Print This Page |
To Main Essays Page |
To Main Mythology Section |
WHAT IS THE
EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF PLATO'S ATLANTIS, AND HOW DOES IT SQUARE WITH
PLATO'S MYTH.
This essay
will attempt to blow away some of the cobwebs that surround the fantastic
legends of 'Atlantis'. If you mention
to friends the words 'Greek myths', you can virtually see their eyes glaze over
as they sidle towards the door. However
if you mention the word 'Atlantis' in the pub, then every man and his dog
suddenly becomes an expert?
Numerous 'experts', worldwide
have tried to find the magic place called 'Atlantis': -
Table
1.
Author Date. Place.
Valdez |
1525 |
Iraq. |
Serranus |
1570 |
Palestine. |
Bacon. |
1600 |
North America. |
Rudbeck. |
1675 |
Sweden. |
Kirchmaier. |
1685 |
South Africa. |
Bailey. |
1804 |
Mongolia. |
Latreille. |
1819 |
Iran. |
Godron. |
1868 |
Sahara. |
Berlioux. |
1874 |
Morocco. |
Schulten |
1922 |
Spain. |
Spencer. |
1924 |
Antilla. |
Fawcett. |
1925 |
Brazil. |
De Launey. |
1936 |
Mexico. |
Cayce. |
1940 |
Bimini. |
Beaumont |
1949 |
Britain. |
Spanuth. |
1953 |
Heligoland. |
Luce. |
1969 |
Crete. |
Koudriavtsev |
1983 |
Bay of Biscay. |
Perhaps
the biggest drawback in recounting the legend is that it was an oral myth, and
as such was liable to alteration, as such stories where. Frederick's (1978) says "Critias begins the legend by saying he heard
the story, when he was a boy, from his grandfather Critias, who heard it from
his father Dropides, who got it from Solon.
Solon brought it from Egypt, having got it from a priest of Neith-- that
is, of Athena at Sais". It is obvious that in the re-telling, some
facts would be added or omitted.
Furthermore, most 'Alantists', having assured you that all myths are
founded upon fact, exaggerate the realistic or historical elements in them to
support their own theories.
Firstly
we must be aware that the legend of 'Atlantis' ended with Plato, who in writing
it 'Fixed it in Time'. Before
this, the legend may have originated far, far away, and travelled. If we accept nowadays, as most authorities
do, that the cradle of civilisation has now been shown as being in the 'Indian Oceanic' area. Therefore any stories about 'Atlantis' and its
cataclysmic end having occurred in this area, would have easily travelled via
the Arabic traders who sailed the Indian Ocean trading in rare spices and
slaves etc. So the stories of 'Atlantis' could easily have travelled to the
Mediterranean basin, and then to Greece. (It should be noted that the word
'Atlantic' referred to the whole circle of water that surrounded the known
world in Plato's time, and not just the Atlantic we know of to day). The
re-telling of the tale of 'Atlantis' may bear some parallel to the World War 1
story, Officer in front line "Send
reinforcements where going to advance - pass it on". Ended up at
headquarters as "Send three and fourpence where going
to a dance". Therefore one must look for more concrete evidence
that 'Atlantis' existed, and where possible use scientific methods rather than
hearsay evidence.
If we refute the UFOlogy books,
and such titles as 'The Mystic
Crystals of Atlantis',
and even books that allege, that all the bodies of the 'Atlanteans' lie frozen
in a secret cave in Tibet ('Alantis,
Frozen in Time'). Then we could perhaps look at sources other than
books. The use of the 'Internet' and the 'World Wide Web' nowadays allows us
to access the work of lesser-known 'Atlantis' groups, who have no interest in
financial rewards for their work.
Nearly
all groups now recognise that Plato in describing living conditions on
'Atlantis' emphasised the tropical nature, with exotic fruits, animals; two
crops a year etc. This must eliminate all the sites in the northern hemisphere,
Koudriavtsev (1983) looked at
the Paleoclimatology of the northern hemisphere in the Pleistocene Age (11,600
yrs ago.) and said that "The
'Glacio-Isostatic' moving ice fields would have wiped out any civilisation by
its movement southwards", and also "That the climatic zone would not have been conductive to a settled way
of life". Looking at the geographic size of Plato's
'Atlantis' ("Larger than Asia Minor and Libya (North Africa) put
together). must surely rule out its location within the Mediterranean
basin. The favoured site was thought by
many to be Crete. However there is no way that the island of 'Atlantis' could
have fitted in between the 'Ionian
Sea' and the 'Aegean Sea'
if we accept Plato's measurements. (It would have been the size of Australia).
Plus it would be on the wrong side of the 'Pillars of Hercules'.
Another much vaunted site is the 'West Indies', whereby John Steele (1979)
found a 'Roadway' near the isle
of 'Bimini'. However many
marine geologists such as John
Gifford, and John Hall of Miami Univ. etc. have now cast doubt on these
findings. One could write of dozens of
other so-called 'Atlantis' sites, as shown in table 1. Some of them are just
plain silly.
However there is one site in the 'East Indies' that seems to fit most of the criteria set by
Plato. The 'Arysio Nunes dos Santos
Group' have proposed as recently as 1997 two sites off the western coast
of Indonesia. They have
produced many articles, mainly on the Internet to support their theories.
Satellite pictures of the Indian Oceanic areas have shown a triangular area of
land about 100 metres under the water, about 20 miles west of Indonesia, and
another closer to the Indian continent at about the same depth. (? Lemurian and
Indian Atlantis). The 'National
Geographic Magazine' (1988) produced a map of the southern hemisphere
based on the best available scientific knowledge, which showed the world as it
was some 18,000 years ago. Within the two huge ice fields and expected land
margins they showed two large landmasses within the Indian Ocean. These two
landmasses would correspond well with both the 'Atlantis's'. Furthermore, both of these landmasses would have
met the dimensions mentioned by Plato.
The
tropical paradise items mentioned in Plato's 'Atlantis' are of course very
prevalent in this region, whether these items are animals or foodstuffs. The 'Arysio'
Group (1997) having looked at all the features mentioned by Plato, come
out strongly with the Indonesia/Atlantis partnership. This table shows how nearly all of Plato's requirements for
'Atlantis' could have been met if 'Atlantis' was placed off the coast of
Indonesia.
Table 2.
ARYSIO GROUPS SIMILARITIES LISTING. (List reduced to ease reading)
FEATURE. |
Crete |
Troy |
Indo- -esia |
Atlan.Oce. |
Peru |
Atlantic Location. |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Navigation canals etc. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Elephants (mammoths) |
No |
No |
Yes |
? |
No |
Continental Size. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Tropical Climate. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Tropical Fruit etc. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Perfumes & Incenses. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Large Populations (2 million plus).. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Horses & War Chariots. |
? |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Human Presence at the Epoch. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Megalithic Construction. |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Volcanism & Earthquakes. |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Sunken Continent. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Innavigatable Seas. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Beyond Pillars of Hercules. |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Outer Continents Beyond. |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Many Islands Beyond. |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Site of Paradise (Eden). |
No |
? |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Evidence of Cataclysm. |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Pyramid Cult. |
No |
No |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Sargasso Sea Beyond. |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Transoceanic Commerce. |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Riches in Metals. |
No |
No |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Superior Technology. |
No |
No |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Terraced Mountain Culture. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Sacred Geometry. |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Holy Mountain and Volcanoes. |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Date Compatible |
No |
No |
Yes |
? |
? |
Two Crops a Year. |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Metals. |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Writing Tablet. |
? |
? |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Totals: - YES. |
7 |
4 |
31 |
6 |
23 |
NO. |
22 |
25 |
0 |
16 |
7 |
QUERY. |
2 |
2 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
May.A.(1998, pers.comm., 13 May) said
that “Troy did indeed have evidence of
canal building”.
It is of interest to note that
Peru comes a very close second and should perhaps be looked at closer. However
Crete and Troy come off badly, and of course the 'Atlantic' section has too
many queries to be of any significance.
Having
established the possible location of 'Atlantis', one must look at its
destruction bearing in mind Plato's script "At a later time there were earthquakes and floods of extraordinary
violence, and in a single dreadful day and night, all your fighting men were
swallowed up by the earth, and the island of Atlantis was similarly swallowed
up by the sea and vanished…"(Tim.25c-d) One
must however bear in mind that a country the size of Australia just cannot
vanish in 24 hrs, and thus this part of the legend may well be an
exaggeration to heighten its context.
The
alleged sinking of 'Atlantis' was a no 'no no' from the start as such a
landmass would be based upon its own tetonic plate section and therefore could
not sink. However a sudden rise in the
oceanic water table could cause partial flooding of all low lying lands. We know that floods happened worldwide from
many sources and at the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age the ice fields began
melting. The probable cause was the
'Greenhouse' effect caused by the emission of volcanic ash (black) which caused
greater absorption of sunlight onto the ice fields. Koudriavtsev (1997)
quoted work from the University of Copenhagen, which proposed a 20-degree warming
within a century occurred. The research
goes on to say that these sudden changes allowed masses of free water to drain
off the land and enter the sea in huge surges (Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles). These huge tidal changes then swept
over the low lands and the land was lost forever beneath the seas.
The
second part of the catastrophe was of course the effect of the huge active
volcanoes. The biggest known volcano is
'Krakatoa' in the heart of the 'East Indies'. The rising floodwater entering such a volcanic
mouth would create a huge explosion of super-heated steam. This we now know to
have been so powerful, as to have opened the 'Strait of Sundra, separating the islands of Java and Sumatra,
in Indonesia. Explosions such as this
would be the final death knell to what remains of any civilisation. The falling ash would choke plant growth,
pollute rivers, remove most of the oxygen from the air etc. The newly found
'Fire-Ball' effect (Recently found to account for many of the deaths at
Vesuvius - B.B.C.) would have been the
final straw, and as in Plato's version could have taken as little as one
day. Thus we have the destruction of
Atlantis, which although romanticised in Plato's works was simply the
destruction of a country sitting within an active volcanic area, added to which
there occurred a rapid ice-field
meltdown.
In
conclusion, many people have told me recently that they consider 'Atlantis' was
simply Plato's invention from beginning to end, which he needed to expound his ideas
of an ideal state. I do not believe
this, as he had already written 'Republic' in which his views on the ideal
state had already been expounded; therefore he had no need to simply repeat
this theme again. In fact many of his themes already existed in pre-historical
Athens. I believe that Plato linked his
narration to a true historical fact.
I am
equally sure that Plato took a legend that was from another place and used it
as a virtual 'coat hanger' in which he hung life, as he knew it. The placing of 'Atlantis' outside the
Mediterranean was a very clever ploy. I think he did this, because of his uncertainty as to where the original legend
really arose, and placing it outside the known world of the time cleverly took
care of this problem.
The legend
of 'Atlantis' however would appear, thanks to modern technology, to be situated
in the 'East Indies', more so off the coast of Indonesia, and I believe that
future research will confirm this fact.
Whatever the result, it’s a super legend, and one I have found great
pleasure in reading it up.
REFERENCES.
Because there are only three books (out of a possible
2,000) in Lampeter Univ. Library, dealing with 'Atlantis', and, we have 11 students looking for them, I
have taken the liberty of only using the 'Internet' and the 'World Wide Web' as
my study base. There are over 32,000
web pages (via Alta Vista) available for study. I have included the full access address to enable the Tutor or
Moderator to check that they exist.
Alford,A (1978)
Atlantis,The Final Solution
Arysio, S. (1997)
Atlantis, Southern Aspect.
Bielat, N. (1996)
Atlantic Herald
Byron,L. (1984). Atlantic Society.
Cayce, E. (1965) My Life and Work
Luce,J (1993) Atlantis Collection
Koudriavtsev,V.(1997)
Atlantis, Ice Age