Brooklyn Allen
Elizabeth Shelley
11-6-17
Writing
Atlantis
Atlantis, a city plunged into the ocean by the will of displeased deities by earthquakes and treacherous floods, a city full of wonders and mysteries. Atlantis was something that we have always known of, whether it was introduced from elementary school history lessons, or even from the Disney movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire, it was always a mystery we knew of. One that became a common thought when asked about a legendary place. A burning question that has been placed securely in the back of curious minds over decades, ‘Was Atlantis a real place?' Over the years there had been many skeptical views when it came to the topic of the Lost City of Atlantis. Always opposing whether or not it was just a myth but a majority of them in favor for the existence of the legendary island, along with several very plausible explanations of where and what could happen to the magnificent city full of wonders. There has been a plethora of research done on the island of Atlantis, beginning from the time humankind first learned about the ancient island to today, ranging from deep-sea dives to time dating fossilized insects and stone anchors. Although it is a very controversial topic, there is a lot of research done that can help support the existence of Atlantis, and the most widely accepted answer to where Atlantis was is the Minoans.
So what was the legendary city of Atlantis? Plato, a philosopher from the Classical period of the Greek Athens (508 B.C. – 322 B.C.), discussed the island of Atlantis in his dialogues Critias and Timaeus. Plato had used the island as the basis for his story of human corruption and deception towards the gods.
According to an article by History.com, Plato describes the island as ‘larger than Libya and Asia Minor (Turkey) put together, and located in the Atlantic just beyond the Pillars of Hercules'. So essentially, this was a big island to the Greeks. But where are the ‘Pillars of Hercules'? The Pillars of Hercules refer to the Rock of Gibraltar, located on the coast of Europe, and Jebel Musa, located on the coast of North Africa. Just beyond these two points supposedly laid the island of Atlantis.
There are more than just one legendary island out there with mystery shrouding it, as to whether or whether not it once lived. As the staff of Scientific American mentions, Atlantis was one of the many ancient legendary islands in the Atlantic, originally called the Sargasso Sea, along with Mayda and Brazil Rock. This journal, written in 1922, recalls that only two of the eleven major islands were found (Mayda and Brazil Rock), but is this very accurate? In 1922 they did not have the kind of technology we have today to accurately find these islands or what remains of them.
According to some new research done by the team of archaeologists in the documentary 'Atlantis Rising' produced and James Cameron, believe they have found some possible evidence of Atlantis's existence. Outside the Strait of Gibraltar, James Cameron's team discovered a set of six anchors. Filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, who accompanied the team on the expedition said, "These anchors could be 3,500 to 4,000 years old and establish a harbor in the Atlantic, where I didn't even dare dream to find anchors. It's easier to find a needle in a haystack than Bronze Age anchors in the Atlantic."
Several researchers believe that Plato had just made up the city for the purpose of the story. It was something to be used as a made up example of what could happen if you became corrupted by greed. As Frazee, the author of the book ‘Atlantis' writes, "Plato wanted to teach a moral. The moral was a simple one. Plato wanted to show that even the best of countries, like Atlantis, can make a bad choice. As in Atlantis' case, its citizens may start a war to build an empire. As a result, they will be destroyed" (Chapter 7).
Yet, on the other hand, one of Plato's students, Crantor, a Greek philosopher from the Old Academy, recalled Atlantis being a real place, after doing extensive research on Plato's credibility with Atlantis. In the journal ‘Crantor and Posidonius on Atlantis' by Alan Cameron he discusses how Crantor went all the way to Egypt to confirm the Atlantis story. "Crantor came to Sais and saw there in the temple of Neith the column, completely covered in hieroglyphs, on which the history of Atlantis was recorded. Scholars translated it for him, and he testified that their account fully agreed with Plato's account of Atlantis" (p. 81). Most of the Greek mythology was based on real events. It is more than likely that Plato had originally based Atlantis on a real place. Now, the real question is — what was it based off of?
One of the possible locations of Atlantis and the most widely accepted answer is the Minoans. The Minoans were an advanced race of ocean traders during the Aegean Bronze Age and they were located mainly on the island and surrounding islands of Crete, located just below Greece in the Mediterranean Sea, from about 2600 to 1100 BC. Balch, the author of "Atlantis or Minoan Crete?" recalls how Plato describes the location; "From this island you could easily pass to other islands, and from them to the entire continent which surrounds the interior sea. What there is on this side of the strait of which we are speaking resembles a vast gateway . . . and the land which surrounds it is a real continent (p. 389)." According to Plato's narrative, Atlantis could easily be placed as Minoan Crete in the Aegean Sea. It was described as an island surrounded by other smaller island, which Minoan Crete was.
Towards the end of the Minoan era, a large portion of the Minoan civilization was wiped out by a massive tsunami, sound familiar? According to Plato, so was Atlantis. In the documentary, Atlantis Rising by National Geographic, the archeologists state that there was a ‘massive volcanic eruption called the Minoan Eruption of Thera, one that caused catastrophic events all over the world.' The Thera volcanic eruption ‘had a volcanic explosivity index of 6 or 7' (University of Rhode Island), ‘it had enough force to travel and shake the pyramids of Egypt', as recalled in Bettany Hughes' documentary, ‘Atlantis: The Evidence'. With that great force came a massive tsunami, wiping out the Minoans, destroying their fleets and their island (Hughes). It was a devastating event, but one that is similar to the story of Atlantis.
In both of Plato's narratives he described Atlantis as ‘a kingdom with an extent of power' in his dialogue of Timaeus, "Now on this Isle of Atlantis a great and marvelous royal power established itself, and ruled not the whole island, but many of the other islands and parts of the continent as well. What's more, their rule extended even inside the strait, over Libya as far as Egypt, and over Europe as far as Tyrrhenia [central Italy]".
The Minoans had ruled over several of the islands in the Aegean Sea. Plato had also said in his narrative Timaeus, "From this island you could easily pass to other islands, and from them to the entire continent which surrounds the interior sea. What there is on this side of the strait of which we are speaking resembles a vast gateway . . . and the land which surrounds it is a real continent." Sending archeologists scrambling towards the ancient Minoan civilization, especially Crete. In that location, you could easily pass between the other surrounding islands within the Mediterranean Sea.
The geographical location of the Minoans would make sense that it would be Atlantis. If Atlantis was actually in the middle of the Atlantic, it would be nearly impossible for it to have ties to other countries. If it was in the Aegean sea it could have traded with Egypt, which the Minoans did. The location of Atlantis being a part of Crete would be likely, if they were looking for wealth and power they would need to be closer to other civilizations to do so. The story would also make more sense because the Egyptians had originally told Plato about Atlantis (Hughes). Most mythology is based on actual events, so why couldn't Atlantis be?
A greedy and conniving civilization lost at sea brought down by their own selfishness and the wills of the gods. Atlantis, a basis for the narratives Timaeus and Critias by the Greek philosopher Plato clouded over by mystery. There are countless articles and journals on the whereabouts of this mystical island, but the common occurring location is part of the Minoan Crete civilization. One that fits all the criteria to be the lost city of Atlantis.