Briefly about the article: A country that thousands of years ago could have conquered all of Europe. Huge marble palaces, multi-deck ships, tall strong people, hitherto unseen weapons, the mysterious magic of priests, nobility and ambition - all this could become a reality of our history, if not for ...
Lost Civilization
Atlantis - reality or dream?
All that is hidden now will once be revealed by time.
Quintus Horace Flaccus, Epistles, 6:20
A country that thousands of years ago could have conquered all of Europe. Huge marble palaces, multi-deck ships, tall strong people, hitherto unseen weapons, the mysterious magic of priests, nobility and ambition - all this could become a reality of our history, if not for ...
Thousands of books and articles have been written about the ancient country of Atlantis, buried by the deep ocean. What was Atlantis? An ancient and powerful human civilization? Or maybe a refuge for aliens from distant worlds? Why did Atlantis die? Was she the victim of a natural disaster or a devastating war with mysterious weapons?
Other ancient authors also wrote about Atlantis and its inhabitants. True, almost all of them lived after Plato, and therefore, most likely, relied on the data he cited.
The exception is the “father of history” Herodotus (485-425 BC), who mentioned the Atlanteans who lived in North Africa. However, this tribe got its name from the Atlas mountain range.
A surge of interest in the problem of Atlantis falls on the end of the 19th century. In 1882, the American Ignatius Donelly published the book "Atlantis - the antediluvian world", where he argued that this legendary land is the ancestral home of all mankind. To prove the theory, he used the data of archeology, biology and mythology, compared the legends, languages and customs of peoples on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Donelly's work laid the foundation for the modern view of the problem of Atlantis and became a source of inspiration for other authors. The result is more than 5,000 titles of scientific, popular science and fiction books.
Broken phone
As you can see, atlantology is based on a shaky foundation. You are especially convinced of this by a sober analysis of Plato's texts. The philosopher learned about Atlantis from other people's words, and the whole story resembles a children's game of “spoiled phone”.
So what does Plato say? His great-grandfather Critias, being a 10-year-old boy, heard about Atlantis from his then already 90-year-old grandfather, also Critias. And he, in turn, learned the tragic history of the Atlanteans from a distant relative, the great Athenian sage Solon (640 - 558 BC). Solon, on the other hand, received a “relay baton” from the Egyptian priests from the temple of the goddess Neith in the city of Sais (which has not survived to this day), who from time immemorial allegedly kept historical annals in the form of hieroglyphs on temple columns. It turns out quite a long chain of intermediaries ...
Assuming that Plato did not invent anything, there is still plenty of room for error. Critias Jr. claimed that the story of Atlantis shocked him, so he memorized it in detail. However, there are direct contradictions in the dialogue. For example, in one place Critias says that: "... the story is indelibly imprinted in my memory", and in another - that: "... after such a long time, I did not remember the content of the story enough." Further, it turns out that he had some records. Commemorative notes of the grandfather or Solon? Yes, and the grandfather of Kritia in his 90s could well have confused a lot of things, not to mention the fact that many details of the legend of the sunken earth, perhaps, are the fruit of senile boasting. “And I’ll tell you, granddaughter, a great-a-wild fairy tale!”.
So perhaps Aristotle was right, or partly right. Plato could indeed invent the history of Atlantis to illustrate his views (recall Thomas More's "Utopia"). Or, with all his honesty, the philosopher compiled dialogues from some other sources about Atlantis that have not come down to us, historical and geographical works of various authors, legends, myths and his own conjectures. Well, Plato simply could have come up with a chain of narrators for greater reliability.
True, the ending of Critias is most likely lost. Perhaps the "lost files" contained the answers to all questions?
"Pros and cons"
Plato describes the land of the ancestors of the Hellenes as follows: "It stretches from the mainland far into the sea ... and is immersed on all sides in a deep vessel of the abyss." But the ancient Greeks did not know about the presence of depths greater than a few tens of meters! Atlantologists believe that Plato's words about the "deep vessel of the abyss" are evidence of knowledge preserved from the time of the Atlanteans. However, Plato could use this turn as a poetic comparison. Or, based on the presence of the steep coasts of Attica, independently conclude that if the rocks abruptly break into the sea, it must be very deep there.
On the other hand, the war of the ancient Hellenes with Atlantis is very reminiscent of the wars of the Greeks with the Persians. The thought involuntarily creeps in that the philosopher projected the events of real history onto the distant past. The description of Atlantis in terms of relief and natural data resembles the island of Crete. Temple of Poseidon, main place of worship Atlanteans, very similar to the sanctuary of Aphrodite in Cyprus. The sculpture of the god of the seas on a chariot drawn by six winged horses resembles a very real statue of Poseidon by Skopas (4th century BC). Coincidence or fraud?
Where is this street, where is this house?
Atlantologists also argue about the location of the legendary land, although it would seem from Plato's dialogues that it is extremely clear that the island was located precisely in the Atlantic.
Plato says that to the west of the Pillars of Hercules (the ancient name of the Strait of Gibraltar) lay a huge island, larger than Libya and Asia combined, from which it was easy to cross the other islands to the “opposite mainland” (America?).
Therefore, many of the atlantologists believe that traces of Atlantis must be sought somewhere at the bottom of the ocean of the same name. Possibly next to existing islands that could be tall mountain peaks sunken land.
At the same time, atlantologists stubbornly ignore the simplest fact - if an asteroid capable of flooding a hefty island crashed to Earth, this would cause such an increase in atmospheric temperature that almost all life on the planet would be destroyed.
Myths of the peoples of the world
Donelly, the "father" of atlantology, and his followers consider mythology to be the key proof of the existence of Atlantis, or rather, several legends that coincide among many peoples.
First, there are the legends about the flood, which are found in almost all mankind. The gods, tired of human mischief, flood the whole earth with water, adding a number of weighty means of re-educating sinners - in the form of a fiery rain, for example.
Secondly, legends about aliens from distant lands (not to be confused with aliens!). From somewhere far away, an unknown person arrives, speaking in an incomprehensible language and teaching the natives various useful things.
Thirdly, legends about cosmic cataclysms. Something hefty is falling from the sky - a stone, the Moon, the Sun, a Dragon. Nothing good people it doesn't bring. The people left out of business disperse, who goes where ...
Atlantis in the Mediterranean?
In addition to the Atlantic Ocean, the sunken island is placed in other parts of the world. The Mediterranean Sea enjoys special love.
Upon closer examination, this theory does not look like nonsense at all. Plato wrote that after Atlantis sank, “the sea in those places became ... unnavigable and inaccessible due to the shallowing caused by the huge amount of silt that the settled island left behind.” It is unlikely that in the Atlantic Ocean, with its considerable depths, muddy shallow waters would have served as a serious obstacle to navigation. But in the Mediterranean there are plenty of such places. And the nature of Atlantis may well be correlated with almost any Mediterranean island.
The god of the seas, Poseidon, fell in love with a simple girl, Kleito, who gave birth to him 5 pairs of twins, who laid the foundation for the people of the Atlanteans.
The Atlantean state was similar to Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea - an archipelago of several islands, the main of which was 1110 km long and 400 km wide. The climate is supposedly tropical, as elephants were found on the island. On the south side of Atlantis was its capital - the city of Poseidonis with a diameter of about 7 km. In the center of the city there was a lake, in the middle of which lay an island 965 meters in diameter, riddled with canals, with the Acropolis palace complex, surrounded by two earthen ramparts. The outer shaft was covered with copper, the inner - with tin, the walls of the acropolis were lined with orichalcum (metal unknown to us). The structure of the Acropolis included the joint temple of Kleito and Poseidon, surrounded by a golden wall, and the temple of Poseidon himself with a huge statue of the sea god inside. Outside around the temple were images of the wives and relatives of the kings of Atlantis, offerings from their vassals.
The population of Atlantis was about 6 million people. State system- monarchy: 10 kings-archons, the highest of which bore the title "Atlas" and lived in Poseidonis. Every 5-6 years, councils-assemblies were held - "courts" of kings, before which "bull sacrifices" were organized (a similar custom existed in Crete).
The Atlantean army numbered 660,000 men and 10,000 war chariots. The fleet - 1200 combat triremes with a crew of 240 thousand people.
Atlantes - the ancestors of the Russians?
Some scientists go their own way, placing the legendary land in the most exotic places. In 1638, the English scientist and politician Francis Bacon in his book "Nova Atlantis" placed Atlantis in Brazil, where, as you know, there are many wild monkeys. In 1675, the Swede Rudbeck argued that Atlantis was in Sweden, and Uppsala was its capital.
Recently, due to the lack of virgin places, they turned to our boundless expanses - the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, the Black and the Caspian Sea, too, were honored to accept the completely lost Atlantis into their arms. There is also a charming theory that the Atlanteans are the ancestors of the ancient Russians, and the legendary land of Plato ... sunken Kitezh-grad! True, after the stories that Adam and Eve were from somewhere near Moscow, the Russian-Atlantic version no longer looks sensational enough.
R. Silverberg in "Letters from Atlantis" shows the events of a thousand years ago through the eyes of modern man, whose mind has moved into the body of the Prince of Atlantis (an obvious remake of Hamilton's "Star Kings"!).
A time traveler can also witness the events of the past ("Dancer from Atlantis" by P. Anderson, "Atlantis Endgame" by A. Norton and S. Smith).
Sometimes the Atlanteans became aliens from outer space (A. Shalimov, “The Return of the Last Atlantean”), or they were the first earthlings who came into contact with an alien mind (V. Kernbach, "The Boat over Atlantis"; G. Martynov, "Spiral of Time") . Perhaps it was vile aliens who destroyed Atlantis? Here is the hero of the cycle "Atlantis" by G. Donnegan, the tough commando Eric, together with his comrades from the "fur seals" detachment, is trying to stop the insidious alien-sheds who once treacherously drowned the unfortunate Atlanteans.
Many books tell about the adventures of outcasts who survived the catastrophe. Some have preserved the remains of civilization under water (“Atlantis Under Water” by R. Kadu, “Maracot Abyss” by A. Conan Doyle, “The End of Atlantis” by K. Bulychev). Others slipped away. To America (“Temple. A Manuscript Found on the Yucatan Coast” by H. F. Lovecraft), to Africa (“Tarzan and the Treasure of Opar” by E. R. Barrows); to Spain (“This distant Tartessus” by E. Voiskunsky and I. Lukodyanov); even to Britain ("Stones of Power" by D. Gemmel). For some Atlanteans, the shock from the death of their native side turned out to be so strong that other planets seemed to them the best refuge (A. Tolstoy, “Aelita”; A. Shcherbakov, “Cup of Storms”).
In V. Panov's recent novel "The Department of Wanderers" the catalyst for powerful forces is ancient artifact Atlantean Throne of Poseidon. Even Batman ("The Black Egg of Atlantis" by N. Barret) enters the battle for the Atlantean legacy when Penguin Man tries to take possession of an ancient item that gives dark power.
Why did Atlantis die?
There is also no agreement in ascertaining the reasons for the death of the island.
In addition to the basic, albeit absolutely unrealistic version of the fall of a giant meteorite, the hypothesis of a powerful earthquake is very popular. In history, there are cases of a sharp subsidence of the earth by several meters as a result of such a natural disaster. For example, the death of the pirate capital of Port Royal in Jamaica in 1692, when the city plunged into the sea by 15 meters. Strong earthquakes, especially those with an epicenter on the sea floor, can cause tsunamis. A typical example of such a disaster is the tsunami resulting from the eruption of the Krakatau volcano in Indonesia in 1883, when the wave height was about 40 meters. Such a wave is quite capable of burying a coastal zone of the mainland or even an entire island under it.
In addition to more or less scientific explanations, there are also occult-fantastic theories about Atlantis, sometimes very specific. For example, members of the Rising Atlantes sect, founded in the 70s of the last century, believe that the Atlanteans are the descendants of aliens, who then laid the foundation for the Egyptian civilization.
The bestsellers of ophthalmologist Ernst Muldashev, who is terribly popular among some Russians, also contain amazing discoveries. It turns out that the Atlanteans possessed extrasensory perception, and 75,000 years ago, with the help of psychokinetic energy, the Egyptian pyramids were erected. A number of great personalities - Krishna, Buddha, Christ - were also Atlanteans. And somewhere in the depths of Tibet in the caves, the surviving Atlanteans are still sleeping in a special form of suspended animation - samadhi.
Atlantis - a myth?
With all the many disagreements, the only thing that cements the discordant ranks of atlantologists is the idea that Atlantis really existed. However, there are many who say: Atlantis is a myth!
These are their main arguments. Firstly, apart from the dialogues of Plato, there are no other reliable references to Atlantis. Secondly, the island had to be too big, and it is not easy to stick it somewhere in terms of geography. Thirdly, modern geological and oceanographic studies do not confirm the sinking of a large part of the land to the ocean floor. Fourthly, 10 thousand years ago there was no developed human civilization. But for any of these arguments, if desired (and many have it!) No less logical counter-arguments are easily found.
The most impartial scholars nevertheless admit that Plato's dialogues contain a rational grain and they describe real natural disasters that have befallen the Mediterranean - the same Crete.
The only thing that can draw a line under many years of discussion, indisputably proving the veracity of the legend, is the discovery of the remains of Atlantis on the sea or ocean floor. But is it possible?
Remains of former luxury
Scientists from many countries are constantly exploring the seas and oceans, making the most valuable archaeological discoveries from time to time. True, nothing has yet been found that would prove the existence of a sunken mainland or a huge island. Given the constant improvement of the technical equipment of such expeditions, landmark discoveries may not be far off. Another question - what can scientists find at the bottom?
The main building materials of antiquity were marble, granite, basalt and sandstone. For thousands of years in sea water most of the buildings will completely dissolve, except for some of the marble structures. In addition, some types of mollusks and the presence of strong underwater currents can be destructive to sunken buildings.
In salty sea water, metals undergo accelerated corrosion. Iron oxidizes after 200 years at sea, copper and copper alloys disappear after 400 years. True, if copper products are large (bells, cannons, anchors), a layer of carbonates forms on their surface that can protect the object. But high-grade gold can lie in the water for a very long time.
Wooden objects die in a couple of centuries, and high-quality ceramics lie at the bottom for millennia. At the same time, many items, if they are quickly overgrown with corals, are also able to be stored for a long time - however, it is difficult to detect them in this case. In general, some of the heritage of the Atlanteans is theoretically able to survive to this day.
Perhaps a miracle will still happen, and humanity will take a fresh look at its history? Schliemann was once also made fun of, but he, in spite of everything, discovered the legendary Troy ...
Furious disputes, measured discussions, assumptions, myths and versions - all this has been disturbing mankind for many centuries. Mysterious land called Atlantis, haunts neither pundits nor researchers who love to dream up. Didn't miss Atlantis lost world, and a simple layman. It seems that today every second person has heard about it. mysterious island, that in ancient times there was a lost Atlantis, a civilization that knew no equal in technological and scientific development, culture of life. The Atlanteans inhabited it, a free people, but not devoid of human vices, which, in the end, destroyed the mysterious empire. It is believed that the secrets of Atlantis lie somewhere at the bottom of the oceans. Let's try to figure out if this is true or not.
Atlantes and their appearance on the pages of history.
In 428 BC, in a rich and noble family, in the city-state of Athens, a seemingly ordinary boy was born, who received the name Plato. The father of the child was Ariston. His family originates from the legendary king Kodru. Mother - Periktiona, great-great-granddaughter of no less great Solon. Not Atlanteans, of course, but very revered and important people, both by the standards of Athens and by historical canons.
The child grew alive in every sense; he was sociable, cheerful and inquisitive. Surrounded by all sorts of blessings, he did not know what hard work and want were, spending most of his time on physical exercises and education. Having matured, the young man wished to give development not only to his body, but also to his mind. You and I know that the result of this decision will be the Atlanteans and many other discoveries no less important for history, philosophy and other sciences. However, the guy had yet to figure out his own thoughts, ideas and designs. At the age of 20, fate gave the young Plato a chance to answer many questions that tormented him, among which were the Atlanteans: at this time, Plato met Socrates, the greatest philosopher of antiquity, fell under the influence of his ideas and became his faithful student and follower.
All these events, which subsequently gave birth to the Atlanteans, take place against the background of the Peloponnesian War, which shakes the ancient world, starting from 431 BC. The last battle of this long war took place already in the year 404, when the troops of Sparta entered Athens. Power in the city is seized by thirty tyrants; freedom of speech, democracy and the right to choose disappear from the lives of local residents. But only a year passes, and the hated regime of tyranny collapses. The invaders are driven out of the city in disgrace, restoring its independence. Having defended their freedom and independence, Athens, the city where they first started talking about the Atlanteans, regains strength and influence among other Greek settlements.
The victory is given to Athens, the city where the Atlanteans were “born”, with heavy losses: many famous, noble and courageous men perish. Among the dead are many friends of Plato, the “father” of the Atlanteans, a future figure, thinker and activist. The young man hardly survives the loss, and promises himself to change this cruel world. In order to come to his senses and escape from the darkness of days alone, Plato, who discovered the “Atlanteans” to the whole world, goes to long journey. He goes to Syracuse, then he visits the colorful villages and cities of the Mediterranean. At the end of his journey, our hero, who discovered the Atlanteans to the world, ends up in Egypt. Plato has a special interest in this country and its people - his great ancestor, Solon, studied here for many years.
The excellent upbringing, manners and education of the young Plato, the man to whom the Atlanteans owe their fame, impress the local elite. Some time later young man acquaint with representatives of the highest priestly caste of Egypt. It is difficult to say exactly how this acquaintance influenced the views of the future great philosopher, to whom the Atlanteans owe their place in history, but Plato returns to Athens a completely different person. It is quite possible that it was in Egypt that Plato learned who the Atlanteans were and how human civilization actually developed. By the way, the priests of Ancient Egypt were revered not only by the local people, but by the entire ancient world, as the keepers of the most valuable information about the distant past and the peoples that inhabited the Earth. Who knows, maybe the Egyptians really knew who the Atlanteans were, how they lived, and how their story ended.
Long decades pass, but Plato did not tell in one of his works what the great priests of the pyramids told him, whether they told about the Atlanteans or discovered some other secrets of the ancient world. Plato's teacher, Socrates, has long gone to another world, and the philosopher himself has grown old, covered with gray hair and has become much wiser than in his youth. During this period, he already introduced his own philosophy and opened the corresponding school, which eventually turned into an academy. However, the Atlanteans are still not open to the scientific world. Plato's influence on the minds of young men and even old men is inestimable, he is revered as one of the greatest minds that ever lived in Athens and Greece. But the philosopher is tormented by internal conflicts. He struggles with the desire to tell the whole world about what ancient Atlantis, open true story human race. And now, half a century after visiting Egypt, Plato writes two of the most important dialogues in his life - Critias and Timaeus. A similar unique genre of philosophical treatises was introduced by Plato himself. He asks questions and answers them himself. This method, in which the Atlanteans will be opened to the world, better reveals the whole essence of the doubts tormenting a person and the inconsistency of judgments.
Atlantes are finally becoming a world-famous phenomenon. It is in Critia and Timaeus that Plato talks about the mysterious land that existed about 9 thousand years ago, about the land that the Atlanteans inhabited, about the land that does not exist now. It is a huge island with a mountainous terrain. The mountains encircled the perimeter, which was once inhabited by the Atlantean people, their land smoothly turned into gentle foothills, and those, in turn, into the widest plain. It was here that the Atlanteans lived, it was here that they built their way of life, science and civilization.
Atlantis is the land of great minds and no less great wonders.
The secret city, at one time opened only to the Egyptian priests and the young Plato, was called Atlantis. The people who inhabited it descended from the very god of the seas and oceans, Poseidon. It is believed that the progenitor of Atlantis, Poseidon, allegedly once turned to Zeus for help, he asked the supreme god to give him a place on earth. The king of all the gods favorably reacted to the request of the god of waters and allowed him to settle on a huge island, Atlantis, with a favorable climate, but to a greater extent with rocky and infertile soil for crops.
Here Poseidon met local residents, the Atlanteans. First, he met a small people who inhabited the great and mountainous Atlantis, and then, in peace and tranquility, he took up sheep breeding. At first, he suffered from loneliness, but soon a daughter grew up in one of the neighboring families of Atlantis. She turned out to be a girl of extraordinary beauty and intelligence, her name was Kleito. God took her as his wife, and after a while they had five twins, all boys, beautiful, smart and healthy, like gods. What else could be expected from a girl for whom Atlantis was her home, and from the almighty god of the seas, oceans and waters.
When the children grew up, the island, Atlantis, was already divided into ten parts. Each son got a small part of the land, on which he became the ruler. The best piece of land went to the eldest son and at the same time the wisest - Atlan. It was in his honor that the ocean surrounding Atlantis on all sides was named the Atlantic.
Very soon the island, or rather its seventh and largest part, lost city, Atlantis, has become a populous state, an empire. The people who inhabited this state, Atlantes, built huge cities with amazing architecture, created magnificent examples of sculpture, embodied luxurious temples in reality. The most majestic of them was the temple of Kleito, dedicated to the father of Atlantis, Poseidon. It was located in the center of the island, on a hill, and was surrounded by a wall made of gold.
To protect themselves from external enemies, the Atlanteans built a serious defense system. The plain was surrounded by two water rings and three earthen ones. Through the entire island, Atlantis, numerous channels were dug, connecting ocean waters With central part sushi. The main, widest channel ended near the marble steps of Atlantis, which led to the top of the hill, that is, to the temple of Poseidon.
Having strengthened and strengthened, the population of Atlantis created the strongest army in the history of mankind. This army consisted of 1200 ships with a crew of 240 thousand people, whose homeland was Atlantis, and a ground force of 700 thousand people. For comparison, this is twice as much as the world average today. All these people Atlantis had to somehow feed, clothe and shoe. In most cases, funds were sought on the side: the Atlanteans built their economy and politics on constant and bloody wars that could bring profit.
Successful conquests further strengthened the city-state; Atlantis has become stronger than ever. It seems that not a single enemy could be found who would be able to offer worthy resistance to the aggressor. But the universe does not like the proud, it did not forgive pride and Atlantis: proud Athens stood in the way of the island people.
Plato wrote that 9 thousand years ago Athens was a powerful state that could not be compared with the current state of affairs. However, Civilization-Atlantis was strong and it was impossible to defeat such a large army alone. The ancient ancestors of the philosopher turned for help to neighboring states that inhabited the Balkan Peninsula at that time. An unprecedented military alliance was created, the main task of which was the destruction of Atlantis, or at least the weakening of its military power, in order to conclude a peace treaty.
On the decisive day of the battle, the allies opposed by Atlantis were afraid to enter the battle, betraying their neighborly alliance. The Athenians were left alone with the millionth army of the Atlanteans, whose number continued to grow and grow. Courageous Greeks without fear and looking back rushed into battle and in an unequal struggle still lost to the aggressor. It seems that everything, here it is a victory, Atlantis won, and it is time to blow the horn victoriously, but then the gods intervened in human affairs. The great and immortal did not want Atlantis to become higher than the land of Greece subject to and guarded by them.
Zeus and his closest associates have been closely watching Atlantis and the people that inhabited this land for centuries. If at the beginning the local population did not cause negative emotions among the celestials, then centuries later, the situation changed radically. Atlanteans from noble, highly spiritual and moral people gradually turn into selfish, greedy, greedy for power and gold, depraved individuals, brazenly and shamelessly ignoring basic human laws and values. The lifestyle and the general situation in which Atlantis found itself, thousands of years after its settlement, caused a sharp negative reaction among those who, according to their status, were supposed to monitor the purity and morality of human civilization.
Atlantis was on the brink of an abyss. Today, in our humane and progressive 21st century, fallen and low personalities are treated quite tolerantly, for many of us such behavior has become the norm, but in those distant times the mentality was completely different. The pantheon of supreme gods and demigods decided to destroy the whole continent, Atlantis was to be wiped off the face of the Earth. Which was done by the celestials - quickly and imperceptibly for most people.
Atlantis was sinking, both in its own greed and literally. The earth opened up, stormy ocean waters poured onto land. The mysterious island plunged into the eternal abyss. No luck and proud Athens. The wrath of the gods, who did not forgive their wards for the loss, was no less cruel than the fate that Atlantis, a once mighty and beautiful civilization, was doomed to. The gods brought down a catastrophe on Greece and neighboring Earths, the state of Athens was just as erased from the map as Atlantis , wallowing in their own sins. There were no Athenians left capable of celebrating the fall of the aggressor, Atlantis, everyone fell, everyone died.
Secrets of Atlantis, a civilization that has disappeared from the pages of history.
This information can be gleaned from two extensive dialogues that reveal the secrets of Atlantis, and written by Plato at the very end of his life. It seems nothing special - there is no direct evidence based on serious scientific research, no references to any ancient manuscripts or authoritative sources. At first sight secrets of Atlantis like herself ancient civilization- a funny myth, a fairy tale. However, in spite of everything, the secrets of Atlantis and the legends about this civilization survived not only the philosopher himself, they survived centuries, millennia, giving rise to a huge number of discussions, theories and assumptions.
The main opponent who opposed the existence of this nation and dispelled the secrets of Atlantis was Aristotle, who lived in the period from 384 to 322 BC. Aristotle was the teacher and mentor of Alexander the Great. He was one of the main students of Plato, who began his studies at the Academy in 366 BC and completed it in 347.
For almost 20 years, this venerable man, who in every possible way unraveled the secrets of Atlantis, listened to the speeches of philosophers, himself preached the theory of eternal good, and treated with great respect both the works and the statements of his mentor. As a result, Aristotle expressed disagreement with Plato's dialogues, calling them the delirium of an old man. Allegedly, the secrets of Atlantis are not secrets at all, but a rebellion of fantasy and imagination of an honorary elder.
Such a negative reaction had its continuation. IN Western Europe in the middle of the century, Aristotle had unquestioned authority. His judgments and theories were taken as the ultimate truth. Therefore, one can imagine that until the end of the 8th century, the beginning of the 9th century, the mysterious land, the secrets of Atlantis, although they spoke, were spoken with reluctance, with an eye on representative adherents of the philosophical concepts of Aristotle, one of the greatest, if not the most important philosopher of ancient Greece.
What is the reason for such an attitude to the mystery of Atlantis, to the existence of this civilization? Why did Plato's honorary student, Aristotle, categorically reject the possibility that city of Atlantis existed and flourished for several millennia? Maybe he had irrefutable evidence at his disposal that did not leave a trace of the secret of Atlantis? But there is nothing in the writings of the venerable man to point to these proofs. On the other hand, it is also impossible to dismiss the judgments of Aristotle. As a man and philosopher, he was too authoritative to turn a blind eye to what he said and wrote.
In order to understand everything, you need to imagine the pundits of the past, shrouded in dreams and an unclouded look directed to the future, as ordinary mortals, people who are characterized by envy, greed, selfishness and other things that do not fit with philosophers and such respectable men things.
Who was Plato, who gave rise to the mysteries of Atlantis, disturbing the minds of even modern scientists? Plato was the darling of fate, the favorite of fortune. He was born into a wealthy family, from childhood he did not know worries, lack of attention and need for money. Due to his origin, he received all the blessings of life easily, with a wave of his hand. Without any effort, he created the Academy, surrounded himself with admirers and people who sincerely revere him. All doors were open for him in Athens. He could shout at the top of his voice that the sunken city, Atlantis, exists, and he would be believed. Today, such people are usually called the masters of life, golden youth and oligarchs, earlier, such concepts did not exist, however, a biased attitude towards the rich and wealthy of this world can be traced even before our era.
And who was Aristotle, who did everything possible to dispel the secrets of Atlantis, introduced by his mentor? The son of an ordinary doctor at the court of the Macedonian ruler, already by birth doomed to a miserable existence in poverty and social helplessness. From childhood he knew, if not need, then at least the need for money and livelihood. Each new step upward was given to him with great difficulty. Only thanks to his perseverance, willpower, determination and hard work, which the Atlanteans themselves would envy, this man achieved everything that he deserved: money, fame, respect.
Carefully concealed hostility and envy for a prosperous and kindly mentor, in the end, played with Aristotle the worst joke that the human mind and fate are capable of. Atlantis, lost civilization became his Achilles heel. He forgot all the good and good that the mentor did for him, he, if he did not betray Plato, then certainly defiled his eternal memory with his doubts and distrust. After all, in the end, the secrets of Atlantis might not have interested Aristotle at all, however, he did not just turn his attention to them, he considered it his duty and duty to refute the latest works of Plato. God be his judge, the truth is that, with all his striving, Aristotle did not have more than one fact that could refute the statements of the mentor. Atlantes remained unproven, but not refuted, no matter how hard the envious student tried.
Lost Atlantis and the mystery of its existence.
For two millennia, the question of the mysterious continent either came to life in the minds of individual researchers, or died out under the influence of militant antagonists of Plato's instructions. The most serious opponent, parrying any evidence of the presence of the mystical and lost Atlantis on earth, has long been the church. The servants of the Lord considered the official date of the creation of the world to be 5508 BC. Plato, in his theories, climbed into the darkness of centuries, indicating a time interval of 9 thousand years, when, according to the church, neither the Earth, nor people, nor the universe, much less some kind of lost Atlantis could not physically exist.
Only in the second half of the 9th century, when the church split and its influence began to wane, did lost Atlantis may exist, they spoke again, and then in a whisper. The first who again loudly began to talk about the possibility that the lost Atlantis took place in the history of human civilization was Elena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) - theosophist, explorer, writer and famous traveler. Being a gifted, talented nature, no matter how you look at it, a bright and outstanding personality, this amazing woman categorically asserted that the lost Atlantis existed, and Plato was not mistaken when talking about it. mysterious island. True, there were discrepancies in her theories with the Platonic version of Atlantis, the researcher assigned two continents to her at once - one in the Pacific, and the other, located in the Atlantic Ocean. The remains of the once great and ancient empire appeared in her understanding of the islands of Madagascar, Ceylon, Sumatra, individual islands of Polynesia and famous island Easter.
Many other researchers followed Blavatsky, arguing furiously about where the lost Atlantis is located, and about the very fact of its existence on the map of antiquity. However, the researchers could not present anything specific, evidence-based and definite to the scientific community.
Beautiful, but as it seemed to many a mythical legend, the world of Atlantis came to life and received rapid development only at the very end of the 19th century. This is the period of the beginning of powerful progress, both scientific and technical. It is no wonder that it was in this era, when more and more new resources appeared at the disposal of people, that interest in adventure arose again in the minds of many. And the lost Atlantis in their eyes became just that adventure. In fact, humanity has just entered a new phase of its existence. Heavy and light industry developed by leaps and bounds, science showed tremendous interest in what this lost Atlantis really was, technology, finance - all this required more and more advanced means of communication not only between individual cities and countries, but also between entire cities. continents.
In 1898, a landmark event in history took place around the lost Atlantis and research aimed at finding it. This year, a telegraph cable was pulled from Europe to America under water. And suddenly, for some obscure technical reasons, it broke off; as a result of which one of the ends sank to the very bottom of the ocean. They lifted it as is customary with steel crampons. Surprisingly, along with the cable, an unexpected surprise was also pulled out of the water, presumably related to the lost Atlantis: These were small pieces of vitreous lava stuck between the paws of the mechanisms used to lift the cable.
Good luck or not, but at that moment there was a geologist on the ship, and a very, very experienced specialist. In addition, he was familiar with what underwater city Atlantis knew firsthand about the hype around him. He took pieces of a strange rock, the origin of which was almost immediately associated with such a phenomenon as the lost Atlantis, and took them to Paris to his colleague, the French geologist Termier. He carefully studied the samples presented, and soon made a detailed report at the Oceanographic Society, in the capital of France.
As you might guess, his speech was truly sensational and the main topic of this speech was the lost Atlantis, which at that time was the main bone of contention in the research world. In fact, Termier stated with all responsibility that lava takes this form only when it hardens in air. During an underwater eruption, it would be completely different and would not have a vitreous, but rather a crystalline structure. Thus, the conclusion suggested itself that once, in the boundless waters of the Atlantic, somewhere between Iceland and the Azores, there was land, it is obvious that this is not about some unknown island, but about such a phenomenon as the lost Atlantis lost in the depths of the world's oceans.
It seemed that the question of the presence and location of the mysterious mainland should be resolved by itself. It would be time to open a bottle of expensive champagne and celebrate such a serious and important discovery for science as the lost Atlantis, but that was not the case. To make it clearer what exactly is the snag, it is worth going in from afar and telling about everything in order.
Atlantis is a lost world, a bone of contention for the scientific community.
The status of a discoverer in that era was almost the main, cherished dream of the whole life of every respectable man of science. So, in 1900, an English archaeologist named Evans excavates in the Cretan city of Knossos and, surprisingly, finds traces of the most ancient civilization in the entire Mediterranean. He calls it Minoan, but at the same time claims that Atlantis, the lost world, famous in scientific circles, and his Minoan are one and the same.
In his research, the archaeologist refers to a layer of ash found in the sea soil, which is more than three thousand years old. Santorini Island is located 120 kilometers from Crete. It was here, according to the assurances of Arthur Evans, was Atlantis, the lost world, famous in scientific circles. In 1400 BC the Santorini volcano exploded. The entire middle of the island sank to the bottom of the sea, destroying Atlantis, the lost world that haunts the minds of scientists. But what about the fact that Plato's writings speak of the age of Atlantis, the lost world, which is at least 5 thousand years older than the age of the remains of the civilization discovered by Evans. It's simple, according to Evans, Plato simply made a mistake, indicating 9 thousand years instead of 900 years.
Throughout the century, scientists different countries tried to take the palm from each other, competing in their inventions, the ingenuity of the mind, and pseudo knowledge about the ancient world. Wherever the tireless search took them. mysterious Atlantis, the lost world, famous in scientific circles, has been found in the Canary Islands, and off the coast of Iceland, and predictably in the central waters of the Atlantic Ocean. But all to no avail. No one has been able to point to a specific place of the mysterious ancient continent. Atlantis, the lost world, has not been discovered, but what is there, the researchers failed to find even a single piece of evidence or clues that could indicate the location of the mysterious island.
controversy about mysterious earth about what is lost city- Atlantis, do not subside and today is the day. Theories appear and disappear, legends are born and die, and with them more and more scientists, archaeologists and historians climb the research Olympus, and then fall from it. Some of their assumptions are very similar to the truth, others are more like a fantastic story or a good invention of a sick mind. One of these is this story: the basis of everything in Atlantis, the lost world, was a huge crystal that accumulates and transforms the energy of the universe into a more familiar earthly one. Whether this crystal was of artificial or natural origin is unknown, or maybe it is deliberately kept silent. This source of endless energy was kept in the central temple of Poseidon under the watchful eye of the best, chosen warriors.
The crystal completely satisfied all everyday and not only the needs of people whose homeland was Atlantis, the lost world, but they did not want to be content with little. Being aggressive and warlike by nature, the inhabitants of the ancient empire used it as a powerful weapon, destroying and burning the lands of their enemies.
Nowhere and no one around had such a means of protection that could protect them from the power of the crystal, and very soon all neighboring states were enslaved by power-hungry invaders. The mysterious Atlantis, the lost world, turned into a magnifying empire, its borders expanded and expanded until they ran into endless steppes, behind which lay no less boundless China.
Atlantis is the birthplace of the conquerors.
The process of capturing a new, unknown country and race was slow, and ancient atlantes decided to send a powerful beam of energy across the planet. Choking with impatience and greed, people who believed that Atlantis was their home, in a hurry went to the crystal and the main keeper activated the energy weapon.
A pillar of hellfire struck the rocky ground. But instead of piercing the earth like a knife through butter, he split Atlantis itself into several parts. The foaming waters of the ocean quickly poured onto the island, sweeping away everything living and inanimate in its path. The ancient city, Atlantis, sank to the bottom of the ocean in the blink of an eye. All the Atlanteans perished with her, taking into oblivion the greatness and heritage of their civilization. This is such a colorful legend. It is clear that it is based on real facts. All this, most likely, is an invention of some researcher tired of fruitless searches.
Centuries and millennia have passed, but the question of whether the ancient civilization of Atlantis existed or not is still unanswered? Perhaps the most serious and evidence-based theory was put forward by Thor Heyerdahl, the famous Norwegian traveler. He turned his attention and the attention of the scientific world to the similarities between the ancient cultures of Asia Minor, Egypt, Crete and the ancient civilizations that inhabited Central America. Indeed, if we reject skepticism and look at all this from the outside, these cultures have many similarities. Atlanta, or rather their empire, was a state where the cult of the sun occupied no less important position in society than the cult of Poseidon, who was the father of the inhabitants of this city. We can observe the same thing in Central America, Asia Minor and Crete. They also worshiped the god of the sun, practiced marriages between family members to preserve the purity of the family. We do not know what the ancient language of Atlantis was, but we can see that the writing of the cultures of Crete, Central America and Egypt is like two drops of water.
An important similar factor are the pyramids, sarcophagi, mummification, masks. These pagan symbols and examples of art, unusual for European states, often found in Egyptian, Asian and American settlements. Again, we do not know if Atlantis was proud of the pyramids, we only find common features between seemingly different ancient empires at first glance. In addition, it has long been proven that there was once a connection between the American and European continents. We all once lived on one large continent, why shouldn't it be the same Atlantis that researchers have been unsuccessfully looking for for two thousand years already?!
Could it be that Atlantis was not destroyed, but simply reborn in Egyptian pyramids and in American counterparts? Who knows?! Perhaps we will get an answer to this question in the very near future. Now, we, like the entire scientific world, can only assume that Atlantis existed, and was not an invention of the old mind of one philosopher from Athens.
The catastrophe came to the ancient world of Atlantis in the 20th century BC. era, - a huge continent called Atlantis plunged into the waters of the ocean. Not all the inhabitants died in the abyss of waters, part of the population found refuge in Central America, Crete and Egypt. Fenced off from the whole world, the refugees lived on the islands of the Mediterranean for more than 1300 years.
Later, power passed to King Minos, who created a fleet and with its help took possession of part of the Hellenic Sea and Cyclades. Having expelled the Carians and installed his sons as rulers, Minos fought against sea robbery in order to receive as much income as possible.
The islands of that time were not deserted, they were already inhabited by the Proto-Slavic peoples. The Proto-Slavs were warriors and skilled sailors. They were engaged in collecting tribute from merchants who sailed the Mediterranean.
In the XVII-XV centuries BC. the Cretans lived on many islands, but they did not even try to penetrate into Asia Minor, the ancestral lands of the Proto-Slavs.
This was later taken up by the grandson of Minos Agamemnon when he went to Troy. Minos had another goal - Athens. Although he could not conquer the Athenians, he imposed a shameful tribute.The tribute was served by 14 children of both sexes, whom the Greeks had to give every four years "to be devoured by the Minotaur" - all this, of course, is a "terrible story." The Greek scientist Aristotle (384-322 BC) dispelled the legend that hostage children worked in the palace of Knossos and lived there until old age.
Atlantis is the curse of the gods.
The kingdom of Minos prospered and gained strength, but as if an evil fate pursued the Atlanteans in their newfound homeland. In 1450 B.C. era, a powerful earthquake destroys palaces, cities and towns. The earth was not just shaking, it seemed that the giants tore off pieces of the walls from the palaces and scattered them around the cities.
In fact, what happened is similar to the revenge of the gods, because the Atlanteans survived in spite of everything, and the angry deities set out to finally destroy the Atlanteans.
As a result, earthquakes began. The earth and even stones were burning. A myriad of gas and ash was released into the atmosphere. Black clouds of ash hid the sun for several months. A terrible catastrophe forever changed the climate of the islands.
It looked like a real "end of the world", and it really was the end of the Ancient World and the civilization of the Atlanteans. However, people survived this time as well, although the Kritominoan civilization was no longer able to recover from the impact of the apocalypse that had befallen it. Hordes of Indo-European peoples, the Achaeans, flooded the island from Greece.
Those who came rebuilt the palaces in their own way, in their opinion - they should be impregnable fortresses. Instead of the Cretan baths and pools, granaries, workshops for the manufacture and repair of military uniforms were built. Since the Achaeans came from the city of Mycenae, the civilization was called Cretan-Mycenaean.
The warriors of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture were harsh and did not sit out in fortresses, but made daring sorties against their neighbors. The Trojan War is one such sortie. The Achaeans were the grandson of Minos Agamemnon, Menelaus, Palamedes, Odysseus and other kings.
Under the influence of the refined culture of the Atlanteans, the Achaeans became more pampered, were no longer so warlike and, not wanting to fight, preferred to live at home.The "second wave" of the Aryan invasion is associated with the northern people - the Dorians. They were blond-haired and blue-eyed warriors, dressed in skins, destroying everything in their path, and no one could resist them.
The Dorians founded several states in Greece, the most famous among them is Sparta. The Greeks are the descendants of three peoples: economic Achaeans, poets and scientists - Ionians and warriors - Dorians. These peoples gave rise to a civilization called antiquity, from where the time close to us originated.
In this environment, the people of the Atlantean civilization completely "dissolved", not having endured the test of history. But perhaps this was the revenge of the gods.
In the Middle Ages, Atlantis was rarely mentioned. Only Renaissance humanists paid attention to Plato's story. Plato's description inspired several European thinkers to create utopian works, for example, Francis Bacon wrote a utopia " New Atlantis". In it, Bacon describes a utopian society which he named Bensalem. The author places a country similar to Plato's Atlantis in America.
Antediluvian world
In the second half of the 19th century, several eminent scholars—Charles Eynn Brasser, Edward Herbert Thompson, and Auguste Le Plongeon—suggested that Atlantis was in one way or another connected with the Mayan and Aztec cultures. In 1882, a book about Atlantis by Ignatius Donnelly was published. Antediluvian world which generated a lot of interest in this topic. Donelly took Plato's views on Atlantis seriously and tried to prove that all known ancient civilizations originated precisely from its high culture. He also claimed that the lost Atlantis was a technologically advanced country. In particular, the Atlanteans invented gunpowder several millennia before the rest of the world knew the written language. IN late XIX centuries the legends of Atlantis were combined with the stories of other lost continents like Lemuria. Theosophist Helena Blavatsky, in her Secret Doctrine, described the Atlanteans as a highly cultured civilization. Edgar Cayce suggested in the 20th century that the lost Atlantis was a continent stretching from the Azores to the Bahamas, and it was a highly developed civilization. He also predicted that parts of Atlantis would rise from the sea in 1968 or 1969.
Mystery of Atlantis
The mystery of Atlantis also greatly attracted Nazi theorists. Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler organized a German expedition to Tibet in 1939 to look for traces of the Atlantean Aryans. According to Julius Evola, an Italian thinker and esotericist who wrote about Atlantis in 1934, the Atlanteans were Hyperboreans - superhuman beings who lived in eternal bliss and lived on the northern edge of the world. The same opinion was shared by Alfred Rosenberg, one of the Nazi ideologists. However, the arguments of mystics and esotericists must still be confirmed. What do scientists say about this? Supporters of the version of the existence of Atlantis give quite weighty arguments that are difficult to argue with. Some Western hydrologists argue that the Gulf Stream did not exist in the 10th millennium BC. This warm current was blocked by a large island. After he went under water, the Gulf Stream rushed into the Scandinavian waters and caused the melting of glaciers. Doctor of Chemistry M. Zhirov, having examined the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, claims that the modern Mid-Atlantic Ridge was above water in ancient times. In other words, the topography of the ocean floor quite fully corresponds to Plato's descriptions in his Timaeus and Critias. Objects of artificial origin are constantly raised from the ocean floor. Back in the mid-1950s south Azores about a ton of limestone disks with a diameter of 15 and a thickness of 4 centimeters was raised. Scientists have established their age: 12 thousand years.
Majority possible places, where Atlantis could be located, is located in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar, as well as mediterranean sea, on islands like Sardinia, Crete, Santorini, Sicily, Cyprus and Malta; as well as in the Atlantic Ocean off the northwestern coast of Africa. Indeed, in Crete and neighboring islands there was an ancient Minoan civilization, which fell into decay after a volcanic eruption in the 17th century BC. The explosion of the volcano caused a huge tsunami that hit the north coast Crete and other islands in this part of the Mediterranean, and was accompanied by earthquakes. Canary Islands are also named among the places where Atlantis could exist. These islands are located not far from the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea, which is quite consistent with Plato's data. Other islands or groups of islands in the Atlantic were also associated with the legendary island, with the Azores attracting special attention of scientists. However, detailed geological studies of the Canary and Azores, the ocean floor surrounding them, testify to the obvious drawback of this version: no catastrophic decline of these islands was found during any period of their existence. The ocean floor around these islands has never been land. Nevertheless, the version of the location of Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean is still the most popular among supporters of its existence. In their opinion, she could not be in any other place. After all, only in these latitudes can the central island described by Plato with dimensions of 530 x 350 kilometers and several other large accompanying islands fit.
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This article is about the lost continent of Atlantis.
Atlantis is one of the darkest mysteries of modern times: the island that was not, or the island that sank?
« Atlantis (ancient Greek Ἀτλαντὶς) is a mythical island-state. H most detailed description Atlantis is known from the dialogues of Plato of Athens; mentions and comments by Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Posidonius, Strabo, Proclus are also known.
The testimony of the ancients about the location of Atlantis is uncertain.
According to Plato, the island was located to the west of the Pillars of Hercules, opposite the mountains of Atlanta. During a strong earthquake, accompanied by a flood, the island was swallowed up by the sea in one day, along with its inhabitants - the Atlanteans. Plato gives the time of the catastrophe as "9000 years ago", that is, about 9500 BC. e.
Interest in stories about Atlantis emerged during the Renaissance. In modern science, questions about the existence of Atlantis are controversial. There is a doctrine of atlantology specially developed in the late 1950s. People involved in the search and generalization of any information about Atlantis are called atlantologists.
Atlantis is a popular subject in art."
There are NO reliable sources and evidence that Atlantis existed. There is evidence of those who lived in times not far from the life of Atlantis, there are assumptions, there is an “underwater world”, cities in the ocean on the site of the alleged island (islands), there are thousands of theories and legends about how everything was and where the continent disappeared, but there is a definite answer and convincing all the evidence that Atlantis was - no.
Phrases from the film “National Geographic: “We consider the arguments of adherents and skeptics on an equal footing ...”, “A place where many generations lived in abundance in equality”, “Then, within one night, the island, together with the inhabitants, sank to the bottom.”
It is believed that the continent was equal in size to Asia, consisted of fertile plains with a palace surrounded by moats in the middle. This island was a paradise created by the son of the Greek god Poseidon. The venerable inhabitants worshiped bulls, feasted on coconuts, walked with elephants. But the divine features were supplanted by human nature, and they became warlike and greedy. Then, within one day and one night, as a result of an earthquake and a flood, Atlantis sank to the bottom. This is a great legend, but how reliable is it? Some are sure of the existence of Atlantis.
The conviction of adherents of the idea of the reality of the continent is not limited to the belief in the existence of Atlantis, someone also believes that the Atlanteans (the inhabitants of Atlantis) survived and later left a historical, architectural, cultural heritage in the form of various monuments.
The most likely assumptions that Atlantis was in the Mediterranean Sea, the location is indicated on the maps. The most common versions: the Strait of Gibraaltar, the bottom of the lake Dominican Republic, Canary, Ozor Islands and in principle anywhere in the world ... The Atlantic Ocean - most capaciously fits the size of the island described by Plato (the central island is 3000 × 2000 stadia (530 × 350 km)), a number of researchers agree with this.
Plato does not give an exact answer about the existence of Atlantis, but describes the island in detail in the dialogues: Timaeus (briefly) and Critias (more detailed).
Legend of Atlantis. Ancient world: Atlantis - myths and scientific hypotheses:
So, many versions, information, assumptions about the existence of Atlantis as a cornerstone rest on the search for a specific place where the island was, in search of evidence of the reality of the island. There are a lot of studies, theories, films, articles on this issue, but no one has yet established the exact location of Atlantis, and even more so, has not found irrefutable evidence of the existence of the island.
But the mythical raid, better to say - mystical - leaves an alluring trail of attraction, increases interest in one of the most global mysteries of modernity and the prehistoric period. Legends, prototypes, inexplicable phenomena, beautiful stories- that's what surrounds this island. What excites people so much and does not allow many people to go to the bottom of Atlantis in their memory and imagination?
The fact is that many unconditionally important things for humanity are connected with this continent (or connected by people themselves). Because of the list of evidence for the reality of Atlantis, historical facts we will not talk further - why list what is described in thousands of articles and mentioned in millions of sources? We will talk about the philosophical aspect of the existence of Atlantis.
From the movie (link above): "A healthy dose of skepticism won't hurt us. Perhaps Plato invented Atlantis to show the political and ethical side of violence, aggression, greed ... but deep down I want to believe that Plato simply inspired the folk tales about the destruction of the high culture of the island of Thera.
Is Atlantis just a fantasy? But then why did they invent it? Probably because people, even according to well-known psychological facts, need faith in something mystical, globally historical, in the existence of a grandiose past (sunk in one day), a superior race, a superman, superpowers, treasures and chests with gold and noble relics under earth. Therefore, there are myths, legends, fantasy that inspire people with hope and support faith in all other legends. Bermuda Triangle, Mariana Trench, Atlantis, Golden Pyramids of Cheops…
“The most common opinion among historians and especially philologists is that the story of Atlantis is a typical philosophical myth, examples of which are full of Plato's dialogues. Indeed, Plato, unlike Aristotle and even more so historians, never set as his goal the communication to the reader of any real facts, but only ideas illustrated by philosophical myths. To the extent that the story is verifiable, it is not supported by all the available archaeological material.
Indeed, there are no traces of any advanced civilization in Greece or in the west of Europe and Africa, either at the end of the glacial and post-glacial periods, or in subsequent millennia.
As for the death of Atlantis, it is obvious that, having composed this country, Plato had to destroy it simply for external plausibility (to explain the absence of traces of such a civilization in the modern era). That is, the picture of the death of Atlantis is dictated entirely by the internal tasks of the text.
Atlantis, in addition to scientific, theosophical, philosophical, psychological reasons for its appearance, has more banal ones - we need Atlantis, we just need it, at the everyday and dreamy level.
"The myth of Atlantis gives great scope for the imagination, we dream of ideal society, where people live peacefully and amicably… We wonder why, if people used to live like this, we can’t live the same way today?”
This island is a prototype of Paradise after the fall. Atlantis lived there - people with superpowers, they searched for the origins of a superior race, Atlantis is called the cradle of the world, world culture.
Sometimes there are suggestions that if in the end they found Atlantis and reliably established that it existed, everyone would be disappointed: you never know, maybe a couple of pegs and ruins stuck out at the bottom of the sea. And so - emptiness, abyss, everything and nothing - room for imagination and admiration.
Both fiction and the complete acceptance of the existence of the island are two extremes that essentially do nothing for mere mortals. What, for example, to the villagers today before Atlantis existed or not? As for the great cultural heritage to the population of the impoverished areas of Africa, where people are dying of hunger?
But in general, for the world (for the scientific, prosperous part of the population) - Atlantis is a separate planet, with values \u200b\u200bthat you can’t find now, genius people lived there - Atlanteans, who made achievements and discoveries incomparable even with the modern age, and confirmation of the fact of existence Atlantis would radically change the whole story.
Therefore, according to the adherents of the idea of the reality of the continent, to believe that the island was worth it, if only because it gives hope that in the future we will be able to achieve more than the Atlanteans.
None of us can neither refute nor confirm the existence of the island in the past. Therefore, different versions have the right to life - not only those that say that Atlantis is a fiction.
Helena Blavatsky saw in Atlantis far from being a myth; moreover, the island, according to Blavatsky, was considered a myth by people who were narrow-minded and uninitiated. And other followers of mystical teachings gave Atlantis a special place in world history:
“In the book of H. P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, it is stated that in Atlantis the evolution of the Fourth Root Race, which preceded modern humanity, took place.
In 1882, the famous Theosophist A. P. Sinnett claimed to have received from the Tibetan Mahatma K. H. the answer to his questions about Atlantis. K. H. wrote:
“The sinking of Atlantis (a group of continents and islands) began during the Miocene period - (as now, there is a gradual sinking of some of your continents) - and it culminated first in the final disappearance of the largest continent - an event coinciding with the rise of the Alps, then came turn of the last of the islands mentioned by Plato.
The Egyptian priests of Sais told Solon that Atlantis (the only remaining big Island) died 9,000 years before their time. This was not a fictitious number, for they carefully guarded their achievements for millennia. But then, I say, they only mentioned Poseidonis, and would never reveal their secret chronology even to the great Greek legislator...
The great event - the triumph of our “Sons of Light”, the inhabitants of Shambhala (then an island in the Central Asian Sea) over the selfish - if not completely vicious - magicians of Poseidonis happened exactly 11,446 years ago. Read in this connection the incomplete and partly veiled explanation in Isis, Volume 1, and some things will become clearer to you.
Theosophists believe that the civilization of Atlantis reached its peak between 1,000,000 and 900,000 years ago, but collapsed due to internal contradictions and wars resulting from the illegal use of magical powers by the Atlanteans.
W. Scott-Elliot, in The History of Atlantis (1896), states that Atlantis eventually split into two big islands, one of which was called Daitya and the other Ruta, which was later reduced to the last remnant known as Poseidonis.
Ch. Leadbeater claims that there is an occult museum in Tibet, which stores samples of the cultures of all civilizations that have ever existed on Earth, including the civilization of Atlantis.
The four maps of the continent, reflecting the history of its destruction, placed by Scott-Elliot in the "History of Atlantis", are copies of maps from the mentioned Tibetan museum.
In addition, a number of researchers speak of the cyclic nature of terrestrial processes and phenomena, of the patterns of certain events. For example, that earlier the percentage of land was much higher, many cities went under water, Atlantis also left. Also, Atlantis
the world during the global flood, like Sodom and Gomorrah and many other "sinful" areas with an accumulation of "corrupted" people - went under water precisely in order to punish them from above for their corruption.
After all, many say that the inhabitants of the island lost their human dignity, committed lawlessness, went crazy with power, subjugated the surrounding areas, wanted more, having so much - for which they paid. This story has both a moralizing and a philosophical meaning: people are always people, they are not perfect, money, wealth, power spoil everyone. And even the most beautiful paradise will always collapse, because at the root of human nature lies a deviation from the virtues.
An excerpt from the book "Atlantis Unveiled" by E. Blavatsky:
“These people [initiates] believed in the story of Atlantis, they knew that it was not a fable, and claimed that in various eras of the past, huge islands and even continents existed where now only desert water spaces rage.
In their sunken temples and libraries, an archaeologist would find, if he could research, materials to fill in the gaps in what we imagine as history.
It is said that in a distant epoch a traveler could cross what is now Atlantic Ocean, almost the entire length by land, moving only by boat from one island to another, where at that time there were only narrow straits.
