The debate about whether the existence of Atlantis was a reality or beautiful legend, have not ceased for many centuries. On this occasion, it was put forward a large number of the most controversial theories, but all of them were based on information obtained from the texts of ancient Greek authors, none of whom personally saw this mysterious island, but transmitted only information received from earlier sources. So how true is the legend of Atlantis and where did it come from in our modern world?

An island sunk into the sea

First of all, let us clarify that the word "Atlantis" is commonly understood as some fantastic (since there is no direct evidence of its existence) island located in the Atlantic Ocean. Its exact location is unknown. According to the most popular legend, Atlantis was located somewhere near the northwestern coast of Africa, bordered by the Atlas Mountains, and near the Pillars of Hercules, framing the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar.

It was placed there in his dialogues (works written in the form of a conversation of historical or fictional persons) by the famous ancient Greek philosopher Plato. On the basis of his works, a very popular legend about Atlantis was subsequently born. It says that around 9500 BC. e. in the above area there was a terrible earthquake, as a result of which the island forever plunged into the abyss of the ocean.

On that day, an ancient and highly developed civilization, created by the islanders, whom Plato calls "Atlanteans", perished. It should be noted right away that, due to similar names, they are sometimes mistakenly identified with the characters of ancient Greek mythology - mighty titans holding the vault of heaven on their shoulders. This mistake is so common that when looking at the sculptures by the outstanding Russian sculptor A. I. Terebenev (see photo below), decorating the portico of the New Hermitage in St. Petersburg, many people associate with heroes who once sunk deep into the seas.

A mystery that excites the minds of people

During the Middle Ages, the works of Plato, as well as most other ancient historians and philosophers, were forgotten, but already in the XIV-XVI centuries, which received the name of the Renaissance, interest in them, and at the same time in Atlantis and the legend associated with its existence , increased rapidly. It does not weaken to this day, giving rise to heated scientific discussions. Scientists around the world are trying to find real evidence of the events described by Plato and a number of his followers, and to answer the question of what Atlantis really was - legend or reality?

An island inhabited by people who created the highest civilization at that time, and then swallowed up by the ocean, is a mystery that excites the minds of people and encourages them to look for answers outside the real world. It is known that even in Ancient Greece the legend of Atlantis has given impetus to many mystical teachings, and in modern history it has inspired theosophical thinkers. The best known of these are H. P. Blavatsky and A. P. Sinnett. The authors of various kinds of near-scientific and simply fantastic works of various genres, which also turned to the image of Atlantis, did not stand aside.

Where did the legend come from?

But let us return to the writings of Plato, since they are the primary source that aroused centuries-old disputes and discussions. As mentioned above, the mention of Atlantis is contained in two of his dialogues, called Timaeus and Critias. Both are devoted to the issue state structure and are conducted on behalf of his contemporaries: the Athenian politician Critias, as well as two philosophers - Socrates and Timaeus. We note right away that Plato makes a reservation that the primary source of all information about Atlantis is the story of the ancient Egyptian priests, which was passed down orally from generation to generation and finally reached him.

The troubles that befell the Atlanteans

The first of the dialogues contains a report by Critias about the war between Athens and Atlantis. According to him, the island, with the army of which his compatriots had to face, was so large that it surpassed all of Asia in size, which gives reason to call it the mainland with full right. As for the state formed on it, it amazed everyone with its greatness and, being unusually powerful, conquered Libya, as well as a significant territory of Europe, stretching up to Tirrenia (Western Italy).

In 9500 B.C. e. Atlanteans, wanting to conquer Athens, brought down on them all the power of their previously invincible army, but, despite the clear superiority of forces, they could not succeed. The Athenians repulsed the invasion and, having defeated the enemy, returned freedom to the peoples who until then had been in slavery to the islanders. However, the troubles did not recede from the prosperous and once prosperous Atlantis. The legend, or rather, the story of Critias, which is based on it, tells further about a terrible natural disaster that completely destroyed the island and forced it to sink into ocean depths. Literally within a day, the raging elements wiped out a huge continent from the face of the earth and put an end to the highly developed culture created on it.

Commune of Athenian rulers

The continuation of this story is the second dialogue that has come down to us, called Critias. In it, the same Athenian politician tells in more detail about the two great states of antiquity, whose armies met on the battlefield shortly before the fatal flood. Athens, according to him, was a highly developed state and so pleasing to the gods that, according to legend, the end of Atlantis was a foregone conclusion.

The description of the system of government that was arranged in it is quite remarkable. According to Critias, on the Acropolis - a hill that still towers in the center of the Greek capital - there was a certain commune, partly reminiscent of those that the founders of the communist movement imagined in their imagination. Everything in it was equal and everything was enough in abundance. But it was inhabited not by ordinary people, but by rulers and warriors who ensured the maintenance of the order they desired in the country. The laboring masses were only allowed to reverently look at their shining heights and fulfill the plans descended from there.

Arrogant descendants of Poseidon

In the same treatise, the author contrasted the humble and virtuous Athenians with the high-proud Atlanteans. Their ancestor, as is clear from the work of Plato, was the god of the seas Poseidon himself. Once, having witnessed how an earthly girl named Kleito did not live her young body in the waves, he was inflamed with passion and, having evoked reciprocal feelings in her, became the father of ten sons - demigods, half-humans.

The eldest of them, named Atlas, was put in charge of the island, divided into nine parts, each of which was under the command of one of his brothers. In the future, not only the island inherited his name, but even the ocean on which he was located. All his brothers became the founders of dynasties that lived and ruled in this fertile land for many centuries. This is how the legend describes the birth of Atlantis as a powerful and sovereign state.

Island of abundance and wealth

In his work, Plato also gives the dimensions of this legendary mainland island known to him. According to him, it was 540 km long and at least 360 km wide. highest point of this vast territory was a hill, the height of which the author does not specify, but writes that it was located about 9-10 km from the seashore.

It was on it that the palace of the ruler was built, which Poseidon himself surrounded by three land and two water defensive rings. Later, his Atlantean descendants threw bridges over them and dug additional channels through which ships could freely approach the piers located at the very walls of the palace. They also erected many temples on the central hill, richly decorated with gold and decorated with statues of celestials and earthly rulers of Atlantis.

Myths and legends, born on the basis of the writings of Plato, are full of descriptions of the treasures owned by the descendants of the sea god, as well as the richness of nature and the fertility of the island. In the dialogues of the ancient Greek philosopher, in particular, it is mentioned that, despite the densely populated Atlantis, wild animals lived very freely on its territory, among which there were even not yet tamed and not domesticated elephants. At the same time, Plato does not disregard many of the negative aspects of the life of the islanders, which caused the wrath of the gods and caused the catastrophe.

The end of Atlantis and the beginning of the legend

Peace and prosperity that had reigned there for many centuries collapsed overnight through the fault of the Atlanteans themselves. The author writes that as long as the inhabitants of the island put virtue above wealth and honors, the celestials were favorable to them, but turned away from them as soon as the glitter of gold eclipsed spiritual values ​​in their eyes. Looking at how people who had lost their divine essence were filled with pride, greed and anger, Zeus did not want to restrain his anger and, having gathered other gods, gave them the right to pass their sentence. This is where the manuscript of the ancient Greek philosopher ends, but, judging by the catastrophe that soon befell the wicked proud, they were considered unworthy of mercy, which ultimately led to such a sad outcome.

The legends of Atlantis (or information about real events - this remains unknown) attracted the attention of many ancient Greek historians and writers. In particular, the Athenian Hellanic, who lived in the 5th century BC. e., also describes this island in one of his writings, however, calling it a little differently - Atlantiad - and not mentioning its death. However, modern researchers, for a number of reasons, believe that his story is not related to the lost Atlantis, but to Crete, which has successfully survived the centuries, in whose history the sea god Poseidon also appears, who conceived a son from an earthly maiden.

It is curious that the name "Atlantes" was applied by ancient Greek and Roman authors not only to the islanders, but also to the inhabitants of continental Africa. In particular, Herodotus, as well as a no less famous historian, so called a certain tribe that lived in the Atlas Mountains near the ocean coast. These African Atlanteans were very warlike and, being at a low stage of development, waged constant wars with foreigners, among whom were the legendary Amazons.

As a result, they were completely exterminated by their neighbors, the troglodytes, who, although they were in a semi-animal state, still managed to win. There is an opinion that Aristotle said on this occasion that it was not the military superiority of the savages that led to the death of the Atlantean tribe, but the creator of the world, Zeus, killed them for their iniquities.

A product of fantasy that survived the ages

The attitude of modern researchers to the information presented in Plato's dialogues and in the writings of a number of other authors is extremely skeptical. Most of them consider Atlantis a legend with no real basis. Their position is explained primarily by the fact that for many centuries no material evidence of its existence has been found. It really is. Completely absent are archaeological data on the existence at the end of the Ice Age, as well as the nearest millennia to it, of such a developed civilization in West Africa or Greece.

It is also bewildering that the story allegedly told to the world by the ancient Greek priests and then passed down to Plato in oral retelling was not reflected in any of the written monuments found on the banks of the Nile. This involuntarily suggests that the ancient Greek philosopher himself composed the tragic story of Atlantis.

He could well borrow the beginning of the legend from the rich domestic mythology, in which the gods often became the founders of entire nations and continents. As for the tragic denouement of the plot, he needed it. The fictitious island should have been destroyed to give the story an external credibility. Otherwise, how could he explain to his contemporaries (and, of course, to his descendants) the absence of traces of his existence.

Researchers of antiquity also pay attention to the fact that when talking about a mysterious continent located near the western coast of Africa, and about its inhabitants, the author cites only Greek names and geographical names. This is very strange and suggests that he himself invented them.

tragic mistake

At the end of the article, we will cite some very amusing statements that zealous supporters of the historicity of the existence of Atlantis come out with today. As mentioned above, today it has been raised to the shield by many supporters of the occult movements and all sorts of mystics who do not want to reckon with the absurdity of their own theories. Pseudo-scientists are not inferior to them, trying to pass off their fabrications as discoveries allegedly made by them.

For example, in recent years, articles have repeatedly appeared on the pages of the press, as well as on the Internet, that the Atlanteans (the existence of which the authors did not question) have made such a high progress that they have carried out extensive research activities in the field of nuclear physics. Even the disappearance of the continent itself is explained by the tragedy that occurred as a result of their unsuccessful nuclear test.

The fact that somewhere in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean more than ten thousand years ago, allegedly, there was an island-continent, on which representatives of the most progressive civilization at that time lived, are known to almost all the inhabitants of the planet. They also know that this civilization allegedly died instantly when their island was "swallowed" by the ocean as a result of some terrible natural disaster.

The first written references

However, not everyone knows that the "myth" about Atlantis appeared relatively "recently" - it was first mentioned in the works of the famous philosopher and political figure of Ancient Greece Plato (427-347 BC). In his notes in the Eighth Tetralogy "The State" - "Timaeus" and "Critias" were written around 470-460 BC. - for the first time in the history of mankind, it was Plato who captured the story on paper, which he allegedly learned from the stories of his distant relative, the famous Athenian lyricist, politician and traveler Solon (640-559 BC), about mysterious island, named after the eldest son of Poseidon Atlas.

Solon's story about Atlantis

According to Plato, Solon was told about Atlantis by the Egyptian priest of the temple of Neith (Egyptian goddess of the sky, war and hunting; patroness of queens) in the city of Sais (Egypt). The priest told the Athenian an ancient legend. About 9000 years ago, behind the Pillars of Hercules (as the Strait of Gibraltar was called in those days) in the ocean there was a large island that occupied an area commensurate with the size of Asia. There was a civilization on this island, which was ruled by kings, descending from the sons of the powerful god Poseidon. When the empire of the Atlanteans, to whom all the coastal and island states and peoples from Egypt in the south to the peoples inhabiting the Apennine Peninsula in the north, decided to conquer the lands of the Mediterranean, they faced the well-organized army of Ancient Greece. The Athenian army dealt a crushing blow to the Atlanteans. And shortly after that, a powerful earthquake happened in the Atlantic Ocean and the island of Atlantis sank "within a day". Thus ended the era of the Atlanteans on Earth.

Who else from the ancients wrote about Atlantis?

Historians have also managed to find ancient written "confirmations" of the existence of Atlantis:

• in the 4th century BC the ancient Greek philosophers Theophrastus, Cranton and Proclus mention it in their works;
• in the 2nd century BC Atlantis is mentioned in the writings of the Roman historian-writer Elian Claudius.

And that's it! There is no other mention of Atlantis in the ancient works found by historians.

A little analysis

It is very strange, but all the records found only comment on the work of Plato and do not refer to any other sources. Why strange? Because such a legend as the legend of a vanished powerful civilization and a sunken mainland could not but be imprinted in the legends of any island and coastal peoples of Europe and Africa. But historians have not found anything of the kind.

In addition, Plato, if he used the "stories" of Solon, had to refer to some kind of written document (diaries and something else) written by a man who died more than 80 years before his birth. It is obvious that Solon himself could not personally tell Plato anything. But why then, except for Plato, no one else refers to any of Solon's records about Atlantis, and while on other issues he was quoted or argued relatively a lot. It turns out that the myth of Atlantis "spawned" Plato - he is the primary source of the legend. Is the legend of Atlantis and the Atlanteans invented by an ancient Greek philosopher?

What natural disaster did Plato pass off as the death of Atlantis?

As you know, the imagination of ancient authors, when describing any serious tragedy, did not work as well as it does now - they usually did not invent anything, but described what they saw or heard from "reliable" sources that deserved their trust. . They could come up with plots of relationships between people, people and Gods - but there are no natural disasters. Thus, Plato could describe in his work what he knew quite well. Around 373 BC. in the region of the Greek coast there was a strong earthquake, which was accompanied by devastating tsunami. The richest island of Gelika in those days in the Gulf of Corinth was completely wiped off the face of the earth. By the way, on this island there was a forest of gigantic trees, which the Greeks called the forest of Poseidon. Do you see the connection between Plato's records of the destruction of Atlantis and this earthquake and tsunami?

Why did Plato "invent" the story of Atlantis?

Historians believe that the answer to this question should be sought in the political plane. The fact is that the famous politician Plato needed to demonstrate that the right organization government controlled society (Sparta) allows you to defeat any rich and strong state (Atlantis). Here is such a simple, but absolutely logical explanation.

Contemporary interest in Atlantis

Then humanity will "forget" about Atlantis for a long time and "remember" the island-continent that sunk hundreds of centuries ago only in the nineteenth century - we owe the "revival" of modern interest in Atlantis to the American historian, congressman and publicist Ignatius Donnelly, who published the book "Atlantis" in 1882 : The World After the Flood. It was from her that the disputes of historians and occultists about the reality of the existence of Atlantis and its purpose began.

Search for Atlantis

Another argument in favor of the version that the story of the sunken mainland island, on which there were several cities with magnificent stone buildings, is that, despite even the most modern methods of exploring the sea depths, even signs of the existence of such islands. It is clear that the expanses of the ocean are large, but after all, they were looking not for a small town, but for a huge island.

Outcome

Despite the obvious that the story of Atlantis was most likely invented by Plato, no one forbids believing that in the distant past there was an island similar to Atlantis - in the past of the Earth and mankind there is so much unknown that nothing can be ruled out.

Modern researchers have not yet been able to fully reveal all the hidden secrets of the existence of Atlantis. However, thanks to the many studies carried out in this area, there are still a number of assumptions and hypotheses regarding the existence of the described ancient civilization.

Official science, of course, does not recognize the existence of this mysterious - perhaps really only mythical - civilization in the past.

The achievements of the Atlantean civilization are impressive.

There is an opinion among scientists that the Atlanteans have reached a very high level of progress in all spheres of life. They could plan their life in completely different ways. For example, it was not alien to the people who once inhabited this sunken continent, telepathic communication with family and friends. They also liked to have long conversations about their role in the Universe.

According to the Theosophists, the Atlanteans were the fourth race on earth. They appeared after the death of the Lemurian civilization, having absorbed some of its achievements, and existed before the appearance of the fifth, Aryan race. The Atlanteans were much more god-like than the Lemurians. Beautiful, smart and ambitious.

They worshiped the sun and developed their technology rapidly, just as we do today.

Description of Atlantis by Plato

In the year 421 BC, Plato spoke in his writings about the vanished civilization of the Atlanteans.

According to him, it was a large island, located in the middle of the ocean, beyond Gibraltar. In the center of the city there was a hill with temples and the palace of the kings. The upper city was protected by two mounds of earth and three water ring canals. The outer ring was connected by a 500-meter canal to the sea. Ships sailed along the canal.

Copper and silver were mined in Atlantis. Sailing ships delivered ceramic dishes, spices, and rare ores.

The temple of Poseidon, the lord of the seas, was built of gold, silver, orchilak (an alloy of copper and zinc). His second temple was protected by a golden wall. There were also statues of Poseidon and his daughters.

After forty years, after the death of the philosopher, the Athenian resident Krantor went to Egypt to find Atlantis. In the temple of Neith, he found hieroglyphs with texts about the events that had taken place.

Scientific and technological progress in Atlantis

Due to their high level of mental and mental development, the inhabitants of Atlantis managed to establish contact with extraterrestrial beings. Some researchers give information that the Atlanteans were able to create ultra-fast and practical aircraft. Their very deep knowledge in the field of physics, mathematics and mechanics made it possible to produce equipment highest quality with unusual properties. And it was these devices that easily helped them travel through space!

The progress in technology was so stunning that today mankind has not yet been able to develop analogues to those flying devices, even taking into account the fact that science is constantly striding by leaps and bounds forward in all spheres of life without exception.

All this suggests that the inhabitants of Atlantis were outstanding people, possessed of great intellect and knowledge. At the same time, the Atlanteans willingly shared the acquired skills and experience with the younger generation. Therefore, progress in technical development gradually improved and reached unprecedented heights.

The first pyramids were built just on the territory of Atlantis. This unusual phenomenon still causes bewilderment among researchers, due to what improvised means and equipment it was possible to build such unusual structures!

Also economically, their country was prosperous. The work of any person in it was paid at its true worth. According to legend, Atlantis was an ideal country, there were no beggars and rich people who boasted of their wealth.

In this regard, the social situation in this country was always stable, no one was worried about food.

The appearance and morality of the Atlanteans

Due to the fact that the body of the Atlantean possessed remarkable physical strength compared to modern man, they could do much more work than our contemporaries.

The body of the Atlanteans was staggering in size. According to the evidence, it reached 6 meters in height. Their shoulders were very wide, the torso was elongated. There were 6 fingers on the hands, and 7 on the feet!

The facial features of people who once lived on Atlantis are also unusual. Their lips were very wide, their nose had a slightly flattened shape, while they also had huge expressive eyes.

According to their physiological data, the average life span of an average Atlantean was about 1000 years. At the same time, each of them tried to look beautiful in the eyes of others. Often, a variety of jewelry made of silver or gold, as well as precious stones, were used as decorations.

The Atlanteans were highly moral people. Therefore, they were alien to bad habits and an immoral way of everyday life. In any situation, they tried to act honestly with others, no one tried to deceive and set anyone up. In family relationships, marriage once in a lifetime was the norm. And the relationship itself was built solely on mutual trust, support and love for each other.

The political system in Atlantis was built in a democratic field. In many ways, it is similar to the one that prevails in the modern successful states of Europe with freedom of speech and the right to choose. The ruler of the Atlanteans was chosen by voting. At the same time, he ruled for a very long period - from 200 to 400 years! But whoever rules Atlantis, each of its leaders has always sought to create such a social environment within the state, thanks to which any person could always feel protected and cared for.

Causes of the death of Atlantis

One of the assumptions why Atlantis disappeared is based on the fact that the kings and the population of this continent began to abuse knowledge, with the help of which they carried out their aggressive intentions.

For example, the pyramids they built created portals to other worlds. All this contributed to the fact that the energy coming from the parallel reality could be negative and at a certain moment could adversely affect the entire continent, completely destroying it in an instant.

In their daily lives, magic has increasingly been used exclusively with malicious intent.

Too much knowledge creates a temptation to use it for selfish interests. And no matter how morally pure the inhabitants of Atlantis were at first, in the end, negative tendencies began to grow in their society over time. The predatory attitude towards nature, the growth of social inequality, the abuse of power by the small elite that ruled the Atlanteans ultimately led to tragic consequences associated with the incitement of a long-term war. And it was she who became main reason that one day the entire continent was swallowed up by the ocean.

Some scientists also assert with certainty that the death of Atlantis occurred approximately 10-15 thousand years ago. And this large-scale event provoked a huge meteorite that fell on our planet. The fall of a meteorite could change the earth's axis, which caused a tsunami of an unprecedented scale.

What did Helena Blavatsky say about the causes of the death of Atlantis

According to Helena Blavatsky, the fall of Atlantis happened because the Atlanteans played God. It turns out that from high morality the Atlanteans rolled down to indulgence of passions.

The technology of the Atlanteans, which surpassed their spiritual qualities, allowed them to create chimeras - a cross between man and animals, to use them as sex slaves and physical workers. Atlanta on high level mastered genetic modification and cloning technology. This is similar to what people are doing now, in the 21st century.

Being telepathically warned that the continent would sink, many of the inhabitants of Atlantis fled, having managed to board ships before the final sinking of the mainland in 9564 BC. by a series of earthquakes.

The American mystic Edgar Cayce, who looked into the so-called astral akashic records in a trance state, claimed that many of the souls who once lived in Atlantis now live as representatives of modern Western civilization in order to fulfill their destiny.

The search for a lost civilization

Over the past two thousand years, there have been multiple speculations about the location of Atlantis. Interpreters of the works of Plato pointed to the modern islands of the Atlantic. Some argue that Atlantis was located in present-day Brazil and even in Siberia.

Modern archaeologists consider the thinker's story about the Atlanteans a fiction. Circular networks of canals, hydraulic structures in those days were still beyond the strength of mankind. Researchers of Plato's philosophy and literature believe that he wanted to call for the creation of an ideal state. As for the period of disappearance, Plato names information that this happened eleven and a half thousand years ago. But during this period, man was only emerging from the Paleolithic, the Stone Age. Those people were not yet sufficiently developed mind. Perhaps these data of Plato about the time of the death of Atlantis are incorrectly interpreted.

There is one assumption why the figure of the death of Atlantis by Plato appears 9 thousand years ago. The fact is that in Egyptian reckoning "nine thousand" was depicted by nine lotus flowers, and "nine hundred" - by nine knots of rope. Outwardly, in writing, they were similar, and therefore there was confusion.

Modern research

In one thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine, all European newspapers were full of headlines "The Russians found an island." Photographs were presented in which vertical ridges, similar to walls, peeked out of the sand. Search operations unfolded exactly where Plato indicated - behind the Pillars of Hercules, above the underwater volcano Ampere. It was reliably established that it stood out from the water, was an island.

In 1982, another Russian ship, having sank under water, discovered the ruins of the city: walls, squares, rooms. These findings were refuted by another expedition, which found nothing. In addition to frozen volcanic rocks.

There are suggestions that the disaster occurred due to a sudden shift in the African tectonic plate. Its collision with the European caused the eruption of Santorini - and western islands sank.

Of course, it is now impossible to say with accuracy what exactly happened once to Atlantis and what contributed to its death. And many of the hypotheses set forth by the researchers can only come close to the truth.

Whether Atlantis was simply a figment of the imagination of Plato and other thinkers, or a reality reflected in ancient legends, miraculously preserved to this day, remains a mystery ...

Perhaps our civilization is moving towards the same finale, when we will become for our distant descendants the same mythical event that Atlantis is for us. And our continents will also unsuccessfully search for days of deep oceans.

The "fatal" mistake of Plato (Critias or Solon) is revealed, which led to confusion with the location of Atlantis.

Atlantis has not disappeared, it exists and lies in the depths of the sea. A lot has been said about Atlantis, thousands of research materials have been written. Historians, archaeologists, searchers have proposed fifty versions of a possible location around the world (in Scandinavia, in the Baltic Sea, in Greenland, North and South America, in Africa, the Black, Aegean, Caspian Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and so on), but the exact location is not named. Why such confusion?

Starting to figure it out, you discover one pattern that all assumptions are initially tied to some kind of similarity, a find of antiquity, a single description, under which (which) the materials were subsequently “fitted”. As a result, nothing worked. There is a similarity, but Atlantis cannot be found.

We'll go the other way

Let's look for Atlantis in a different way, which in this case (judging by the well-known proposals), has not been used by anyone before. First, let's take the method of elimination, where Atlantis could not be. As the circle narrows, we will use all the "benchmarks" that were proposed by the ancient Greek scientist, the sage (428-347 BC) Plato (Aristocles) in his works - Timaeus and Critias. In these documents, the only and rather detailed description of Atlantis, its inhabitants and historical events related to the life of the legendary island is given.

“Aristotle taught me to satisfy my mind only with what reasoning convinces me, and not just the authority of teachers. Such is the power of truth: you are trying to refute it, but your attacks themselves elevate it and give it great value, ”said the Italian philosopher, physicist, mathematician Galileo Galilei in the 16th century.

Below is a map of the world, as it was presented in Greece during the time of Plato, Herodotus (IV - V century BC).

Mediterranean Sea

So, let's start "cutting the ends." Atlantis could not be in any far corner of the world, and even it was not in the Atlantic Ocean. You will ask why? Because the war (according to the history of the story) between Athens and Atlantis could not be anywhere except in the Mediterranean Sea on this “patch of civilization” due to the limited development of mankind. The world is big - but the developed one is small. Close neighbors fight among themselves more often and constantly than distant ones. Athens simply could not, with her army and navy, reach the limits of Atlantis if she were somewhere far away. Water and vast distances were an insurmountable obstacle.

“This barrier was insurmountable for people, because ships and shipping did not yet exist,” Plato narrates in his work Critias.

In ancient Greek mythology, which arose many thousands of years later than the time of the death of Atlantis, the only (!) hero Hercules (according to Homer in the XII century BC) performed a feat, traveling to the farthest western point of the world - to the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

“When the Atlas Mountains arose on the path of Hercules, he did not climb them, but made his way through, thus paving the Strait of Gibraltar and connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic. This point also served as a border for navigators in the ancient era, therefore, in a figurative sense, “Hercules (Hercules) pillars” is the end of the world, the limit of the world. And the expression to reach the pillars of Hercules "means" to reach the limit.

See picture The Strait of Gibraltar today is the place reached by the historical hero Hercules.

In the foreground is the Rock of Gibraltar on the edge of mainland Europe, and in the background on the coast of Africa is Mount Jebel Musa in Morocco.

What western limit of the earth reached Hercules (“end of the world”) was unattainable by other mortals. Thus, Atlantis was closer to the center of the ancient civilization - it was in the Mediterranean Sea. But where exactly?

Pillars of Hercules (according to Plato's story, behind which lay the island of Atlantis) in the Mediterranean Sea at that time there were seven pairs (Gibraltar, Dardanelles, Bosphorus, Kerch Strait, Nile Mouth, etc.). The pillars were located at the entrances to the straits, and all had the same name - Heracles (later Latin name - Hercules). The pillars served as landmarks and beacons for ancient sailors.

“First of all, let us briefly recall that, according to legend, nine thousand years ago there was a war between those peoples who lived on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules, and all those who lived on this side: we will have to tell about this war ... How we have already mentioned that it was once an island that exceeded the size of Libya and Asia (not their entire geographical territory, but rather the areas inhabited in antiquity), but now it has failed due to earthquakes and has turned into impenetrable silt, blocking the way for sailors who would try to swim from us to the open sea, and making navigation unthinkable. (Plato, Critias).

This information about Atlantis, which dates back to the 6th century BC. came from the Egyptian priest Timaeus from the city of Sais, located on the coast of Africa, in the western delta of the Nile. The current name of this village is Sa el-Hagar (see below the picture of the Nile River Delta).

When Timaeus said that the barrier from the remains of the sunken Atlantis blocked the way "from us to the open sea", then speaking about us (about himself and about Egypt), this clearly testified to the location of Atlantis. That is, it lies in the direction of travel from the Egyptian mouth of the Nile to the wide waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

In ancient times, the Pillars of Hercules were also called the entrance to the main navigable (western) mouth of the Nile, nicknamed the mouth of Heracles, that is, Hercules, where the city of Heracleum was located and there was a temple in honor of Hercules. Over time, the silt and floating material from the sunken Atlantis was blown across the sea, and the island itself went even deeper into the abyss.

“Since in nine thousand years there have been many great floods (namely, so many years have passed from those times to Plato), the earth did not accumulate in the form of any significant shoal, as in other places, but was washed away by waves and then disappeared into the abyss.” (Plato, Critias).

Crete

Next, we exclude other, impossible locations. Atlantis could not be in the Mediterranean north of the island Crete. Today in that area there are countless small islands scattered over the water area, which does not correspond to the story of flooding (!), and by this very fact excludes the entire territory. But even this is not the main thing. There would not have been enough space for Atlantis (according to the description of its size) in the sea north of Crete.

The expedition of the famous explorer of the sea depths of the French oceanographer to the area north of Crete on the periphery of the islands of Thira (Strongel), Thera discovered the remains of an ancient sunken city, but from the above it follows that it belongs to another civilization rather than Atlantis.

In the archipelago of islands Aegean Sea Earthquakes are known, catastrophes associated with volcanic activity, which led to local subsidence of the earth, and according to new evidence, they occur in our time. For example, recently sunk medieval fortress in the Aegean Sea near the city of Marmaris in a bay on the coast of Turkey.

Between Cyprus, Crete and Africa

Narrowing the search circle, we come to the conclusion that only one thing remains - Atlantis could only be in one place opposite the mouth of the Nile - between the islands of Crete, Cyprus and the northern coast of Africa. She is there today at a depth and lies, having fallen into a deep basin of the sea.

The failure of an almost oval water area with influx from the coast, horizontal wrinkling (from sliding) of sedimentary rocks to the center of the "funnel" is clearly visible from the Internet survey of the seabed from space. The bottom in this place resembles a pit, sprinkled with soft sedimentary rock on top, there is no solid "crust of the continental mantle" under it. Only visible on the body of the Earth is a hollow inside that is not overgrown with firmament.

The Egyptian priest Timaeus, in his story about the location of the silt from the flooded Atlantis, gives a link to the Pillars of Hercules (it was logical for him to say - closest to him), located at the mouth of the western Nile.

In another case (later already in Greece), when Plato described the power of Atlantis, we are already talking about other pillars, as mentioned above, there were seven of them in the Mediterranean at that time. When Plato expounded the text of the work (according to the retelling of Solon and Critias), the Egyptian priest Timaeus (the primary source of the story) had not been there for 200 years by that time, and there was no one to clarify the information about which pillars they were talking about. Therefore, the subsequent confusion arose with the location of Atlantis.

“After all, according to our records, your state (Athens) put an end to the insolence of countless military forces that set off to conquer all of Europe and Asia, and kept their way from the Atlantic Sea. […] On this island, called Atlantis, there arose a kingdom amazing in size and power, whose power extended to the whole island, to many other islands and to part of the mainland, and moreover, on this side of the strait they took possession of Libya (northern Africa ) as far as Egypt and Europe as far as Tirrenia ( West Coast Italy). (Plato, Timaeus).

The sea that washed the island of Atlantis (between Crete, Cyprus and Egypt) was called the Atlantic in ancient times, it was located in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the modern seas: the Aegean, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, Ionian.

Subsequently, due to an error in tying Atlantis not to the Nile, but to the Pillars of Gibraltar, the name "Atlantic" Sea automatically spread to the ocean beyond the strait. The once inland Atlantic Sea, due to the inaccuracy of the interpretation of the story of Timaeus and the description (Plato, Critias or Solon), became the Atlantic Ocean. As the Russian proverb says: “We got lost in three pines” (more precisely, in seven pairs of pillars). When Atlantis went into the abyss of the sea, the Atlantic Sea disappeared with it.

Timaeus, narrating the history of Atlantis, noted that the victory of Athens brought freedom from slavery to all other peoples (including the Egyptians), who had not yet been enslaved by the Atlanteans - "on this side of the Pillars of Hercules", speaking about himself - about Egypt.

“It was then, Solon, that your state showed the whole world a brilliant proof of its valor and strength: all, surpassing all in fortitude and experience in military affairs, it first stood at the head of the Hellenes, but because of the betrayal of the allies, it turned out to be left to itself, met alone with extreme dangers and yet defeated the conquerors and erected victorious trophies. Those who were not yet enslaved, it saved from the threat of slavery; all the rest, no matter how much we lived on this side of the Pillars of Heracles, it generously made free. But later, when the time came for unprecedented earthquakes and floods, in one terrible day, all your military strength was swallowed up by the cracked earth; likewise, Atlantis disappeared, plunging into the abyss. After that, the sea in those places has become unnavigable and inaccessible to this day due to the shallowing caused by the huge amount of silt that the settled island left behind. (Plato, Timaeus).

Description of the island

You can even more clarify the place of Atlantis from the description of the island itself.

“Poseidon, having received the island of Atlantis as his inheritance ..., approximately in this place: from the sea to the middle of the island, a plain stretched, according to legend, more beautiful than all other plains and very fertile.” (Plato, Timaeus).

“This whole region lay very high and steeply cut off to the sea, but the whole plain that surrounded the city (capital) and itself surrounded by mountains that stretched to the sea, was a flat expanse, three thousand stadia long (580 km.), And in the direction from the sea to the middle - two thousand (390 km.). All this part of the island was turned to the south wind, and from the north it was closed by mountains. These mountains are praised by legend because they surpassed all the present ones in their multitude, size and beauty. The plain ... was an oblong quadrangle, mostly rectilinear. (Plato, Critias).

So, following the description, a rectangular plain measuring 580 by 390 kilometers stretched approximately to the middle of the island of Atlantis, open to the south and closed from the north by large and high mountains. Fitting these dimensions into a geographical map north of the mouth of the Nile, we get that the southern part of Atlantis could completely adjoin Africa (near the Libyan cities of Tobruk, Derna and Egyptian cities on the coast west of Alexandria), and its northern mountainous part could be (but not a fact) - the island of Crete (in the west), and Cyprus (in the east).

In favor of the fact that Atlantis in earlier times (than its mention in the ancient Egyptian papyri), namely tens of thousands of years ago, was connected with Africa - says the story of the animal world of the island.

“Even elephants were found on the island in great numbers, for there was enough food not only for all other living creatures that inhabit the swamps, lakes and rivers, mountains or plains, but also for this beast, of all the animals, the largest and voracious.” (Plato, Critias).

It should also be taken into account that with the end of the ice age, with the beginning of the melting of the northern glaciers, the level of the world's oceans rose by 100-150 meters and, probably, the part of the land that once connected Atlantis and the mainland was gradually flooded. Elephants and the inhabitants of the island of Atlantis (named after their king Atlanta), who came here earlier from the depths of Africa, remained on big island surrounded by the sea.

The Atlanteans were ordinary people of a modern look, and not four-meter giants, otherwise the Hellenes from Athens would not have been able to defeat them. The insular, isolated position of the inhabitants prompted civilization to a separate active, ahead of external warring barbarians, development (fortunately, everything needed was on the island).

On Atlantis (in its capital, similar to a hill extinct volcano) hot springs of mineral water flowed from the ground. This indicates a high seismic activity of the territory located on the "thin" mantle of the earth's crust... "a spring of cold and a spring of hot water, which gave water in abundance, and, moreover, amazing both in taste and in healing power." (Plato, Critias).

Immersion under water

I will not now assume what caused the internal "hiccups" of the Earth, as a result of which Atlantis sank into the basin of the Mediterranean Sea in a day, and then even deeper. But it should be noted that exactly in that place along the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea there is a fault boundary between the African and European continental tectonic plates.

The depth of the sea there is very large - about 3000-4000 meters. It is possible that a powerful impact of a giant meteorite in North America in Mexico, which, according to the US National Academy of Sciences, occurred 13 thousand years ago (about the same time) and caused an inertial wave and plate movement in the Mediterranean.

Just like continental plates, crawling on top of each other, breaking edges, uplift mountains - the same process, but in the opposite direction, when diverging, it forms subsidence and deep depressions. The African plate slightly moved away from the European one, and this was quite enough to lower Atlantis into the abyss of the sea.

The fact that Africa in the history of the Earth has already moved away from Europe and Asia is clearly evidenced by the huge intercontinental fault that runs through the Mediterranean Sea. The fracture is clearly visible in geographical map along the lines (seas) of the split in the earth's crust, which go in the directions - the Dead Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Persian and Oman.

See the picture below, how the continent of Africa moves away from Asia, forming the above seas and bays at the break points.

Crete - Atlantis

It is possible that the current island of Crete was earlier that very northern, high mountainous part of Atlantis, which did not fall into the abyss of the sea, but, having broken away, stayed on the "European continental cornice". On the other hand, if you look at Crete on a geographical map, then it does not stand on the very cliff of the mantle of the European mainland, but about 100 kilometers from the basin of the Mediterranean (Atlantic) Sea. This means that the catastrophic rupture of Atlantis by the current coastline Crete was not.

But here we must also take into account the fact that since then the sea level has risen by 100-150 meters (or more) due to the melting of glaciers. It is possible that Crete and Cyprus, as independent units, were part of the archipelago of the island Atlantis.

Historians and archaeologists write: “Excavations in Crete show that even four or five millennia after the alleged death of Atlantis, the inhabitants of this Mediterranean island sought to settle away from the coast. (Memory of ancestors?). Unknown fear drove them to the mountains. The first centers of agriculture and culture are also located at some distance from the sea”…

The former proximity of the location of Atlantis to Africa and to the mouth of the Nile is indirectly evidenced by the extensive Kattara depression in North Africa in the Libyan Desert, 50 km from the Mediterranean coast, west of the Egyptian city of Alexandria. The Qattara depression is minus 133 meters below sea level.

See the picture above - the huge Qattara depression near the Mediterranean coast in Egypt.

There is also another lowland on the tectonic fault line - this is the Dead Sea (minus 395 meters) in Israel. They testify to a once-completed territorial catastrophe, common to all, associated with the subsidence of large tracts of land from the divergence in different directions of the European and African continental plates.

What gives the establishment of the exact location of Atlantis

The depression of the Mediterranean at the site of the former Atlantis is too deep. At first, the silt that rose and then settled to the bottom and subsequent sedimentary deposits somewhat covered Atlantis. The golden capital with its countless treasures in the temple of Poseidon turned out to be at great depths.

The search for the capital of Atlantis in the southern part of the Mediterranean Sea in the "triangle" between the islands of Crete, Cyprus, the mouth of the Nile will bring a useful result to the "treasury" of the world history of mankind, but this requires research by deep-sea vehicles.

There are guidelines for the attentive reader to search for the capital... There are two Mir underwater stations in Russia that could survey and study the bottom.

For example, Italian explorers-oceanographers in the summer of 2015 on the shelf of the island of Pantelleria, located approximately in the middle between Sicily and Africa, at a depth of 40 meters at the bottom of the sea found a giant man-made column 12 meters long, weighing 15 tons, broken in half. Traces of drilling holes are visible on the column. Its age is estimated at about 10 thousand years (comparable to the era of the Atlanteans). Divers also found the remains of a pier - a ridge of stones half a meter in size, laid out in a straight line, protecting the entrance to the ancient ship harbor.
These findings suggest that the search for the capital of Atlantis is not hopeless.

It is also encouraging that the confusion with the "Pillars of Hercules" has been successfully resolved and the location of Atlantis has finally been established.

Already today, for the sake of historical truth, the Mediterranean basin, at the bottom of which lies the legendary island in memory of Atlantis and its inhabitants, can and should be returned to its ancient name - the Atlantic Sea. This will be the first important world event in the search and discovery of Atlantis.

Research vessel and bathyscaphe "Triton"

Organized public expedition to search for Atlantis

There are many wealthy people and organizations in the world who are thinking about how they can invest their capital profitably and profitably. For them there is good offer. A public expedition is organized to discover the remains of the Atlantean civilization in the Atlantic (Mediterranean) Sea (not to be confused with the Atlantic Ocean). For humanity, for modern science, for history, the discovery of the ancient civilization of Atlantis is an important subject of research.

The vacancy of "Columbus" of the XXI century is free. An investor who finds an opportunity to finance the expedition will have the opportunity to perpetuate his name in history. Just as Columbus, having gone at his own risk across the ocean to an unknown world, found America, similarly, the name of the investor will go down in the history of Atlantis. If artifacts of Atlantis are discovered, they will be accepted by any respected museum in the world, and the investor can compensate the financial costs of the expedition with a profit. But the main thing is that all material costs are worth nothing compared to the fact that Atlantis and its subsequent study will remain in the treasury of mankind's achievements for all subsequent centuries.

In Russia, the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences has the appropriate equipment for the expedition (a ship, MIR submersibles), and interested researchers and specialists could perform search work. But according to the head of the laboratory of underwater vehicles of this institute, Anatoly Sagalevich, the MIR bathyscaphes have not been in demand since 2011, they need 10-12 million dollars to repair, it is necessary to change attachments. Russia has lost its primacy in this area. Today, the leaders in underwater exploration are the Americans. Businessman, explorer of the world's depths of the oceans Victor Vescovo from the state of Texas, USA on the bathyscaphe "Triton" in 2019 sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench to a depth of 10928 meters in the Pacific Ocean. He intends to explore other deepest points of the planet.

Discoveries always bring dividends in everything else. Only "failure is an orphan, and victory has many parents." Everyone is invited to take part in a project of the scale of the entire civilization and invest their capital with benefit and profit. To the one who undertakes this business, I will name more accurate landmarks and coordinates of the search for the capital of Atlantis.

Atlantis! One word is enough to create images of mermaids, underwater cities, sunken ruins. But that's not all: the main image that this word evokes is an ancient, technologically advanced civilization that died at the whim of unkind gods or because of its own negligence.

Where did the idea of ​​Atlantis come from? Was it a real place, or is it just an old fairy tale?

The history of Atlantis begins with ancient Greek philosophy, then continues in a literary movement inspired by Christopher Columbus, and then its popularity soars again when a congressman from Minnesota decides to try his hand at science and linguistics. Add to this the considerable interest from the leaders of the Third Reich and countless pseudo-scientific theories. And yet, today there are a huge number of people who are still hunting for the lost continent.

Get ready for a deep dive into the history of the sunken city of Atlantis.

To understand the origin of Atlantis, you need to know a little about the Greek philosopher Plato. He lived in Greece in the 5th century BC, and it was on his works that Socrates built his philosophy. He is without a doubt the most famous and influential philosopher of all time.

Plato introduced the idea of ​​a lost continent called Atlantis in his writings. Plato describes Atlantis as a major continent. According to him, Atlantis was originally a rather bizarre place that Poseidon himself loved.

At the head of the state were kings who worked in alliance with each other, thanks to which the state was a powerful formation. However, 9000 years before the time of Plato, the Atlanteans became too warlike, which angered the gods. And they, as Plato assures, sent the state to the bottom.

Etymology and mythology

According to the myth presented by Plato, the Greek gods at the dawn of time divided the lands among themselves, and Poseidon got Atlantis. There he fell in love with the girl Clito, whom he "protected" by taking her to a cave surrounded by ring-shaped mountains and the sea.

Presumably, this "concern" protected Clito from escaping. And it is worth noting that she had something to run from: she gave birth to Poseidon 5 pairs of twins, and they were just huge children. The eldest of them, Atlas, was appointed the rightful king of this place. All Island state was named after him. Plato claims that Atlantic Ocean received a name in honor of this ancient king (although modern science has a different version and associates the name of the ocean with the Atlas Mountains).

Allegory

The story of Atlantis is an allegory, a kind of extended metaphor whose hidden meaning reveals a deeper philosophical point. Plato uses this move quite often, and perhaps his most famous example is the Myth of the Cave, which he uses to explain his theory of forms.

In this case, Plato's allegory is associated with the idea of ​​an ideal state. Atlantis appears as anti-Athena. Her ambitious militant plans come to an end in failure.

Utopian literature

The works of Plato had a great influence on medieval philosophy, but it is sometimes difficult for scientists to understand where the ancient thinker is serious and where he uses artistic techniques.

The discovery by Europeans of land west of Gibraltar opened up completely new world expanded the boundaries of what is possible. Utopian literature established the existence of previously unknown worlds whose culture and customs were presented as different from "normal" European ones. The idea of ​​Atlantis received a new round.

One such work, Francis Bacon's New Atlantis, revived interest in the lost continent. At the time, European settlers were trying to learn more about the origins and mysteries of Indian peoples, and Bacon's work helped spark the idea that the Maya were descendants of the Atlanteans.

Suggested Locations

The next landmark event is the 1882 book Atlantis: The Antediluvian World by Ignatius Donnelly.

Donnelly uses some really sophisticated linguistics combined with racist Mayan theories to suggest that not only was Atlantis real, it was also the ancestral home of all mankind.

His ideas became extremely popular and people soon began looking for the real location of Atlantis. The list of "suspects" includes even real-life islands - Sardinia and Crete. Plato left a too vague definition: "west of Gibraltar." Therefore, the geography of searches was quite extensive.

In art and literature

Since Donnelly's book, Atlantis has been mentioned throughout popular culture and art. In those days, science fiction began to take shape as a genre. Thanks to this, we got Captain Nemo, who found the sunken continent 20,000 leagues under the sea. Edgar Burroughs (“The Lost Continent”), Alexei Tolstoy (“Aelita”), Arthur Conan Doyle (“The Maracot Abyss”), Kir Bulychev (“The End of Atlantis”), Andrea Norton (“Operation Search in time"") and many others.

Dozens of films have shown the life of the mysterious mainland, including Disney in 2001 (Atlantis: The Lost Empire).

The most chilling example is the opera The Emperor of Atlantis, an allusion to Hitler, which was written by a prisoner in a concentration camp.

Occultism

One of the main works of Theosophy is the "Secret Doctrine" by H. P. Blavatsky, which, according to Helena herself, was dictated to her in Atlantis.

Blavatsky's Atlantis differs from Plato's. To her, the Atlanteans were heroic figures from a million years ago, destroyed for careless handling of magic.

Nazis

The 1985 book The Occult Roots of Nazism describes how Nazi philosophy had a connection with Ariosophy, white nationalist occult philosophy. According to The Independent, SS chief Heinrich Himmler was looking for the Holy Grail to prove the Aryan origin of Christ.

The seminal works of Nazi philosophy include Alfred Rosenberg's The Myth of the Twentieth Century, based on a racial theory that claims that modern white Europeans are descended from the Hyperboreans who emerged from Atlantis.

Reliable data on the research of the Third Reich is extremely scarce. But it is certain that they were carried out.

Other lost and sunken lands

Atlantis is called the most famous lost continent. But she's not the only one of her kind. In fact, there are some pretty shocking facts about other parts of the land. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, we can say that the loss of one continent is a misfortune; and losing a dozen is just a statistic.

One of the most famous continents that have been lost is Lemuria. The version about it was first put forward by the British zoologist Philip Latley Sclater to explain why the ranges of lemur-like animals are separated by oceans. This idea has never received any real scientific interpretation, but thanks to the mention of Blavatsky, it has become firmly established in popular culture.

The Lost Continent of Mu was an attempt to explain similarities between distant cultures (such as the pyramids in Egypt and Central America) before the aliens were dragged into the story.

An ancient legend said that there was an island off the coast of Ireland called Hy-Brasil that mysteriously reappeared once every seven years before one day it sank forever. Note that, despite the similarity in names, this is not at all connected with the real Brazil.

Bad news

Let's remember the fact that there is no historical evidence of the existence of the mysterious mainland. And thousands of explorers returned from expeditions with nothing. In truth, scientists have more evidence to disprove the myth than to prove it. Modern science has absolutely no reliable facts that could give hope to those who are fascinated by Atlantis.

But this is not enough. Man continues to believe that one day the secret of the depths will be revealed, and ancient continent appear in all its glory.