Atlantis - (ancient Greek Ἀτλαντὶς) according to the myth retold by Plato, once a huge island or mainland in the Atlantic Ocean to the west of Gibraltar, fertile and densely populated, existed. As a result of a terrible earthquake, it sank to the ocean floor. The question of the existence and reasons for the death of Atlantis remains unanswered to this day.
First mentions. Versions
There is little evidence for the existence of Atlantis, we know about it mainly thanks to Plato, but this man is at the origins of the modern intellectual tradition. And yet - from mediums, among which - the most famous was the soothsayer of the XX century "The Sleeping Prophet" Edgar Cayce.
In our time, geological theories are vying with each other, it never existed in nature, the outlines of the edges of the continental platforms of Europe, Africa and both Americas fit together like two halves of a photograph from a spy film, simply leaving no room for it. But Atlantis has been stubbornly sought after for several centuries. Including - in Antarctica, under an impenetrable, many kilometers ice shell.
In the last century, historians have uncovered ancient maps depicting this gigantic freezer free of ice. Who could have compiled them is unknown, but certainly not medieval sailors who did not have the slightest idea about chronographs. Paleontologists managed to find relict remains of thermophilic equatorial trees in Antarctica. How they ended up in the Arctic Circle remains a mystery. According to one version, this could have happened when the planet "tumbled" about 15 millennia ago under the influence of some unknown, monstrous force.
Dead mainland Atlantis
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One has only to talk about the mythical proto-civilization, the possible ancestral home of the mysterious enlighteners of antiquity, Viracocha, Kukulkan, Osiris, when Atlantis rises before our eyes, a fabulous continent inhabited by the mighty giants of the Atlanteans. Its majestic temples and palaces rise from the depths in all their splendor. Aircrafts soar over the rooftops, ships dock in the port. Fat herds graze in meadows cut by beautiful roads …
And then the sky begins to turn black, lightning flashes, lightning strikes buildings. Awakened volcanoes spew lava, tsunamis born in the ocean sweep away everything in their path. The earth bursts with cyclopean cracks, and Atlantis falls into the abyss. Leaves forever to become a beautiful myth.
Not a single legend that has come down to us from time immemorial has given rise to as many stories and controversies as this mysterious continent. Many books are devoted to him, many of which were bestsellers of their time, the number of hypotheses that were put forward is calculated in numbers with four zeros. Atlantis does not fit into scientific canons, and the date of its tragic death is frankly out of the ordinary. If we assume that it was, the monumental building of historical science will crumble, like a house of cards, and then everything and everyone will have to be revised.
Since the days of Antiquity, the lost continent has been stirring the minds. Moreover, there is only one direct evidence of its existence. True, it belongs to Plato himself.
So it was Plato who stirred up the water? It turns out that way. It was after all that he penned Timaeus and Critias, works written in 360 BC, both in the form of dialogues. It is difficult to answer the question of why Plato chose such a literary method, and what is in front of us in general - a work of art, where the author made it possible to roam fantasies, or a transcript of the conversation of the Greek sage Solon with the Egyptian priest, which took place 230 years before Plato, in 590 BC? One way or another, the history of Atlantis is told from the perspective of Plato's great-grandfather Cretius, who told her friends, Socrates, Timaeus and Hermocrates.
Plato's Atlantis
So, Plato left a detailed description of the history of Atlantis, its social system and natural resources. Also named are the geographical coordinates and the approximate size of the island. According to Plato, Atlantis lay behind the Strait of Gibraltar, which the ancient Greeks called the Pillars of Hercules, in the central Atlantic, and was larger in area than Asia Minor and Libya combined. In "Timaeus" there is one more remark, which makes it possible to judge the size of Atlantis: "travelers could in those days reach other islands, and from them, and the opposite continent." The last phrase is suggestive of America, which the Greeks had no idea about at the time. This is a strong argument in favor of the fact that Plato did not whip the "gag", sucking the story out of his finger. This means that this is a historical message of a unique age.
The ancient history of the island, in Plato's retelling, looks fabulous, which is not surprising, because he was the son of his time. Plato argues that Atlantis, as a fiefdom, went to the ruler of the seas, Poseidon, during a draw arranged by the gods who divided the spheres of influence on Earth. In that mythical era, the entire population of the island consisted of the family of the Aboriginal Eunor, "one of the husbands who were born into the world at the very beginning." Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful Kleito, daughter of Eunor, achieved her, and she bore him twins, who later became the first kings of Atlantis. Calling them by name, Plato made a reservation that they were altered by Solon in the Greek manner, after the latter learned that the Egyptians had already altered them before him.
The capital of Atlantis appears before us as a thriving metropolis, many of the buildings there are architectural masterpieces. The city is dominated by the Temple of Poseidon on a high hill, behind a wall of solid gold and three moats filled with water, elements of defense in depth. Describing the palace itself, Plato claims that "it was impossible to see the building without being amazed at its size and beauty." Which is not surprising, with a length of two hundred meters and a width of about a hundred. Outside it is trimmed with silver, inside - gold, ivory and orichalcum, a metal found only in Atlantis. Among the majestic golden statues installed under the dome, the largest, of course, is the ruler of the seas. Poseidon drives six winged horses harnessed to a marble chariot. And he props up the vaults with his head.
Between the palaces there are a lot of pools, there are so many of them that it becomes obvious that the slogan "cleanliness is the guarantee of health" is familiar and revered by the Atlanteans. At the same time, the baths are very different, “reservoirs are open and, for the winter time, closed; for kings and for private individuals”, which may indicate social inequality on the one hand, and the existence of hot water supply on the other.
Then Plato and I find ourselves on a plain that stretches for many hundreds of kilometers and everywhere drops abruptly to the sea. “This plain was rectangular in shape and consisted of 3 thousand stadia in length and in its middle part 2 thousand stadia in width,” wrote Plato. In other words, 500 x 400 kilometers. Fertile fields are interspersed with flowering gardens, located here and there, the villages are connected by excellent roads. There are many wild animals in the forests, even there are elephants, but there is enough food for everyone, "the island gave abundant food to all kinds of animals, both those living in swamps, lakes and rivers, and these elephants, although they are huge and gluttonous."
If you trust Plato, the plant growing of Atlantis is also at its best, among the products he listed, which were produced both for the domestic market and for export, there are those that will make you think about the triumph of selection, "giving at the same time drink, food and incense." In turn, everything is in order with the subsoil, they are bursting with minerals: “All metals are hard and fusible, suitable for processing, including the one that we now know only by name: orichalcum. There are deposits of it in many places on the island"
Established trade relations multiply the wealth of the Atlanteans, their state is a world empire spread over several continents, far beyond the borders of Atlantis itself: “They and their descendants ruled their territories and many other islands in the ocean for many generations and controlled the life of all people, who lived on this side of the strait as far as Egypt and Tyrrenia. The empire was ruled by a collegial body, a kind of Council, which largely limits the power of the kings.
Plato also named the reasons that ruined the powerful superpower. He speaks of a brutal war with a grandiose natural cataclysm in the end, "earthquakes and floods of unusual destructive force", as a result of which "in one terrible day and one night the island of Atlantis was swallowed up by the sea and disappeared." What were the causes of the cataclysm? According to Plato, the Atlanteans angered the gods, because they stopped "following the principles of virtue, and lost the divine principle." The gods made the appropriate decision, and, since their words did not differ from their deeds, the punishment followed immediately, Atlantis went to the bottom. “In one terrible day,” in Plato's words.
Other evidence
For a long time, it was believed that Plato's story is the only evidence of the existence of Atlantis. This is not entirely true. A rather similar legend circulated in Egypt during the Middle Kingdom, long before Solon's conversations with the priest. The Greek philosopher Krantor assured that when visiting the state of the Ptolemies in 300 BC. saw a column on which the story of the deceased island was carved.
The ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, who lived 300 years after Plato, in turn mentioned Atlantis. True, because he was probably familiar with Timaeus and Critias, some historians believe that the evidence he left cannot be considered a reliable cross-source. And there are striking differences between the stories of Plato and Diodorus. First, Diodorus writes nothing about the war that took place between Atlantis and “prehistoric” Athens. Secondly, from his work it can be concluded that Atlantis was rather the western edge of the European continent than an island in the Atlantic.
There is also indirect evidence that Atlantis did exist. For example, in the era of Antiquity, the sea route across the Atlantic was considered impassable. Aristotle and Herodotus write about the many deadly shallows and even swamps of liquid mud in those parts. According to the latter, it was because of this that the Persian king Xerxes abandoned the idea of sending a fleet west of the Pillars of Hercules, in search of someone else to conquer. Where does the Atlantic swamp come from?
Author: Y. Zuev