Atlantis Plato Critias. "Atlantis and Ancient Rus". Crete - Atlantis
G. ALEXANDROVSKY.
In the dialogues of the ancient thinker Plato, there is still a grain that speaks of the reality of the legendary island. The legend of Atlantis has been living for more than two thousand years. But only a few decades ago, people desperate to find traces of a once prosperous state ranked Plato's works as utopias. And here's a sensational turn: today, some historians and archaeologists have recognized that Plato's dialogues still contain a grain of real facts. We present three newest hypotheses suggesting where and when Atlantis died.
Science and Life // Illustrations
Science and Life // Illustrations
Science and Life // Illustrations
Science and Life // Illustrations
Science and Life // Illustrations
Tradition of the Egyptian priests
In 421 BC. NS. the Greek philosopher Plato in his two works - "Timaeus" and "Critias" - outlined the history and the sad end island nation Atlantis. The story in the form of a dialogue is led by Plato's great-grandfather, Critias: he conveys the content of the conversation with his grandfather, he heard the story of Atlantis from a contemporary, Solon, an Athenian legislator and poet, who, in turn, learned about Atlantis from an Egyptian priest. And Plato in his texts repeatedly emphasizes that this is not a myth, but a true story about historical events.
Atlantis, according to Plato, is a huge island lying in the ocean behind the Pillars of Hercules, that is, beyond Gibraltar. In the center of the island there was a hill on which there were temples and the royal palace. The Acropolis, the upper city, was protected by two rows of earthen embankments and three water ring canals. The outer ring was connected to the sea by a 500-meter canal through which ships entered the inner port. The life of Atlantis appears to be full of prosperity.
The temple of the main deity of the islanders - Poseidon, the lord of the seas, was, according to Plato, laid out with gold, silver and Orhilak (recently solved word means an alloy of copper with zinc). Another temple dedicated to Poseidon and his wife Kleito, the progenitor of all Atlanteans, is surrounded by a golden wall. There were also a golden statue of Poseidon and golden statues of the Nereids - the numerous daughters of the sea deity. The Atlanteans had bronze weapons and thousands of war chariots. The bowels were given copper and silver.
The people had fun with horse races, thermal baths were at their service: there were two springs on the island - cold and hot water... Ships hurried to the harbor of Atlantis with pottery, spices, rare ores. To supply the port fresh water the riverbed was turned.
The island belonged to a powerful alliance of kings. And then the moment came when he decided to subjugate other countries, including Greece. However, Athens, showing valor and strength in the war, won. But, as Plato says, the Olympic gods, dissatisfied with the warring nations, decided to punish them for greed and violence. A monstrous earthquake and flood "in one terrible day and one night" destroyed the Athenian army and the whole of Atlantis. The waters of the ocean swallowed up the island.
47 years after the death of Plato, a resident of Athens, Krantor, went to Egypt to find out whether the sources of the information used by the philosopher were really there. And he found, according to him, in the temple of Neith hieroglyphs with the text about the events described.
Search
The search for Atlantis began at the very beginning of the new era - in the 50th year from the birth of Christ. For almost two thousand years since that time, many hypotheses have appeared about the location of Atlantis. Many were attracted by the riches mentioned by Plato. Just think: take possession of the golden walls and statues! Most of the interpreters of "Cretia" and "Timaeus" pointed to the existing islands of the Atlantic Ocean. But there were other landmarks as well. Among the 50 points on Earth, identified by enthusiasts for the search for Atlantis, there are also quite fantastic ones, for example Brazil or Siberia, the existence of which the ancient philosopher did not even suspect.
A new rise in interest in the search for the legendary island emerged after the First World War. Underwater technology, improved during the war, prompted adventurous businessmen to organize companies in several countries to search for the mysterious Atlantis. For example, in the French newspaper "Figaro" there was such a note: "A society for the study and exploitation of Atlantis has been created in Paris." Companies, of course, burst one after another, but the Russian writer Alexander Belyaev found in a newspaper publication a plot for his fantastic story "The Last Man from Atlantis".
More than 50 thousand publications are devoted to the problem of the sunken island. Film and television also contributed to this story. Over 20 expeditions surveyed the places where, according to the ideas of their organizers, the people of Atlantis once prospered. But they all returned empty-handed.
To the two main questions - where? and when? - already in our century, the objections of archaeologists were added, who considered it a fantasy the story of the abundance of gold and silver on the island. They also attributed the network of canals - circular and leading to the sea, an inland port and other hydraulic structures to Plato's inventions: they were not capable of such large-scale affairs in those days. Researchers of the philosophical and literary heritage of Plato believed that, telling about a prosperous Atlantis, the ancient idealist thinker called on his contemporaries to build an exemplary state without dictatorship and tyranny. And in this sense, Plato is called the creator of the genre of utopia. (Plato indeed in some of his writings called for the construction of an ideal state based on goodness and justice. He traveled from Athens to Syracuse three times, the last time as a deep old man, hoping in vain to instill humane ideas in the tyrants there.) As for the time of the death of the island in ocean abyss, then Plato called a date that contradicts all the data of modern science: according to his information, the catastrophe occurred 11,500 years ago to the present day, or 9,000 years, counting to the time of Plato himself. 12-10 thousand years ago, humanity was just emerging from the Paleolithic, the ancient Stone Age, and it is difficult to imagine that somewhere there lived a people who, in their development, outstripped the human race for many thousands of years. The primary source of such an error could be incorrect definitions age of the Egyptian state, held in ancient times. For example, Herodotus counted Egypt as 11,340 years old.
Is it Atlantis?
"The Russians have found Atlantis!" - with such sensational sold-out many newspapers in Western Europe accompanied in 1979 photographs of the seabed. In the photographs, under the layer of sand, vertical ridges were clearly visible, reminiscent of the walls of a destroyed city. The impression of the ancient city ruins was enhanced by the fact that other ridges passed along the bottom at right angles to the first.
The underwater images were taken by the Moscow University research vessel "Akademik Petrovsky". Actions took place where Plato pointed out - "behind the Pillars of Hercules." Out into the Atlantic Ocean, the ship stopped over a sandbank to test its underwater equipment. Pure chance helped to choose a parking spot just above the Ampere submarine volcano. It was possible to establish that the Amper volcano once protruded from the water and was an island.
In 1982, the Soviet ship "Rift" here lowered the underwater vehicle "Argus" into the ocean. “A panorama of the city's ruins opened up to us, since the walls very similarly imitated the remains of rooms, streets, squares,” the commander of the Argus V. Bulyga reported to the Institute of Oceanology of the Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, the next expedition of the Vityaz, which took place in the summer of 1984, did not confirm such encouraging impressions of the aquanaut. Two stones of a fairly regular shape were raised from one of the walls, but their analysis showed that this was not the creation of human hands, but volcanic rock. The commander of the Argus crew, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences A. Gorodnitsky, writes: "Most likely, the stone is solidified lava that once poured out through the cracks of the volcano." Another seamount, Josephine, was also explored, also an ancient volcano, and in the past - an island.
A. Gorodnitsky proposed his own model of a grandiose geological catastrophe of the distant past. It arose due to a sharp northerly displacement of the African tectonic plate. Its collision with the European plate caused the eruption of the Santorini volcano in the east, and in the west, the mentioned volcanic islands plunged into the ocean. This hypothesis does not contradict the geological and geophysical data of modern science. However, once again Atlantis turned out to be not a fascinating hypothesis, but just a myth: scientists did not find any traces of the remnants of the material culture of the Atlanteans.
For many millennia, world scientists have been debating, but still do not dare to come to a common opinion regarding the details of the existence and mysterious disappearance of Atlantis - the "city of the Atlanteans."
The ancient Greek scientist and philosopher Plato in his writings called Atlantis a densely populated island located in Atlantic Ocean... According to his descriptions, this territory was very fertile, it was inhabited by a huge number of various domesticated animals, and the inhabitants of this island had all the benefits that modern people have.
The great scientist argued that Atlantis went under water and the reason for this was an earthquake of enormous power, which was sent by the gods of Olympus.
Description of Atlantis in the writings of Plato: "Timaeus" and "Critias"
The extremely detailed story of the philosopher about the life and death of the Atlanteans is presented in the form of two works, built in a dialogue form. This dialogue is conducted between the great-grandfather of Plato named Critias and the grandfather of Critias, who is familiar with the history of Atlantis from the words of people living at different times.
According to their stories, Atlantis was a "state on an island", and this island was located beyond the Strait of Gibraltar (another name - "Pillars of Hercules").
In a series of descriptions of the life of the islanders, Plato in all colors tells about their life, the benefits that they possessed, about how developed this mysterious civilization was. In his opinion, the state had a capital, there was also a palace of the king called "Acropolis" on the territory of the island, and there were structures in the form of temples.
Embankments of earth and water barriers gave the Atlanteans protection from external threats, they had their own ship port and a spacious harbor, which could accommodate more than a thousand ships.
The main deity to whom the Atlanteans prayed and worshiped was Poseidon. Temples in his honor were decorated with precious gold and silver, both inside and out. Poseidon's wife Kleito was considered the "mother of all Atlanteans", their progenitor.
Plato also led a story about some of the features political structure Atlantis.
For example, in the framework of the Timaeus dialogue, he praised the amazing royal union, which gained power over a huge number of neighboring (and not only) territories, including Africa and America.
According to the stories of Plato, death to the Atlanteans came from the gods from Mount Olympus, who directed their anger at them. The gods considered that the inhabitants of Atlantis had become too greedy and cruel, so they decided to punish them by sending an earthquake of unprecedented force. The result of the disaster was that a huge, advanced civilization disappeared under the water column.
The beginning of the search for an ancient civilization
From the time of the fifties from the birth of Christ to the present day, an active search for the "city of the Atlanteans" has been conducted throughout the entire territory of the planet.
Until now, scientists have not decided on a specific location. ancient state, but came to a certain denominator, and indicated about forty possible locations for its location, for example:
Direction north of Crete;
The Caribbean Sea, west of the island of Haiti;
Taimyr Peninsula, or rather its northeastern part;
Central Bolivia in South America; and others.
New wave of search for sunken Atlantis
When 1 ended World War, during which there was a rapid development of new technologies in scuba diving, a serious interest in the search for the lost "city of the Atlanteans" again woke up. The gamblers have launched entire search campaigns all over the place.
For instance, in the USSR several decades ago, a shocking statement was made that Atlantis was found... At that time, the headlines of all newspapers "shouted" about the find of the Russian people, which was confirmed by the presence of photographs taken on the seabed. In these photographs, structures were quite clearly distinguishable, outwardly similar to the walls of a sunken civilization. The photographs were taken by researchers from one of the respected Moscow universities.
After a while, the crew of another Soviet ship, which had more modern equipment, announced that they had found reliable confirmation of the truth of the find. Namely: with the help of a special underwater vehicle capable of working at great depths, the members of the expedition saw with their own eyes the ruins of the destroyed city, as reported by the ship's commander.
However, in 1984, the ship "Vityaz" set off on an expedition to the place of the allegedly discovered Atlantis, the study of which stated that the ruins found were not the result of human labor, they were just pieces of frozen lava of volcanic rock.
One of the scientists on that expedition suggested that a geological catastrophe of this magnitude could have occurred due to the sharp displacements of tectonic plates that caused the volcanic eruption. By the way, modern scientists partly share this version. But the result of this is that, against this background, all other versions concerning the existence of Atlantis, in principle, lose their credibility.
In the works of some ancient Greek historians, geographers, mythographers, mathematicians, theologians and astronomers, there is mention of one state that has sunk into eternity: the legendary island of Atlantis. About two thousand years ago, Plato, Herodotus, Diodorus and other respected authors wrote about him in their works.
Ancient writers on the sunken island of Atlantis
The main information about the lost Atlantis is contained in the writings of Plato. In the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he talks about an island state that existed about 11,500 years ago.
According to Plato, the god Poseidon was the ancestor of the Atlanteans. He linked his life with a mortal girl who bore him ten sons. When the children matured, the father divided the island between them. The best part sushi went to the eldest son of Poseidon: Atlan.
Atlantis was a powerful, wealthy and populous state. Its inhabitants have erected a serious system of defense against external enemies and built a network of circular canals leading to the sea, as well as an inland port.
Big cities were distinguished by amazing architectural structures and beautiful sculptures: temples lined with gold and silver, golden statues and sculptures. The island was very fertile, with varied natural world; in the bowels of the earth, people mined copper and silver.
Atlanteans were a warlike people: the army of the state included a navy of 1000 ships, while the number of crews was equal to 240 thousand people; the ground army numbered 700 thousand people. Descendants of Poseidon fought successfully for many years, conquering new territories and wealth; so it was until Athens stood in their way.
To defeat the Atlanteans, the Athenians formed a military alliance with the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula. But on the day of the battle, the allies refused to fight, and the Athenians were left alone with the enemy. Fearless courageous Greeks defeated the aggressor and liberated the peoples previously enslaved by him.
But early on, the Greek warriors rejoiced at their achievements: they decided to intervene in the affairs of people, who had been following the inhabitants of Atlantis for the last centuries. Zeus considered that the Atlanteans had become greedy, greedy, depraved and decided to punish them to the fullest extent, flooding the island along with its inhabitants and the Athenians who did not have time to celebrate the victory.
This is what Plato writes about Atlantis in his two writings. At first glance, this is just a beautiful legend, an interesting fairy tale. There is no direct evidence of the existence of Atlantis in ancient times, nor any references to authoritative sources.
But these two dialogues survived not only Plato himself, but also two more millennia - during this time, many disputes and theories regarding the lost state arose.
Plato's disciple Aristotle, who listened to the speeches of the Platonist philosophers for about 20 years, ultimately categorically rejected the existence of Atlantis, stating that the dialogues Timaeus and Critias were just fiction, the delirium of an old man.
It was because of Aristotle that Atlantis was talked about reluctantly, in an undertone until the end of the 18th century. After all, this venerable philosopher enjoyed indisputable authority in Europe, especially in the Middle Ages. All the statements of Aristotle were perceived by Europeans as the ultimate truth.
So why was Aristotle so sure that Atlantis was fiction, because he did not have irrefutable evidence of this? Why was he so harsh in his judgments? Some sources claim that the philosopher simply did not like his mentor, so he decided in this way to spoil Plato's authority in the eyes of his admirers and admirers.
Mentions of the Atlanteans in the writings of other ancient authors
Other ancient authors wrote very little about Atlantis: Herodotus argued that the Atlanteans had no names, did not see and were defeated by troglodytes - cavemen; according to the stories of Diodorus, the inhabitants of Atlantis fought with the Amazons. Posidonius, interested in the reasons for land subsidence, believed that Plato's story was plausible.
Proclus in his writings reports on one follower of the ancient thinker: the inhabitant of Athens Krantor.
Allegedly, he deliberately went to 47 years after the death of the philosopher to find evidence in favor of the existence of an island state; returning from a trip, Krantor said that in one of the ancient temples he saw columns with inscriptions retelling the historical events set out by Plato.
Search for Atlantis
It is quite difficult to indicate the exact location of the lost Atlantis: there are many hypotheses about where the flooded state may be.
Plato wrote that a huge island was once in the ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules (i.e., beyond Gibraltar). But his searches in the area of the Canary, Balearic, Azores and British Isles have led nowhere.
Some researchers suggest looking for leftovers material culture Atlanteans in the Black Sea, linking the flooding of the island with the "Black Sea Flood" that occurred 7-8 millennia ago - then the sea level in less than a year rose, according to various estimates, from 10 to 80 meters.
There is a hypothesis that Antarctica is the lost Atlantis. Scientists who adhere to this theory believe that Antarctica in ancient times was shifted to the south pole due to a lithospheric shift or a sharp displacement of the earth's axis as a result of the collision of our planet with a large cosmic body.
There is also an opinion that traces of Atlantis can be found in South America or Brazil. But most interpreters of Plato's dialogues are sure: the lost island should be sought only in the Atlantic Ocean.
In recent decades, the fallen state has sought out many expeditions, most of which returned empty-handed. True, from time to time the whole world is agitated by news about the found traces of the flooded island.
Have the Russians found Atlantis?
In 1979, a Soviet expedition, while testing a diving bell, accidentally discovered some objects in the Atlantic Ocean, similar to the ruins of an ancient city.
The action took place just behind the Pillars of Hercules indicated by Plato, 500 km from Gibraltar, over the Ampere seamount, which many thousands of years ago protruded above the surface of the ocean, but then for some reason went under water.
Three years later, the Soviet ship "Rift" went to the same place to study the ocean floor with the help of the underwater vehicle "Argus". The Aquanauts were amazed at what they saw; in their words, they saw a panorama of the city ruins: the remains of rooms, squares, streets.
But the expedition that took place in 1984 did not meet the expectations of the researchers: the analysis of two stones raised from the ocean floor showed that this is just volcanic rock, frozen lava, and not the creation of human hands.
The opinion of modern scientists about Atlantis
Atlantis is a fiction
Most modern historians and philologists are convinced that Plato's dialogues are just a beautiful legend, of which the philosopher has many. There are no traces of this state either in Greece, or in western Europe, or in Africa - this is confirmed by archaeological excavations.
The opinion of scientists that Atlantis is only a figment of the imagination is also based on the following: the philosopher writes about a network of canals built on the island, about an internal port, but such large-scale projects in ancient times were beyond the power of people.
Plato indicated the approximate date of the immersion of the island in the ocean abyss: 9000 years before he wrote the dialogues (that is, approximately 9500 BC). But this contradicts the data of modern science: at that time humanity was just emerging from the Paleolithic era. It is not easy to believe that somewhere in those days there lived a people who outstripped the entire human race in their development by thousands of years.
Many scholars are convinced that Plato, when writing his works, took as a basis some events that took place during his life: for example, the defeat of the Greeks when they tried to conquer the island of Sicily and the flooding of the town of Gelika as a result of an earthquake, followed by a flood.
Other researchers believe that the basis for the works of the philosopher was the eruption of a volcano on the island of Santorini with a tsunami that subsequently hit the coast of Crete and other islands of the Mediterranean Sea - this catastrophe led to the decline of the developed Minoan civilization.
The version is supported by the following fact: the Minoans really fought with the Archaeans who inhabited Greece in ancient times and were even defeated by them (just as the Atlanteans were defeated by the Greeks in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias).
In general, many researchers of the thinker's works believe that Plato, being an idealist-utopian, with his writings only wanted to call on his contemporaries to build an ideal exemplary humane state in which there will be no place for dictatorship, violence and tyranny.
However, the philosopher himself constantly emphasizes in dialogues that Atlantis is not just a legend, but a really existing once island state.
Plato is not lying
Some researchers nevertheless admit: there is a grain of truth in the works of the ancient thinker. Excavations carried out in last years archaeologists, helped scientists to obtain new information about the life and technical achievements of our ancestors living 5-10 millennia ago.
Modern archaeologists find the remains of grandiose structures created by ancient people everywhere: in Egypt, Sumer, Babylon. Tunnels for collecting groundwater, many kilometers of adits, stone dams, man-made lakes - all these structures operated long before the birth of Plato.
Consequently, the philosopher's dialogues cannot be attributed to fiction only on the basis that humanity 11 millennia ago was unable to build a network of canals and bridges: recent archaeological excavations prove the opposite.
In addition, since the works of Plato, copied more than once, have come down to us, there is a possibility that a confusion with dates has occurred over two millennia.
The fact is that in the system of Egyptian hieroglyphs, the number "9000" is denoted by lotus flowers, and the number "900" - by rope knots; supporters of the existence of Atlantis believe that later scribes of dialogues could easily confuse symbols so similar to each other, thus pushing historical event several thousand years ago.
On top of that, Plato, who belongs to one highly revered in Ancient Greece family, in his dialogues refers to his ancestor: the wisest of the "seven wise men" lawgiver Solon. And the ancient Greeks were very sensitive to their roots, trying to preserve the sacred memory of relatives. Would Plato, given his moral qualities, refer to Solon in his works, because if this whole story with Atlantis was just a fiction, he would tarnish the name of the wisest representative of the family?
Afterword
Atlantis has been shrouded in an aura of mystery for many centuries. People have been trying to find the suddenly disappeared state for almost two thousand years: some - wanting to take possession of the treasures described by Plato, others - out of scientific interest, others - just out of curiosity.
In the 50s of the last century, even a doctrine called "Atlantology" appeared, its main task is to reveal truthful information about Atlantis in historical sources and mythical legends.
Disputes about whether there ever existed mysterious land or the ancient Greek thinker simply invented it, do not subside to this day. Various theories are born and die, conjectures appear and disappear. Some of them are supported by science, while others are more like a beautiful fairy tale.
Perhaps our children or grandchildren will solve the riddle of Atlantis. But it may turn out that another two thousand years will pass, and the secret of the lost island will remain unsolved, and our descendants, as well as we today will be tormented by conjectures and assumptions.
ARTICLE IN VIDEO FORMAT
Modern researchers have not yet been able to fully reveal all the innermost 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 in the past of this mysterious - perhaps only mythical - civilization.
The achievements of the Atlantean civilization are impressive.
There is an opinion among scientists that the Atlanteans have achieved a very high level of progress in all spheres of life. They could plan their life in completely different ways. For example, it was no stranger to the people who once inhabited this sunken continent, telepathic communication with family and friends. They also loved 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, absorbing some of its achievements, and existed before the appearance of the fifth, the Aryan race. The Atlanteans were much more godlike than the Lemurians. Beautiful, smart and ambitious.
They worshiped the sun and developed their technology rapidly, just as we do today.
Description of Atlandita by Plato
In four hundred twenty-first year BC Plato in his writings spoke about the disappeared civilization of the Atlanteans.
According to him, it was a large island 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 land mounds 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. Arriving ships delivered ceramic dishes, spices, rare ores.
The temple of Poseidon, the ruler of the seas, was built of gold, silver, orhilak (an alloy of copper and zinc). His second temple was protected by a golden wall. There were also statues of Poseidon and his daughters.
Forty years later, after the death of the philosopher, the Athenian resident Krantor traveled to Egypt to find Atlantis. In the temple of Neith, he found hieroglyphs with texts about the events that took 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 alien beings. Some researchers give information that the Atlanteans were able to create ultra-fast and practical flying machines. Their very deep knowledge in the field of physics, mathematics and mechanics made it possible to produce equipment of the highest quality with unusual properties. And it was these devices that easily helped them travel through space!
The progress in technology was so overwhelming that even today mankind has not yet been able to develop analogs for those flying devices, even taking into account the fact that science is constantly striding forward by leaps and bounds in all spheres of life, without exception.
All this suggests that the inhabitants of Atlantis were extraordinary people, had great intelligence 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, with the help of what improvised means and equipment it was possible to erect such unusual structures!
Their country was also prosperous economically. The work of any person in it was paid at its dignity. According to legend, Atlantis was an ideal country, there were no beggars or rich people who prided themselves on 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 with modern man, they could do much more work than our contemporaries.
The body of the Atlanteans was staggering in size. According to testimonies, it reached 6 meters in height. Their shoulders were very wide, their bodies were elongated. There were 6 fingers on the hands, and 7 on the legs!
The facial features of people who once lived on Atlantis are also unusual. Their lips were very wide, their nose was slightly flattened, while they also had huge expressive eyes.
According to their physiological data, middle period the life expectancy of the 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.
Atlanteans were moral people. Therefore, bad habits and an immoral image were alien to them. Everyday life... In any situation, they tried to act honestly with others, no one tried to deceive and set up anyone. IN family relationships marriage once for life was the norm. And the relationship itself was based 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 reigns in the modern successful states of Europe with freedom of speech and the right to choose. The ruler was elected by the Atlanteans by voting. At the same time, he ruled for a very long period - from 200 to 400 years! But whoever ruled Atlantis, each of its leaders always strove to create such a social universal environment within the state, thanks to which any person could always feel his security and care for him.
The reasons for the death of Atlantis
One of the assumptions why Atlantis disappeared is based on the fact that the kings and the people of this continent began to abuse the 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 parallel reality could be negative and at a certain moment could have a detrimental effect on the entire continent, in an instant and completely destroy it.
In their daily life, magic was increasingly used exclusively with malicious intent.
Too much knowledge creates the 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. A predatory attitude towards nature, an increase in social inequality, the abuse of power by a small elite that ruled the Atlanteans ultimately led to tragic consequences associated with the kindling of a long-term war. And it was she who became the main reason that one day the entire continent was swallowed up by the waters of the ocean.
Some scientists also confidently assert that the death of Atlantis occurred approximately 10-15 thousand years ago. And this large-scale event was provoked by a huge meteorite that fell on our planet. The fall of the meteorite could change the earth's axis, which caused a tsunami of an unprecedented scale.
What Helena Blavatsky said about the causes of the death of Atlantis
According to Helena Blavatsky, the fall of Atlantis happened because the Atlanteans played with God. It turns out that the Atlanteans have slipped from high morality to indulging passions.
The Atlanteans' technology, which surpassed their spiritual qualities, allowed them to create chimeras - a cross between humans and animals, to be used as sex slaves and physical workers. The Atlanteans possessed a high level of genetic modification and cloning technology. This is similar to what people are doing now, in the 21st century.
Telepathically warned that the continent would sink, many Atlanteans fled, boarding ships before the continent finally sank in 9,564 BC. as a result of a series of earthquakes.
The American mystic Edgar Cayce, who looked into the so-called astral records of akasha in a trance state, argued that many of the souls who once lived in Atlantis now live as representatives of modern Western civilization in order to fulfill their destiny.
Search for a lost civilization
Over the past two thousand years, there have been many speculations about the location of Atlantis. The interpreters of Plato's works pointed to the modern islands of the Atlantic. Some argue that Atlantis was located in what is now Brazil and even Siberia.
Modern archaeologists consider the thinker's story about the Atlanteans to be fiction. Circular networks of canals, hydraulic structures in those days were still beyond the forces of mankind. Researchers of philosophy and literature of Plato believe that he wanted to call for the creation of an ideal state. As for the period of disappearance, Plato calls information that this happened eleven and a half thousand years ago. But during this period, man was just emerging from the Paleolithic, Stone Age. Those people did not yet have a sufficiently developed mind. Perhaps these data of Plato about the time of the death of Atlantis are misinterpreted.
There is one suggestion why the figure of the death of Atlandita by Plato appears 9 thousand years ago. The fact is that in Egyptian reckoning "nine thousand" was depicted with nine lotus flowers, and "nine hundred" - with nine knots of rope. Outwardly in writing, they were similar, which is why there was confusion.
Contemporary research
In one thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine, all European newspapers were replete with the headlines "Russians have found an island." Pictures were presented in which vertical ridges, similar to walls, peeped out of the sand. Search operations took place exactly where Plato pointed out - behind the Pillars of Hercules, above the underwater volcano Ampere. It was reliably established that it protruded from the water, was an island.
In one thousand nine hundred and eighty-two, another Russian ship, having sunk under the water, discovered the ruins of the city: walls, squares, rooms. These findings were denied by another expedition, which found nothing. Except for frozen volcanic rocks.
There are suggestions that the catastrophe was due to a sudden shift of the African tectonic plate. Its collision with the European one caused the eruption of Santorini - and the western islands sank.
Of course, it is impossible to say with precision what exactly happened once with Atlantis and what contributed to its death. And many hypotheses set forth by researchers can only approach 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 heading towards the same end when we become for our distant descendants the same mythical event as Atlantis is for us. And our continents will also search in vain for days of deep oceans.
Chapter Eighteen
Plato and the myth of Atlantis
Main characters
Plato- The Athenian philosopher of the IV century BC, was the first to expound the myth of Atlantis.
Socrates- Athenian philosopher of the 4th century BC, the main character in Plato's dialogues.
Timaeus- Astronomer from Locre, Italy.
Hermocrat- Syracuse politician.
Critias (junior) - The ninety-year-old great-grandfather of Plato, told him the myth of Atlantis, which he heard at the age of nine from his grandfather Cretius (the eldest).
Critias (senior)- Heard the myth of Atlantis from Solon.
Solon- Athenian politician and poet of the 6th century BC NS. Heard a story about Atlantis while visiting Sais, a city in Egypt.
Who will categorically deny that in a hundred years the largest museums will not be enriched with jewelry, statues, weapons and devices found in the hitherto mysterious Atlantis, and libraries will not be replenished with texts that shed light on the history of mankind and on those burning problems that worry the thinkers of our days?
These lines were written by the American atlantologist Ignatius Donnelly in 1882; more than a hundred years have passed since then, but Atlantis has not been discovered. Many publications are devoted to the possible existence in the past and the search for Atlantis, but rarely when these entertaining questions are associated with Greek mythology... There is also a reason for this. In the writings of Apollodorus, Pausanias and Ovid, and other ancient authors, not a word is said about Atlantis. Nor is it mentioned in the dramatic works of those times, and she never became an object of fine art.
The first evidence of the existence of Atlantis appeared in the unfinished trilogy of the Greek philosopher Plato, which, according to the author's plan, should have consisted of three works: Timaeus, Critias and Hertocrates (Plato did not finish Critias, but Hertocrates did not start). Timaeus and Critias are in the form of dialogues that took place during the Athenian holidays, probably in 425, when Plato was still a small child. Plato's age alone gives rise to great doubts about the historical reality of the conversations conducted by the philosopher Socrates, the astronomer Timaeus, Plato's ninety-year-old great-grandfather Critias, and the Syracuse politician Hermocrates.
The interlocutors talk about the nature of an ideal state when Critias unexpectedly recalls a story he heard in childhood from his grandfather (also Critias), which Solon, an Athenian politician and poet, who developed the first provisions of democracy in the 90s of the 6th century BC, told him.
Critias says:
“Listen, Socrates, the legend, though very strange, but certainly true, as once testified Solon, the wisest of the seven wise men. He told our grandfather Critias - and the old man, in turn, repeated this to us - that our city in ancient times accomplished great and amazing deeds, which were then forgotten due to the passage of time and the death of people. "
When asked what kind of legend it was, Critias answers:
“It concerned the greatest deed ever committed by our city, which deserved to become the most famous of all, but due to the time and death of those who committed this deed, the story of it did not reach us.”
Cretia is asking:
"Tell me from the very beginning what is the matter, under what circumstances and from whom did Solon hear what he was telling as the true truth."
However, what Plato presents as truth cannot be unconditionally taken at face value. It should be borne in mind that in a similar manner, he often presents mythical material. For example, in Plato's "Gorgias" his character Socrates, telling the story of the Blessed Isles and Tartarus, precedes it with the following words:
"Then heed, as they say, the beautiful legend, which you will probably consider a fairy tale, but I believe it is true, and therefore I will tell the story as they tell about true events."
In Plato's The State, Socrates says:
“First, we tell young children myths. They are, generally speaking, a lie, but there is also a truth in them. "
In the dialogue "Protagoras", the listeners ask Socrates to show that virtues can be learned.
He answers:
"But how can I show you this: whether with the help of a myth, which old people tell young people, or with the help of reasoning? .. It seems to me that it will be more pleasant to tell you a myth."
Doubts about the truth of Plato's stories are summarized by the title character of his work "Phaedrus", referring to Socrates:
"You, Socrates, easily compose Egyptian and whatever legends you like."
In this regard, it should be borne in mind that the story of the mysterious Atlantis was also presented by Plato as mythical material. Solon, to whom Plato refers in his writings, heard the story of Atlantis while visiting Sais, a city in Egypt.
The Timaeus says that Solon in Sais “was received with great respect, but when he began to question the most knowledgeable among the priests about ancient times, he had to make sure that neither he, nor any of the Hellenes at all, could be said to be almost knows nothing about these subjects. "
In the 6th century BC, Egypt was not as powerful in military and cultural relations as in earlier times, and the information obtained in Egypt by Solon was, it seems, a mixture of inaccuracies, fables and distortions of facts.
When Salon asks an Egyptian priest about the Deucalion Flood, he gets a very vague answer:
“Ah, Solon! Solon! You are Hellenes, you remain children forever, and there is no elder among the Hellenes ... All of you are young in mind, for your minds do not retain any tradition that has passed from generation to generation from time immemorial, and no teaching that has turned gray from time to time. The reason is this. There have already been and will be multiple and different cases of death of people, and moreover the most terrible - because of fire and water, and others, less significant - because of thousands of other disasters. "
“Let us assume that this legend has the form of a myth, but it also contains the truth: in fact, bodies revolving in the firmament around the Earth deviate from their paths, and therefore at certain intervals everything on Earth perishes from a great fire. At such times, the inhabitants of mountains and high or dry places are subject to more complete destruction than those who live near rivers or the sea; and therefore our constant benefactor, the Nile, delivers us from trouble, pouring out. "
The priest continues edifying:
“Whatever glorious or great deed, or even a remarkable event, may happen in our region or in any country about which we receive news, all this has been imprinted since ancient times in the records that we keep in our churches ... So you keep the memory only about one flood, and there were many of them before that; moreover, you do not even know that the most beautiful and noble family of people once lived in your country. You yourself and your whole city come from those few who remained of this clan, but you know nothing about it, for their descendants have died for many generations without leaving any records and therefore, as it were, mute. Meanwhile, Solon, before the largest and most devastating flood, the state, now known as Athens, was the first in matters of military prowess, and in the perfection of its laws stood above comparison; tradition ascribes to him such deeds and institutions that are more beautiful than anything we know under heaven. "
It should be noted that not a single Egyptian record is known describing prehistoric Athens, as well as worldwide cataclysms caused by a worldwide devastating fire or flood. Moreover, the first Egyptian records appeared at the turn of the fourth and third millennia BC.
Nevertheless, the Egyptian priest boasts:
“The antiquity of our city institutions is determined by sacred records dating back eight millennia. So, nine thousand years ago these fellow citizens of yours lived, about whose laws and about whose greatest feat I have to tell you. "
According to archaeological data, in those times, about which the priest speaks, people were engaged in hunting and gathering, lived in small villages; there were no big cities at that time, not to mention the city-states like Athens, or empires, as the legendary Atlantis is speculatively imagined.
The conversation, which is not particularly remarkable, is suddenly intruded by an amazing message from the Egyptian priest:
“According to the testimony of our records, your state put a limit to the insolence of the innumerable military forces that set off to conquer all of Europe and Asia, and kept their way from the Atlantic Sea. It was possible to cross the sea in those days, for there was still an island lying in front of that strait, which in your language is called the Pillars of Hercules. This island was larger than Libya and Asia combined. "
Further, the priest explains that the island that was called Atlantis was the center of an empire whose borders extended to Tyrrenia and Egypt, but the rulers of that mighty empire intended to expand its vast territory at the expense of Greece and Egypt.
The priest continues:
“It was then, Solon, that your state showed the whole world a brilliant proof of its valor and strength ... It first stood at the head of the Hellenes, but due to the betrayal of the allies it was left to its own devices, faced extreme dangers alone and nevertheless overpowered the conquerors and trophies. It saved those who had not yet been enslaved from the threat of slavery; all the rest, no matter how many dwelt us on this side of the Pillars of Hercules, it generously made free. "
Let us make two remarks. First, the alleged war, about which the priest broadcasts, should have taken place no earlier than the ninth millennium BC, when, according to the same priest, records began to be kept in Egypt. Secondly, the story of the victory over the Atlantean invaders sounds like classical Athenian propaganda, praising the victories of the Greeks over the Persians who invaded their country in the battles of Marathon (490 BC), Salamis (480 BC). .) and Plataea (479 BC). Plato wrote his works for compatriots and it was important for him to glorify Athens, who won victories over the enemy in ancient times.
At the behest of Plato, the Egyptian priest tells Solon about the terrible natural disaster:
“But later, when the time came for unprecedented earthquakes and floods, in one terrible day all your military power was swallowed up by the opened earth; likewise, Atlantis disappeared, sinking into the abyss. After that, the sea in those places until this day became unnavigable and inaccessible due to the shallowing caused by the huge amount of silt that left behind the settled island. "
Some researchers believe that Plato, talking about the pollution and unsuitability of the Atlantic Ocean for navigation, conveyed the knowledge of the Phoenicians about the Sargasso Sea with its huge accumulation of algae, which really complicates navigation. Other researchers believe that information about the unsuitability for seafaring of the Atlantic was specially spread by the Phoenicians, who did not want their possible competitors to get to Tartessa (north of Cadiz), where the Phoenician trading settlement was located, abandoned after a strong silt clogging of the Guadalquivir, which happened after 500 BC. new era.
It is impossible not to notice the obvious fact that the story of the warlike Atlantis serves as a background for the exaltation of "ideal Athens." We also note that the cyclical nature of worldwide destructive catastrophes is one of Plato's favorite considerations.
The second part of the trilogy - "Critias" - contains a description of Atlantis.
Critias says:
“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 [which is not happened, for Plato did not finish "Cretia"]. It is reported that our state was at the head of the latter, bringing it to the very end, and at the head of the former were the kings of the island of Atlantis. "
Plato is a philosopher, not a historian, and this becomes obvious when, in the words of Cretius, he asserts that the ancient Athenians are examples of moral and physical impeccability and are famous for this throughout the world.
Further, Critias gives a detailed description of Atlantis, however, he begins with a myth about how the gods divided the world. According to Cretius, Athena and Hephaestus got Athens (it is highly doubtful that this kind of information could have appeared in the Egyptian records), and Atlantis passed into the possession of Poseidon (such a statement is not found in the writings of Hesiod, or in other texts telling about the origin of the gods and of people).
Finally, Critias goes directly to the description of Atlantis:
“From the sea to the middle of the island stretched a plain, according to legend, more beautiful than all other plains and very fertile, and again in the middle of this plain, about fifty stadia from the sea, there was a mountain, low on all sides. On this mountain there lived one of the men who were brought into the world by the earth at the very beginning, named Evenor, and with him the wife of Leucippus; their only daughter was named Kleito. When the girl had already reached marriageable age, and her mother and father died, Poseidon, inflamed with lust, unites with her; he strengthens the hill on which she lived, separating it from the island around the circumference and fencing alternately with water and earth rings (there were two of earth and three of water), all of large diameter, drawn like a compass from the middle of the island and at an equal distance from each other from friend. This obstacle was insurmountable for people, for ships and shipping did not exist then ... Having given birth to a couple of male twins five times, Poseidon raised them and divided the entire island of Atlantis into ten parts. "
Further in "Critias" it is said that Atlantis, and the Atlantic Ocean, are named after Atlant, the first king of the island (this Atlas has nothing to do with the hero of the Greek myth, who supports the firmament). The kings of Atlantis possessed countless riches. On the island there were all kinds of fossils of solid and fusible metals, including the mythical metal orikhalkon("Orichalcum"), second only to gold in value. The island was home to the most different kinds trees and all kinds of domestic and wild animals, including elephants. Atlantis was a veritable paradise, and yet the Atlanteans imported goods from other parts of the vast empire.
The plan of Atlantis, or rather, the capital of this empire, was outlined by Plato in "Critias" quite clearly, and therefore it is not difficult to reproduce this plan graphically, and the drawing resembles the perfect sketches of Pythagoras.
The Atlanteans built the city by building water rings around Kleito's Palace. There were three such rings in total, the width of the largest of them (outer) was 600 meters; the same was the width of the largest earth ring; the width of the second largest water and earth rings was 400 meters, and the width of the water ring around the central island was 200 meters. The central island, on which the palace was located, was a circle (1 km in diameter). A ten-kilometer canal stretched from the sea to the outer water ring, and the water rings were interconnected by tunnels.
On the central island, in addition to the palace, there was a temple of Poseidon and Kleito, surrounded by a wall of pure gold. The temple was a structure 200 m long and 100 m wide (the Parthenon in Athens was 70 m long and 30 m wide). The temple was decorated with gold, silver, ivory and orichalcum and adorned with many statues; pedigree bulls grazed on the adjoining fenced area. There were two sources on the island: one from the cold, the other from hot water supplied to swimming pools and saunas. There were also houses and premises for horses and pack animals. In the sacred grove of Poseidon, located next to the temple, magnificent trees of various species grew.
On the ring islands there were temples, gardens, gymnasiums, hippodromes, palace guard barracks, as well as docks where ships were repaired and built. At a distance of 10 km from the outer water ring, a circular fortress wall rose, to which the residential buildings of the city reached.
The city was located on a vast plain, surrounded by mountains, measuring 600? 400 km. The plain was surrounded by a wide and deep artificial ditch, where the waters of mountain rivers and streams flowed down, and a whole network of canals emanated from the ditch, which was used for movement on water, as well as for irrigating fields and gardens, which made it possible to take two crops a year. The area of the mountains surrounding the plain is not indicated in the Kritia, but it must have been enormous; considering that "the island was larger than Libya and Asia combined." If we take into account the area of one plain, then it turns out that Atlantis is only twice the size of Sicily.
Further in "Critias" tells about the despotism of the rulers of Atlantis, who at the same time were prudent and defended high moral principles. But, nevertheless, the prosperity of the Atlanteans came to an end, the reason for which is explained by Critias:
When the share inherited from God weakened, repeatedly dissolving in a mortal admixture, and the human disposition prevailed, then they were unable to endure their wealth any longer and lost their decency. For those who know how to see, they were a shameful sight ... And Zeus, the god of the gods, observing the laws, being well able to discern what we were talking about, thought about a glorious family that fell into such miserable depravity, and decided to impose punishment on him so that he, having sobered from trouble, learned prudence.
Search for Atlantis
In his Timaeus and Critias, Plato essentially deliberately draws a contrast between the luxury and sybarism of the Atlanteans and the veiled moderation and modesty of the virtuous Athenians. Critias mentions that the Atlanteans did not speak Greek, which, in the eyes of the Greeks, reduced them to barbarians, and the monarchical state of the Atlanteans and its final decay only intensified the disapproving attitude towards it.
Solon did not have much need to obtain detailed information about the state of the Atlanteans from the Egyptian records, for Plato already had material, which he probably had in mind while working on the Timaeus and Critias.
Here is the information that Plato was undoubtedly known:
Herodotus' description of the splendor of Babylon with the "hanging gardens" of Babylon.
In the capital of Media, Ektabane, there were seven ring walls with tunnels built through them.
In Carthage there was a round harbor surrounded by docks, and on the central island of the harbor was the "headquarters" of the Carthaginian fleet.
Athens was in a hostile relationship with Syracuse, although the inhabitants of this city were not considered barbarians. Once the tyrant of Syracuse Dionysius I attacked Tyrrenia. Syracuse was located on a large island rich in agricultural land and minerals, not to mention hot and cold springs. On a promontory between two convenient harbors there was a fortress that defended the city from the sea from enemy attacks. The inhabitants of Syracuse inhabited the plain surrounded by mountains. (Note in parentheses that Plato tried to implement his political ideas in Syracuse, but to no avail).
On the island of Scheria (from Homer's Odyssey), where Odysseus met with Nausicaa, there was a city surrounded by impregnable walls and having two harbors. The royal palace was all of shiny copper, a door of pure gold, lintels of silver, and a copper threshold led into it. There was an evergreen garden at the palace, which was irrigated by two springs. There was also a temple of Poseidon on the island.
The above information, which Plato was undoubtedly known, can serve as a warning to those who are going to find Atlantis. It should be added that research and analysis of tectonic phenomena have shown with certainty that there is no sunken continent in the Atlantic Ocean. On the other hand, destructive natural disasters have repeatedly occurred on Earth, and Plato must have known about some of them. So, in 426 BC in Greece there was a strong earthquake, accompanied by a tsunami.
This natural disaster was described by Thucydides:
Due to the continued earthquakes in Orobii (which is on Euboea), the sea receded from the then coastline, and then giant tidal waves hit the city and partially flooded it, and then again escaped, so that where there used to be land, now is the sea. At the same time, many people died who did not have time to run to the heights in advance. A similar flood happened on Atapanta (an island opposite Opunta Lokrida).
Nevertheless, many researchers believe that Plato hardly invented the legend of Atlantis, relying on the realities of contemporary history and on information gleaned from available sources, in addition to the works of Solon. They believe that Plato actually received information about the mysterious Atlantis from the work of Solon, and the Egyptian priests shared this information with Solon. At the same time, there is an assumption that Plato himself, or repeating Solon's mistake, misinterpreted the dates that the Egyptian priest used in his conversation with Solon. He did not take into account the fact that the priests of Egypt called the lunar month "year", as they used lunar calendar... If we take into account this possible error of Plato, then the events that, according to Plato, took place eight and nine thousand years before the conversation of the Egyptian priest with Solon, who visited him, actually happened eight and nine hundred years before this conversation. But perhaps Plato greatly exaggerated the size of Atlantis and therefore placed it behind the Pillars of Hercules in the Atlantic Ocean, and not in the Mediterranean Sea, where it simply did not fit.
One of the candidates for the identity of Atlantis is Crete during the Minoan culture, which flourished around the period from 2100 to 1450 BC, which corresponds in time to the eras of the Middle and the beginning of the New Kingdoms in Egypt. At that time, Egypt and Crete maintained a diversified, mainly trade relationship, and there is no evidence that military clashes took place between Egypt and Crete or between Egypt and Greece. The Egyptians considered Crete an island located between Libya and Asia, and it is possible that Plato, studying the work of Solon, mistook the Greek word meson ("between") for meisdon ("more than") and as a result of this oversight considered that Solon was writing about a pre-existing island that "was larger than Libya and Asia combined." Of course, this is just a guess.
In 1909, an attention-grabbing publication appeared in The Times, which stated that the death of Minoan culture was associated with the death of Atlantis, caused by a terrible natural disaster that happened around 1450 BC. In the late thirties of the XX century, the Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos noticed the similarity of the Minoan civilization with the culture of Plato's Atlantis. In reality, the palace of King Minos at Knossos bears little resemblance to the royal palace in Atlantis. One can only agree that the bull symbol was widely used in Minoan art, and also, of course, that the Minoans went to the bathhouse. But there were no elephants in Crete for certain. In the sixties of the XX century, Marinatos, making excavations on the island of Santorini (Fera) near the village of Akrotiri, unearthed a city that had died as a result of a monstrous disaster, covered with volcanic ash, whose culture was related to the Minoan civilization.
Crete is only 100 km from Santorini. The volcanic eruption on Santorini probably exceeded the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, when the crash of the explosion was heard 3,000 km away and the tsunami caused by the earthquake killed 35,000 people. Santorini crater is four times wider and much deeper than Krakatoa crater, and it can be assumed that an earthquake, air shock waves, fire, tsunami and volcanic ash blew up the economy of Crete and led to the death of the kingdom of Minos, and information about this terrible disaster reached Egypt and there were recorded. According to the hypothesis of Marinatos, the monstrous volcanic eruption on Santorini led not only to the death of the Minoan civilization, but also served as an impetus for the emergence of the myth of Atlantis. The conquest of Crete by the Greeks, which took place around 1400 BC, may have given rise to the belief that the Athenians defeated the Atlanteans.
However, between the death of Atlantis and the collapse of the Minoan civilization in Crete, caused by the monstrous volcanic eruption on Santorini, there is a certain inconsistency. According to Plato, Atlantis did not die as a result of a volcanic explosion, but as a result of "unprecedented earthquakes and floods", which led to the fact that Atlantis "disappeared, plunging into the abyss." If information about the catastrophe that befell Crete, caused by the eruption of a volcano on Santorini, reached Plato, and if this information served as a plot for the myth of Atlantis, then it seems very strange that the philosopher, telling about the death of this state, did not say a single word about the root cause " unprecedented earthquakes and floods ”. To this we can add that Herodotus, who visited Sais in Egypt between Solon's visit there and the time of Plato's creation of Timaeus and Cretius, did not mention in his work neither the catastrophe that befell Crete, nor the death of Atlantis. Other authors who lived before Plato do not mention these events either. Apollonius of Rhodes, the head of the library in Alexandria, who lived later than Plato, Apollonius of Rhodes, the head of the library in Alexandria (the Argonaut Euthem threw into the sea a lump of earth donated by Triton, and from this coma the island of Callisto / Fera / Santorini), Apollonius does not say a word about the death of Santorini.
The volcanic eruption on Santorini had a detrimental effect on the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea, shock waves affected a huge territory from Turkey to Kos, Rhodes, Crete and Egypt. Residential buildings and outbuildings were damaged as a result of these strikes; in Crete, volcanic ash fell in a layer of one to five centimeters, and the height of the waves hitting the northern coast of the island was at least eight meters, so the ash probably destroyed the entire crop and turned fertile land into a desert, and the tsunami destroyed the Cretan fleet.
The connection between the death of Atlantis and the death of the Minoan civilization was shaken in the eighties of the XX century by the data of radiocarbon analysis of the discovered artifacts (by measuring the content of the radioactive isotope in the material). These studies showed that the volcanic eruption on Santorini could have occurred in 1628-1606 BC, that is, much earlier than the death of the Minoan civilization. These studies are supported by dendrochronological data, which showed that a strong volcanic eruption can create a "frost effect" on the earth's surface, which leads to abnormally narrow annual rings of trees. Such abnormally narrow rings appeared on American Bristol pines in 1628-1626 BC, on Irish marsh oaks in 1628, and also on trees growing at that time in England and Germany. This anomaly could have been influenced by a volcanic eruption in Santorini. But on the trees that grew at that time in Asia Minor, abnormally wide rings appeared in 1628, which means that that year turned out to be less hot and wetter than usual. This anomaly could also have been influenced by a volcanic eruption in Santorini.
A volcanic eruption can be accompanied by the release of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which leads to acid rain and the interaction of precipitation with the annual layers of ice of the polar ice caps. Danish scientists conducting research in Greenland suggested that the volcanic eruption on Santorini occurred in 1645 BC with an error of twenty years, which is consistent with the data of dendrochronological analysis, which established that a powerful volcanic eruption occurred around 1628, which caused global climate change.
These studies showed that the eruption took place in the 17th century BC, and therefore it was not the cause of the death of the Minoan civilization. Of course, this dating can be challenged, especially since during excavations in the Egyptian Telliel Dab, archaeologists found pieces of pumice, formed, according to the analysis, as a result of a volcanic eruption in Santorini. However, even new data do not allow linking the death of the Minoan civilization with the death of Atlantis.
In 1984, the geoarchaeologist Eberhard Zangger published The Flood From Heaven. In this book, the author states that the history of Troy served the origin of the myth of Atlantis.
Zangger's hypothesis is based on two premises:
1. The Egyptian priests retell to Solon under the guise of the history of Atlantis the history of the Trojan War, which by that time, with a long transmission from mouth to mouth, had changed significantly. Solon simply did not understand the true meaning of what he was told about.
2. Troy is similar to the main city of Atlantis described by Plato. The fortified part of both cities is equally small; in both Troy and Atlantis, many of the inhabitants of the capital city settled outside the fortified part; both cities had convenient harbors and artificial canals.
Excavations of Tron really showed that this city was probably a significant cultural and economic center in the Mediterranean in the late Bronze Age, but this, even coupled with some town-planning similarities between Troy and Atlantis, is not enough to identify these city-states. In addition, Hisarlik is not an island at all, and although there were earthquakes there, none of the cities located in this area sank into the abyss.
In the twenties of the XX century, the Scottish ethnologist Lewis Spence expressed the opinion that the Antilles are the remnants of Atlantis. Spence quite casually identified the Aztec Aztlan with Atlantis (despite the fact that the Aztecs, as far as is known, left Aztlan, their mythical ancestral home, in 1168 AD), the nymph Kleito with Coatlicue, the Aztec goddess, and Atlanta with the sun god Huitzilopochtli.
Using comparative methodology, Spence inserted the history of Atlantis into the Aztec myth:
Pariakaka, a demigod who came from the "eggs" (arks), came like Poseidon to the hilly country, where people began to insult him. In anger, he sent a flood on them, and their village was destroyed [According to Plato, Poseidon appeared on the island, and the Atlanteans began to worship him and, naturally, did not insult him]. Not far from that place, he met a very beautiful girl named Choke Suso, who cried bitterly. [Spence identifies her with Clayto Plato, while at the same time identifies Clayto with Coatlicue]. He asked why she was crying, and she told him that the maize crop was dying from the lack of water. Pariakaka fell in love with the girl at first sight and promised her to get the necessary water if she reciprocated his passion. [Nothing of the sort happens in Plato's story about Atlantis]. She responded favorably to his courtship, and he irrigated the whole earth with water, just as Poseidon did in Atlantis. Subsequently, Pariakaka turned his wife into a statue. [Poseidon didn't turn Clayto into a statue].
You can't deny Spence's imagination, and when, at the end of his work, without any doubt that Atlantis was located in the Caribbean Sea, he exclaims with pathos: "Is it possible in any other place to find more similarities with Atlantis?" and I want to agree, contrary to reason.
There are a great many such theories, and all of them are supported, in the opinion of the authors, by "strong evidence" based on new archaeological finds or simply on unfounded statements, supported by references to "historical realities." The search and discovery of Atlantis are on stream. Her remains are called Santorini, Crete, Cyprus, Azores, Canary and Bahamas. With the same success, Atlantis is placed on the territory of Sweden, England, Bolivia, the American states of Utah, Alabama and Pennsylvania, as well as in the Arctic, Antarctic and Sahara.
American writer Paul Jorden in his work "Atlantis Syndrome" writes: "Much without any evidence and proof is taken by man on faith." Indeed, everything extraordinary and mysterious has a special attraction for people, and therefore there is a natural desire to get to the bottom of the truth, but in the case of Atlantis, this is not realistic: Plato did not indicate either its exact location or the exact time of its death.
American science fiction writer Lion Sprague de Camp remarked:
It is impossible to change its components in the story told by Plato and then claim that this is the same story told by Plato. To say this is like saying that the legendary King Arthur is in fact Queen Cleopatra. All that needs to be done for this is to change the gender of Cleopatra, her years of life, nationality, character, moral principles, and then the similarities will be obvious.
There are too many obstacles to take Plato's story on faith: a developed civilization, according to Plato, existed during the Mesolithic; geological surveys have shown that there are no formations in the Atlantic Ocean similar to a submerged continent; found and deciphered ancient texts do not speak of Atlantis; it is not mentioned in the works of authors (including Solon and Herodotus) who lived before Plato. In a word, Plato is the only one who told the world about Atlantis. The history of Atlantis, as noted by the Australian writer Trevor Bryceau, is "the most vivid and enduring of all the hoaxes that have ever existed."
It should also be noted that the researchers of Plato's writings have not come to an unambiguous conclusion what purpose he pursued, having inserted the history of Atlantis into his works. Some ancient authors, including Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle, believed that Atlantis really existed, and Plato reflected historical reality in his writings. But Aristotle himself, disagreeing with such an opinion, believed that "Timaeus" and "Critias" of Plato are works of a philosophical sense. Strabo in his work "Geography" called the history of Atlantis fiction and categorically concluded: "He who gave birth to Atlantis, doomed it to death."
Atlanteans existed only in Plato's imagination.
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