Atlantis

Atlantis,?also spelled Atalantis or Atlantica, is a mid-Atlantic incredulity, a lost continent that suddenly sunk into the ocean. The idea that Atlantis was an actual historical place, and not just a legend invented by Plato, didn’t surface until the late 19th century.

First theory has it that Atlantis was swallowed up by the Bermuda Triangle, according to Charles Berlitz, an American polyglot, and writer, known for his language-learning courses, and author of many books on paranormal phenomena.

Second theory is that Atlantis was actually a much more temperate version of what is now Antarctica is, based on the work of Charles Hapgood, an American college professor and author,?whose 1958 book “Earth’s Shifting Crust,” which, featured a foreword by Albert Einstein.

Third theory of Atlantis is that it was a mythical retelling of the ‘Black Sea Flood.’ This theory presumes Atlantis itself was fictional, but the story of its demise was inspired by an actual historical event: the breaching of the Bosporus by the Mediterranean Sea and subsequent flooding of the Black Sea, around 5,600 years ago.

One of the more recent Atlantean theories concerns a civilization that flourished on the Greek islands of Crete and Thera (modern-day?Santorini) in Minoan times more than 4,000 years ago, when a massive earthquake shook the volcanic island of Thera, triggering an eruption that was followed by tsunamis large enough to wipe out cities in the region.

Most historians and scientists throughout history have come to the conclusion that Plato’s account of the lost ‘Kingdom of Atlantis’ was fictional, as no written records of Atlantis exist outside of Plato’s dialogues.

Meanwhile, Theosophists believed that the advanced civilization of Atlantis reached its peak between 1,000,000 and 900,000 years ago, but destroyed itself through internal warfare brought about by the dangerous use of psychic and supernatural powers of the inhabitant. According to H. P. Blavatsky, a Russian author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875, it was "a whole continent of whose isles and islets many have to this day survived."

Some Atlantiphiles have even put forward some bizarre theories involving aliens, ancient master races, all supposedly home to unsubstantiated futuristic cultures. Most of these interpretations take serious liberties with Plato’s myth and straight up ignore basic scientific evidence, like the incompatibility between plate tectonics and the canonical Atlantis story.

In 355 BC Plato wrote the book “Timaeus,” in which his character, Kritias, recounts the story of Atlantis, a story which has been in his family for generations. The tale of this great civilization had been originally told to his ancestor by an Egyptian priest named Solon.

According to Plato’s account the powerful Empire of Atlantis was founded by Poseidon, God of the sea; brother of Zeus, the sky God; and Hades, God of the underworld. It was located to the west of the "Pillars of Hercules" (the Strait of Gibraltar). On the island nation, Poseidon fathered five sets of twins. The firstborn Atlas, for whom the Empire and surrounding ocean was named. Poseidon divided the land into ten sections, each to be ruled by a son, or his heirs.

The capital city of Atlantis described as built from Orichalcum, was supposedly laid out as a series of concentric walls and canals. Atlantis was a marvel of engineering and advanced technology but according to Plato the people became corrupt and greedy. The Gods decided to destroy them. There was a violent earthquake that supposedly sunk the huge island nation in one day.

Many historians think Plato made up the story of Atlantis as an illustration of his teachings, but many other ancient historians and philosophers other than Plato have written about it.

Food for thought!