Where did the story of Atlantis begin? It began with two dialogues by Plato, Timaeus and Critias and they are the only known written records that refer to Atlantis from ancient times. Many people hold absolutely no faith in the accounts of Plato’s reference to Atlantis as anything but fiction and simply a creation of Plato’s imagination. (They would probably say Plato was a figment of someone’s imagination if they thought they could get away with it.) Other people believe that the story of Atlantis was inspired by events that led to the destruction of the Minoan civilization on Crete and Thera. There are those who believe that Atlantis was not a figment of an author’s imagination nor was it an inspired tale but believe it was a real civilization that met with a tragic end only to be kept in written history by a frayed thread and almost forgotten only to be revived in the imagination of one and all whether they believe or not.
There are many theories about Atlantis and its location. These theories will take you from the Arctic to the Antarctic. From the Azores to Sicily. From the Black Sea to the Caribbean Sea there are as many places as there are theories.
Will add more related to Atlantis in upcoming posts. _________________ All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are
Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine
These literary works are my property under copyright. If you wish to use my work for any purpose please ASK FIRST.
Tue Nov 27, 2007 6:15 am
Alpenglow
Joined: 02 Feb 2007
Posts: 607
You just touched a soft spot there, Eire. Plato is by far my favourite philosopher and Atlantis has always mesmerized me. The description, especially in Critias, is breathtaking.
I am looking forward to more of your posts on this subject, Eire.
quote:Originally posted by alpenglow:
You just touched a soft spot there, Eire. Plato is by far my favourite philosopher and Atlantis has always mesmerized me. The description, especially in Critias, is breathtaking.
I am looking forward to more of your posts on this subject, Eire.
Alpen
Alpen,
Thank you very much for the reply
I have more to come
Eiregirl _________________ All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are
Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine
These literary works are my property under copyright. If you wish to use my work for any purpose please ASK FIRST.
Atlantis…just the name conjures myth and fantasy in the minds of some. In others minds there is no myth or fantasy…only an unknown reality.
Atlantis in Plato’s accounts Timaeus and Critias sank into the ocean and this is the only known historical record of Atlantis. Many scholars, anthropologists, archeologists and exploreres have searched for Atlantis only to find frustration while others developed theories based on suposition and summation with with some plausible evidence that could back up their theories even though the evidence is not pointing a direct finger and saying, “that is Atlantis”.
The easiest theory to believe is one for those who do not want to believe that Atlantis ever existed because all they have to do is say is that it was a story created by Plato to put forth is political views. The main reason for this there is that Plato’s writing about Atlantis is the only primary account of Atlantis and all other written accounts point to Plato as the primary source of information. The only problem with this theory is…there is no more evidence to back it up as there is any theory that Atlantis actually existed and in truth there is less evidence for this theory than some of the worst theories that Atlantis existed. Besides Plato never said he was illustrating a political point of view and he did say the island was there. Not only does Plato mention the Island of Atlantis but he describes it in good detail as well as the Atlantians and he even said, “Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvelous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent”. (some translate it as “Island of Atlas”) To me that indicates control over a vast area.
Just as there are people today who do not believe Atlantis existed there were some ancient philosophers such as Aristotle who did not believe but even in ancient times there were who did believe such as Crantor who tried to find proof that Atlantis existed and while his work on this is long lost to us there is an account from Proclus of Crantor (or Krantor) traveling to Egypt and finding hieroglyphic evidence of Atlantis and even though we do not have these hieroglyphs we do have Proclus’s account of it.
To me the evidence that Atlantis never existed is far to weak to support the theory therefore I don’t believe this theory. Even if Plato was not writing about an actual place called Atlantis I believe he was writing about a civilization that had existed and whether or not it was Atlantis then…It is called Atlantis now. _________________ All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are
Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine
These literary works are my property under copyright. If you wish to use my work for any purpose please ASK FIRST.
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