses an overwhelming amount of sources, but they do stretch the boundaries of the Dialogues quite a few times. Finally, Antarctica itself was suggested by Professor Charles Hapgood, by comparing the Athanasius Kircher’s map with the proposed position & landmass of Antarctica thousands of years ago. Hapgood backs this theory up by identifying some pollen found on the land mass, dating to 4000 BCE, which indicates that Antarctica froze over much later than previously thought. [12.1] The reader needs to make up their own mind as to where they believe Atlantis to be locate.

In summary, Atlantis is a place deeply ingrained in the consciousness of humankind, as shown by the numerous creation/destruction myths. Plato’s Dialogues are one of the prime sources to use, but one needs to consider how much of the story is truth, and how much of it is just story. Atlantis itself could be located anywhere on earth, if scholars are to be believed. One has to remember that so many of our histories that we take for granted, were previously believed to be absolute myths, so one cannot disprove a myth until there is conclusive evidence to disprove it. In retrospect, one cannot prove the Existence of Atlantis until it is found for real.