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| :''This article is about the mythical island. For other uses, see ].'' | :''This article is about the mythical island. For other uses, see ].'' | ||
| ] | |||
| {{TotallyDisputed}} | |||
| '''Atlantis''' was a ] ancient island, whose existence and location have never been confirmed. The first mentions we have are from the ] philosopher ], who said that it was destroyed by possibly an ] or a ] about 9,000 years before his own time. Plato claimed it was somewhere outside the ] (also known as the ]). While there are many theories about Atlantis, nearly all serious research shows that Atlantis as Plato described it never existed, though elements of his story may have been drawn from real events. | |||
| {{cleanup-nonsense}} | |||
| ==Plato's Account== | |||
| ] | |||
| {{cleanup-section}} | |||
| '''Atlantis''' was a ]ary ancient island, whose existence and location have never been confirmed. The first mentions we have are from the ] philosopher ], who said that it was destroyed by possibly an ] or a ] about 9,000 years before his own time. Plato claimed it was somewhere outside the ] (also known as the ]). | |||
| ==Atlantis Timeline== | |||
| *]: according to Plato's account, ] (a famous ] statesman) visits ]'s capital city at that time (]), and hears from the priests the story of an ancient civilization that was destroyed 9000 years earlier. | |||
| *]: Plato first writes Solon’s story and calls the ] '''"Atlantis"'''. | |||
| *]-]: various classical Mediterranean authors such as ], ], ], ] and ] mention Atlantis. Belief in the lost continent is divided. | |||
| *]: ] (''aka'' Hadji Muhammad), an admiral in the ] navy, makes the world's oldest map of the Americas. It becomes known as the ] (''reis'' is Turkish for ''Admiral''.) In it he draws out the Americas, Greenland, and a southern landmass where we know ] to be. Piri, who knew many languages, including ], credited much of the map to earlier sources. The Piri Reis Map has been the center of much nonsensical speculation as to the possibilities of Antarctica and the lost continent of Atlantis being one and the same. | |||
| *]: A Spaniard, ], makes the suggestion that Atlantis was in America. However, in many ways America does not match the description given by Plato. | |||
| *]: Abbé ], a French scholar, travels through ] for many years. Amongst his many other published materials on the ], in his ''Quatre Lettres Sur Le Mexique'' he speculates that some texts in the then-undeciphered ] document the volcanic destruction of Atlantis. He goes further and puts forward the view that the existence of Atlantis would explain the similarities which he believed existed between the Mayan and Ancient Egyptian civilizations and artistic styles, and proposes that Atlantis was the progenitor civilization of the two. He also uses as a base for the theory the commonality of the "-tl-" ], found in several Mesoamerican languages such as ], and the very word "Atlantis". His speculations are not much taken up by his contemporaries however, and his scholarly reputation suffers as a result. | |||
| *]: A famous Mayan archeologist, ], defends the idea that the Maya were descendants of an Atlantean race. He was later to change his opinion after further research. | |||
| *]-]: ] publishes ''Sacred Mysteries Among the Mayans and Quichés'' (1886) and ''Queen Moo and the Egyptian Sphinx'' (1896) in conjunction with his wife ], after their ten years of study in the ]. They claim that the Ancient Egyptian civilization, as well as all other civilizations, are descended from the Mayan. He states that Queen Moo was originally from Atlantis (which Le Plongeon calls ''Mu'' and situates in the ]), but when Queen Moo seeks refuge there, she finds it gone, and goes on to Egypt were she was known as Isis and founded the Egyptian civilization. Le Plongeon’s work is interesting, in that there are a great many similarities between the Maya and the Egyptians. It was not however much accepted by other ]s of the time, and contemporary Maya scholarship universally disregards these interpretations. In addition carbon-dating has clearly shown that Egyptian civilization antedates the Mayans by many thousands of years, clearly invalidating Le Plongeon's theories. | |||
| *]: ], a former member of the US Congress writes '']'', a popular book that went through fifty editions and is still in print after 100 years. He states that Atlantis was the source of all cultures of the world, an idea which some see as supported by modern research into the hypothetical ancestral language known as ] (or ''PIE''). | |||
| *]: ], sometimes called the Grandmother of the “New Age” movement, includes Atlantis in her occult and bizarre reconstruction of history. For example, because of humanity’s widespread preoccupation with dragons, she believes that humans existed at the time of the dinosaurs. | |||
| *]: ] writes his own version of Atlantis. | |||
| *]: In an anonymous letter to the London Times, classical scholar K. T. Frost points out similarities between the ancient Mediterranean culture of ] (the ]) and Plato’s “Atlantis.” Although there are similarities, Plato’s description of Atlantis does not match well with that of ancient Crete. | |||
| *]: ] becomes famous in the US for going into a trance and then prescribing remedies for ill people. During these trance states he sometimes describes patients' past lives in Atlantis. He predicts that records of Atlantis will someday be found, in several locations. He also predicts that portions of Atlantis will rise again from the ocean. | |||
| *]: author James Churchward writes, ''The Lost Continent of Mu''. He claims to have seen sacred tablets in ], which describe the creation of the world and a lost continent, which he calls "]". He places Mu in the ]. | |||
| *]: A Greek archeologist, ], suggests that the collapse of the Minoan civilization was caused or pre-empted by the volcanic destruction of the island of Thera (]) and the resulting tsunami, in about 1500 BC. In 1950, he suggests the Atlantis myth derives from this event. His paper is not published in English until 1969. Many modern scientists accept Thera as a possible source to tales of Atlantis; however, Plato’s description is not a good match with Thera. | |||
| *]: ] first publishes the non-fiction work ''Lost Continents'', which surveys theories on these, including Atlantis. However, de Camp (probably better known for his ] novels, such as his extension of ]'s '']'' series) is a firm skeptic when it comes to Atlantis, regarding it as ]. He flatly states that Plato made up the story. Interestingly, he also says that ]’s ] is “very doubtful.” (A 1970 edition, however, corrected this statement.) | |||
| *]: ] Dorothy Vitaliano writes ''Legends of the Earth'' and includes a chapter on Atlantis. She believes that there is nowhere in the Atlantic Ocean that Atlantis could have existed. | |||
| *]: James Bramwell writes ''Lost Atlantis'', perhaps one of the most rational and balanced accounts of the controversy ever published. Though parts of it are dated, his book often amazes one with its insight and depth. | |||
| *]: ] hosts a panel discussion “Atlantis: Fact or Fiction,” including several notable scholars. While most of them dismiss the Atlantis story as pure fiction, John V. Luce (Associate Professor of Classics, Dublin University) presents the view that Plato’s Atlantis story is part fiction, part fact, and based on ancient legends. | |||
| *]-]: ] A. G. Galanopoulos, another Greek, also tries to link “Atlantis” to the volcano on the island of ]. He claims that an error in translation of Plato’s text multiplied all numbers by 10, and that is why Thera is ten times smaller than Plato described. Scholars (Vitaliano, Luce) have very effectively refuted this “ten error.” Also, there are many other mismatches between Thera and Atlantis (see Vitaliano). | |||
| *]: Bill Lauritzen states on a newsgroup his hypothesis that South East Asia was probably the location that generated the Atlantis story. | |||
| *]: Bill Lauritzen travels to the Sunda Plain of ] to investigate his theory firsthand. | |||
| *]: Independently of Lauritzen, Arysio Nunes dos Santos of Brazil, posts an article on his web site stating that the Sunda Plain was Atlantis. | |||
| *]: Steven Oppenheimer finishes "Eden in the East", a massive work that presents evidence from oceanography, archeology, linguistics, genetics and folklore that civilization did not begin in the ] of the ], but on the (now mostly sunken) Sunda Plain, which is sometimes called ]. | |||
| *]: Independently of Oppenheimer or dos Santos, Bill Lauritzen posts his article on Atlantis on wwww.earth360.com. He states that Atlantis may have been on the Sunda Plain, and that the story may have been inspired by the ]n expansion. | |||
| *]: Shirley Andrews publishes "Atlantis: Insights From a Lost Civilization", a book that compiles some theories and ideas known about Atlantis. She examines languages, blood types, and ruined architecture. She points out that the ]s describe their original homeland of Atl as a great island that sank into the ocean. However, ] does not match well with Plato's desciption. It has no coconuts, elephants, or canals, which are all mentioned in Plato's account. | |||
| *]: Marc-André Gutscher, of the University of Western Brittany, notes that ], a submerged island just west of the ], could be Atlantis (published in ''Geology''). He notes that the island, now 60m underwater, had been above water a few thousand years ago. He also notes that thick ] deposits indicate a ] had hit it around 12000 years ago. The location (just west of the "]") and age of destruction are consistent with Plato's account, though no evidence was found of human habitation prior to submersion. Also, it was not the right size for Atlantis as described by Plato. | |||
| ==Accounts== | |||
| According to historical accounts, the story of Atlantis was about the conflict between the ancient ] and the Atlanteans around 9,000 years before ]'s existence. | |||
| The origins of the story of Atlantis date back to Egyptian priests who transfered it to ]. Soon Solon passed the tale to ], who was the great-grandfather of ]. And Critias learned of it from his grandfather also named Critias, son of Dropides. | |||
| ===Plato=== | |||
| ''Main article: ]'' | ''Main article: ]'' | ||
| Plato's '']'' (21e - 25d) and his '']'' are the only written accounts of Atlantis. According to Plato's story, over 9,000 years ago a war between those outside the ''pillars of Heracles'' and all who dwelt within them took place . Those on the outside were supposed to inhabit an island greater in extent than ] and the ]. This supposedly was sunk by an earthquake. The land became an impassable barrier to voyagers sailing to any part of the ocean. There was a ] which is said to have been very fertile. Near the plain, and also in the centre of the island at a distance of about fifty ], there was a ] not very high on any side. There at the inner hill the land was enclosed all round by alternate zones of sea and land larger and smaller, encircling one another; there were two of land and three of water. The whole island and the ocean were called "''Atlantic''". The island was facing the country called the region of ] (Greek, ]; Atlantean, ]). | |||
| Plato's '']'' (21e - 25d) and his '']'' are the only written accounts of Atlantis; in these Plato gives some information on the size and location of the island of Atlantis. Atlantis might be a work of fiction, yet an extended ] intended to illustrate Plato's philosophy of the ideal government. Plato's account purports to be based on a visit to ] by the Athenian lawgiver ], itself quite possibly a legendary event. ], priest of ], is purported to have translated it into ] for Solon. | |||
| Atlantis is likely a work of fiction, an extended ] intended to illustrate Plato's philosophy of the ideal government, much as ]. Plato's account purports to be based on a visit to ] by the Athenian lawgiver ], itself quite possibly a legendary event. That the Athenians had to hear from the Egyptians about a Greek battle from 9,000 years ago further suggests the extraordinary and likely illustrative nature of the story. ], priest of ], is purported to have translated it into ] for Solon. | |||
| According to Plato's story, over nine thousand years ago a war between those outside the ''pillars of Heracles'' and all who dwelt within them took place . Those on the outside were supposed to inhabit an island greater in extent than ] and the ]. This supposedly was sunk by an earthquake. The land became an impassable barrier to voyagers sailing to any part of the ocean. There was a ] which is said to have been very fertile. Near the plain, and also in the centre of the island at a distance of about fifty ], there was a ] not very high on any side. There at the inner hill the land was enclosed all round by alternate zones of sea and land larger and smaller, encircling one another; there were two of land and three of water. The whole island and the ocean were called "''Atlantic''". The island was facing the country called the region of ] (Greek, ]; Atlantean, ]). | |||
| ===Aristotle=== | ===Aristotle=== | ||
| Line 53: | Line 16: | ||
| ===Other Greek accounts=== | ===Other Greek accounts=== | ||
| An important ] festival of ], the ] was dated from the days of king ]. It consisted of a solemn procession to the ] in which a ] was carried to the goddess, for she had once saved the city, gaining victory over the nation of Poseidon, that is, the Atlanteans. As ] comments, this cult was in existence already 125 years before Plato, which means that the story could not |
An important ] festival of ], the ] was dated from the days of king ]. It consisted of a solemn procession to the ] in which a ] was carried to the goddess, for she had once saved the city, gaining victory over the nation of Poseidon, that is, the Atlanteans. As ] comments, this cult was in existence already 125 years before Plato, which means that the story could not have been invented by him. The historian ] wrote that the ] of ] considered the destruction of Atlantis a historical fact and described a class of ]s that suddenly, by a violent motion, opened up huge mouths and so swallowed up portions of the earth, as once in the Atlantic Ocean a large island was swallowed up. ] recorded that the Atlanteans did not know the fruits of ]. ] called this island "Satyrides," referring to the Atlantes and those who profess to know the measurements of the earth. He states that far west of the Ocean there lies a group of islands whose inhabitants are red-skinned and whose hair is like that of the horse. (] described the Indians similarly.) | ||
| A fragmentary work of ] of ] tells about the colonies of Atlantis in the sea. ] wrote that the garden of the ] was on an island in the sea where the ] sets. ] recorded that this land was 12,000 km<!-- Surely he didn't wrote kilometers --> distant from ], and Uba, a ] talks of an enormous island outside the ]. He describes it as having a climate that is very mild; fruits and vegetables grow ripe throughout the year. There are huge mountains covered with large forests, and wide, irrigable plains with navigable rivers. ] gives similar account. | A fragmentary work of ] of ] tells about the colonies of Atlantis in the sea. ] wrote that the garden of the ] was on an island in the sea where the ] sets. ] recorded that this land was 12,000 km<!-- Surely he didn't wrote kilometers --> distant from ], and Uba, a ] talks of an enormous island outside the ]. He describes it as having a climate that is very mild; fruits and vegetables grow ripe throughout the year. There are huge mountains covered with large forests, and wide, irrigable plains with navigable rivers. ] gives similar account. | ||
| Marcellus claims that the survivors of the sinking Atlantis migrated to ]. ] tells almost the same, citing the ] of ] as his sources. He tries to classify the ] tribes according to their origins and tells of one of these claiming that they were colonists who came there from a remote island. ] of ], a Greek ] called this land beyond the ocean as "Meropis". The dialogue between King ] and the wise Silenus mentions the Meropids, the first men with huge cities of gold and silver. Silenus knows that besides the well-known portions of the world there is another, unknown, of incredible immensity, where immeasurably vast blooming meadows and pastures feed herds of various, huge and mighty beasts. ] cites ], knowing of the existence of the huge island out in the Atlantic as a continuing tradition among the Phoenicians or Carthaginians of Cádiz. Perhaps the ] friar ] understood Plato better than the ancient and modern "Aristotelians", says Merezhkovsky. In his '']'' he included a chart of the (flat) world: it showed an inner continent, a compact mainland surrounded by sea, and this was surrounded by an outer ring-shaped continent, with the inscription, "The earth beyond the Ocean, where men lived before the ]." The ] is placed in the eastern end of this continent. | Marcellus claims that the survivors of the sinking Atlantis migrated to ]. ] tells almost the same, citing the ] of ] as his sources. He tries to classify the ] tribes according to their origins and tells of one of these claiming that they were colonists who came there from a remote island. ] of ], a Greek ] called this land beyond the ocean as "Meropis". The dialogue between King ] and the wise Silenus mentions the Meropids, the first men with huge cities of gold and silver. Silenus knows that besides the well-known portions of the world there is another, unknown, of incredible immensity, where immeasurably vast blooming meadows and pastures feed herds of various, huge and mighty beasts. ] cites ], knowing of the existence of the huge island out in the Atlantic as a continuing tradition among the Phoenicians or Carthaginians of Cádiz. Perhaps the ] friar ] understood Plato better than the ancient and modern "Aristotelians", says Merezhkovsky. In his '']'' he included a chart of the (flat) world: it showed an inner continent, a compact mainland surrounded by sea, and this was surrounded by an outer ring-shaped continent, with the inscription, "The earth beyond the Ocean, where men lived before the ]." The ] is placed in the eastern end of this continent. | ||
| ===Byzantine accounts=== | |||
| In the mid-], the Byzantine writer ], who was no navigator himself, simply repeated common ] of the eastern end of the Mediterranean when he said | |||
| :''"This same Ocean has in its western region certain islands known to almost everyone by reason of the great number of those that journey to and from. And there are two not far from the neighborhood of the Strait of ], one the ] and another called the ]. Although some reckon as islands of Ocean the twin promontories of Galicia<!-- Is this Gallaecia? --> and ], where are still to be seen the Temple of Hercules on one and Scipio's Monument on the other, yet since they are joined to the extremity of the Galician country, they belong rather to the great land of Europe than to the islands of Ocean."'' —Jordanes, '']'', chapter 1:4. | |||
| ==Modern interest== | ==Modern interest== | ||
| With rare exceptions, such as ]'s book '']'', interest in Atlantis |
With rare exceptions, such as ]'s book '']'', interest in Atlantis mostly languished, until, some 2,200 years after Plato, the ] publication of '']'' by ]. Donnelly took Plato's account of Atlantis seriously and attempted to establish that all known ancient civilizations were descended from its high-] culture. | ||
| In middle and late ], several serious ]n scholars, starting with ], and including ] and ] propose that Atlantis was somehow related to Mayan and Aztec culture; several of the researchers later recant their controversial claims. | |||
| Since Donnelly's day, there have been dozens — perhaps hundreds — of locations proposed for Atlantis. Some are more-or-less serious attempts at legitimate scholarly or archaeological works; others have been made by ] or other ] means. | |||
| Around this same time, the mythical nature of Atlantis became was combined with other lost continent myths such as ] and ] by popular figures in the ] and the growing ] phenomenon. ], the "Grandmother of the New Age movement" writes in '']'' that the Atlanteans were cultural heroes (contrary to Plato who describes them mainly as a military threat), and are the fourth "]", succeeded by the "]". ] based much of his writings on occult revelations of Mu or Atlantis. Famed psychic ] likewise proposed that Atlantis was an ancient, now-submerged, highly-evolved civilization which had ships and aircraft powered by a mysterious form of energy crystal. His work '']'' (]) claims to describe Atlantis, including its exact geographical location. | |||
| ] based much of his writings on occult revelations of Mu or Atlantis. | |||
| ] likewise proposed that Atlantis was an ancient, now-submerged, highly-evolved civilization. The ] significance being that it was a land from which many of us continue to ], with Cayce adding that the Atlanteans also had ships and aircraft powered by a mysterious form of energy crystal. The work '']'' (]) claims to describe Atlantis, including its exact geographical location. Through ] and ], the concept of Atlantis also entered ]. ] was inspired by ] to the belief that a remnant of the white Atlanteans were to be found in ], the search for which was part of the mission of the ] expedition to Tibet in 1938/9 led by ]. According to ] ('']'', ]), the Atlanteans were ] were Nordic ] who originated on the ]. Similarly, ] ('']'', ]) spoke of a "nordic-atlantean" or "aryan-nordic" ]. ] has also written an esoteric history of Atlantis, although this may be intended more as ] than as fact. | |||
| Oddly enough the concept of Atlantis also entered ] through ] and ]. In ] ] organized a search in ] to find a remnant of the white Atlanteans. According to ] ('']'', ]), the Atlanteans were ] -- Nordic ] who originated on the ]. Similarly, ] ('']'', ]) spoke of a "nordic-atlantean" or "aryan-nordic" ]. ] has also written an esoteric history of Atlantis, although this may be intended more as ] than as fact. | |||
| In the mid-], ] reshaped his ] to contain elements of an Atlantis myth (see ]). '']'' (]/5) contains only obscure references to this, and the myth was published only posthumously, in the '']'' (]). ]' work also contains references to Atlantis. The 1990 ] series '']'', which is very broadly based on '']'' by ], has elements of modern Atlantean myth woven in, with a particularly Caycean flavor. The series was produced by ], the studio famous for ]. ] also produced an animated feature ] based on the Atlantis legend, '']'' (2001). | |||
| As ] became better understood and accepted during the 1950's, most "Lost Continent" theories of Atlantis were proven conclusively false. In response, some recent theories propose that elements of Plato's story was derived from earlier myths including that of the (now mostly sunken) Sunda Plain, which is sometimes called ] in ]. Proponents of this idea include ], ] and ]. There is stronger evidence, however that some of Plato's story elements were drawn from the natural disasters that have taken place in the Mediterranean, such as the volcanic eruptions around ] which may have destroyed the ] civilization. As yet there have been no conclusive results. | |||
| ==Location hypotheses== | ==Location hypotheses== | ||
| :''Main article: ]'' | :''Main article: ]'' | ||
| Since Donnelly's day, there have been dozens — perhaps hundreds — of locations proposed for Atlantis. Some are more-or-less serious attempts at legitimate scholarly or archaeological works; others have been made by ] or other ] means. Many of the proposed sites share some of the characteristics of the Atlantis story (water, catastrophic end, relevant time period), but none have been proven conclusively to be the historical Atlantis. Most of the historical proposed locations are in or nearby the Mediterranean, either islands such as ], ] and ], ], and ] or as land based cities or states such as ], ] or Tantalus (in province of ], ]) as possible locations. The submerged island of ] near the Strait of Gibraltar is another proposed location which would coincide with some elements of Plato's account. | |||
| Outside of the Mediterranean, locations as far as ], ] and the ] have been proposed as Atlantis' site. In the area of the ], three locations, ], ] and ], a legendary place near ]. The nearby ] was proposed as another site in ]. Various islands or island groups in the Atlantic were also identified as possible locations notably the ] off Portugal and several ] islands. In the North Atlantic, ] (by Finnish pseudohistorian ]) and ] have been proposed. Areas in the Pacific and Indian Ocean have also been proposed including ], ] and stories of a lost continent off ] named "]". | Outside of the Mediterranean, locations as far as ], ] and the ] have been proposed as Atlantis' site. In the area of the ], three locations, ], ] and ], a legendary place near ]. The nearby ] was proposed as another site in ]. Various islands or island groups in the Atlantic were also identified as possible locations notably the ] off Portugal and several ] islands. In the North Atlantic, ] (by Finnish pseudohistorian ]) and ] have been proposed. Areas in the Pacific and Indian Ocean have also been proposed including ], ] and stories of a lost continent off ] named "]" have drawn parallels to Atlantis. | ||
| ==In fiction== | ==In fiction== | ||
| <!-- | |||
| ===Literature=== | |||
| As a popular myth, Atlantis is frequently | |||
| ====Prose==== | |||
| featured in many books, television shows | |||
| and other creative works. Please only | |||
| include works where the main storyline | |||
| involves Atlantis. Do not list individual | |||
| shows or characters who are from Atlantis. | |||
| --> | |||
| * ]'s classic '']'' includes a visit to sunken Atlantis aboard Captain Nemo's submarine '']''. | |||
| ] visit the remains of Atlantis in '']'']] | ] visit the remains of Atlantis in '']'']] | ||
| As a popular myth, Atlantis is frequently featured in many books, television shows and other creative works. Below is a partial listing of works where Atlantis is featured as a major part of the storyline. | |||
| * ]'s classic '']'' includes a visit to sunken Atlantis aboard Captain Nemo's submarine '']''. | |||
| * The book '']'' by Taylor Caldwell. | |||
| * The book '']'' by ]. | * The book '']'' by ]. | ||
| * The book '']'' by ]. | * The book '']'' by ]. | ||
| * In the '']'' survivors of Atlantis settle in Britain | |||
| * ]'s stories about ] are set in pre historic Atlantis. | |||
| * A new book 'Atlantis' by David Gibbins was published in 2005. | |||
| * In the book '']'', the Hellenistic civilization calls Amerindians "Atlanteans". | |||
| * In the '']'' series of books, the survivors of Atlantis ("fairies") journey to Britain where, among other places, they settle in ] and ]. ], the ], and the ] are all Atlanteans, and ] is the son of an Atlantean princess and a Celtic Druid. | |||
| * In ]'s ], the island of ] is sunk because of the evil deeds of their inhabitants. The Quenya name of Númenor was ]. | |||
| * In the ] series of books, Atlantis is an underwater city inhabited by certain fairies who do not live in the underground city of Haven. | |||
| ====Poetry==== | |||
| * ] wrote a long poem in Catalan, '']'', on the subject linking it with the discovery of the Americas by ]. | |||
| * The poem "Global Atlantis" at http://peaceworld.freeservers.com/013nGLOBALATLANTIS.htm, describes a hypothetical Atlantean civilization that grew along now-submerged continental shelves during the last Glacial Period, and was repeatedly annihilated when highland glaciers melted into the ocean, topping it off to current sea level, circa 50,000 to 10,000 years ago. | |||
| ====Comics/Manga==== | |||
| * In the ], both ] and ] - among others - were said to have come from a sunken Atlantis. In Lori Lemaris's case, her people survived by becoming ]s and ]. In the ], the people live in a similar manner, as blue-skinned water breathers with Prince ] as their ruler. In a cross-over title produced jointly by Marvel and DC, the question obviously arose: Who is the rightful ruler of undersea Atlantis - Arthur the Aquaman or Namor the Sub-Mariner? The two superheroes battled for the title of undisputed King under the Sea... Aquaman won, by dropping an orca on Namor. | |||
| ===Movies=== | ===Movies=== | ||
| * Atlantis is the subject of the ] film '']''. | * Atlantis is the subject of the ] film '']''. | ||
| * Atlantis is the central premise of ]'s ] animated feature '']''. | * Atlantis is the central premise of ]'s ] animated feature '']''. | ||
| * The French film '']'' by ] (]) is in fact an underwater wildlife documentary. | * The French film '']'' by ] (]) is in fact an underwater wildlife documentary. | ||
| * One film set in times before Classical Greece arose shows shipwrecked Greek sailors in the Atlantic being rescued by a modern-looking ] which was based on Atlantis. | |||
| ===Television=== | ===Television=== | ||
| * Atlantis plays a major part during one season of the Japanese anime ]. | |||
| * The SciFi series '']'' | |||
| ===Comics/Manga=== | |||
| * ]'s ] series '']'' is about Atlantis. | |||
| * In '']'', which begins at the end of season 7 of '']'' (The Lost City), the SGC finds out that the city known as Atlantis was a city of technology and science inhabited by the Ancients several million years ago. A galaxy-wide plague caused the Ancients to take the entire city to another galaxy, Pegasus. Under the command of Doctor Elizabeth Weir, an expedition team set out to find and explore this city and to find if there are any Ancients still living there. They discover the city on the sea floor of a largely oceanic planet, abandoned for ten thousand years. They later discover that the Ancients were defeated in a war with another race known as the Wraith, eventually retreating to Atlantis, hiding the city beneath the sea and, finally, returning to Earth through the city's Stargate. The Ancients who returned to Earth eventually mingled and interbred with the human population of the planet, giving rise to the legends of the city which sank beneath the sea. | |||
| * In the fourth season of '']'', the legend of Atlantis plays a major part in the plot. Granted, the version used isn't very accurate when compared to the real legend, but Atlantis is still used. In this season, called "The Doma Saga" by fans, an evil organization led by the previous King of Atlantis surfaces and tries to wipe out life on earth in order to create a new race of humans less evil and corrupt than the humans of today. | |||
| * In the '']'' story '']'', the Dæmon Azal claims to have destroyed Atlantis. However in the story '']'' the city is shown as existing on the seabed near the Azores and is destroyed. Yet another version is given in '']'' which locates the city off Crete and also shows it destroyed. | |||
| * According to Master Fung in the ] episode "Enter the dragon", the last time Dojo turned into a 2-headed monster and went on a Shen-gon-wu induced rampage was "the last time anyone saw Atlantis" | |||
| * The setting of ] was created by the Atlanteans. | |||
| * The fallen ] Islington in ] was originally guardian angel of Atlantis, but destroyed it, claiming they deserved it. | |||
| * In the '']'' episode "This is Your Wish", ], during his training, came up with the idea of how to make Altantis cleaner - by sinking it. | |||
| * In '']'' episode "]", ] (played by Barney Gumble) destroys Atlantis after drunkenly trying to throw a lighting bolt at ] (played by Homer). | |||
| * In the '']'' episode The Deep South, the Planet Express crew explores the 'Lost City of ]', in a parody of the lost city of Atlantis. | |||
| * In ] a great battle of the King of Atlantis, Dartz, vs. the three legendary dragons caused the destruction that sank Atlantis. | |||
| * Many comic book characters including ], ] and ] - among others - were said to have come from a sunken Atlantis. | |||
| ===Games=== | |||
| *In the ] '']'', Atlantis is a continent in the Atlantic west of the Caribbean that rises back out of the sea in the far future. Besides the human-like, but physically and mentally superior Atlanteans, ''Rifts''' Atlantis is peopled by alien colonists called the Splugorth, who enslave humans for sale on interdimensional markets. | |||
| * Atlantis was also the subject of the PC-based Adventure game, '']'', published by ]. In the game, Indiana races the Nazis to find Atlantis and to stop them from discovering the secrets of orichalcum. | |||
| * The computer game ] follows the adventure of a (fictional) Atlantian hero named Arkantos. The game begins with Arkantos having to defend the city and ends with him having to rescue its people from enemy forces before the island sinks. The expansion to Age of Mythology, The Titans, allows you to play as Atlantians, who worship the titans. Their buildings are a mix betweenm european and greek styles, while the soldiers are very Roman-esque, which include ] and destroyers, who are ] with tridents. | |||
| *In the expansion pack "Poseidon" to "Zeus - Master of Olympus" (by ]), the player can build Atlantean cities in a number of campaigns most of which were written solely for the game and only very loosely based on the historical records on Atlantis. In the role of various kings of Atlantean city states, the player lives through the rise of Atlantis and eventual fall due to a war with the Mycenean culture. In this game, Atlantis is a large island or continent in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, from which it can easily spread its influence to the Mediterranean as well as the Americas. The game also dabbles into other either dubious, controversial or solely mysterious parts of history, like the search for the Fountain of Youth, the supposed common heritage of the pyramids of Egypt and Mesoamerica (in game, both areas are colonised by Atlanteans who build the first pyramids there), the flooding of the Mediterranean and the Greek Dark Ages. | |||
| * In the videogame '']'', adventurer and treasure hunter ]'s quest ultimately leads her to the buried ruins of Atlantis. Her employer turns out to be an Atlantean herself, having been imprisoned for the past 10,000 years in suspended animation and now seeking to reclaim the powers of her people for her own benefit. | |||
| * In the ] video game ], an area called Atlantis is located in the game's fourth level, Jolly Roger's Lagoon. This area's architecture is very on par with ancient Rome. | |||
| * Atlanteans are one threat that Aegis must deal with in the RPG ]. | |||
| * In the computer adventure game ''Timelapse'', published by Hammerhead Entertainment, the player visits various civilizations (Egyptians, Maya, Anasazi, Easter Island) through time travel, encountering no people. The people have mysteriously abandoned their cities. The final level is called Atlantis. | |||
| ==In music== | |||
| Atlantis has inspired an instrumental by ] and a song by ]; ]s by jazz artist ], ] producer ], ] band ], British band ], ] ] band ], ] ] band ], and also the album V: The New Mythology Suite by ]. ] Band ]'s lead ] goes by the ] Atlantis, as to not embarrass his family, or allow intrusion by 'crazy' fans into his private life. He picked the name because "any body can and has claimed to be a god, but who's claimed to be a continent?" | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| * Joseph, Frank, "''The Destruction of Atlantis: Compelling Evidence of the Sudden Fall of the Legendary Civilization''". Bear & Company, 2002. ISBN 187918185-1 | |||
| * Zangger, Eberhard, "''''The Flood from Heaven: Deciphering the Atlantis legend''". Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992, ISBN 0688113508. | |||
| * Mifsud, Anton, Simon Mifsud, Chris Agius Sultana, and Charles Savona Ventura, "''Echoes of Plato's Island''". (2nd edition) Malta, 2001. ISBN 99932-15-01-5 | |||
| * Ashe, Geoffrey, "''Atlantis : lost lands, ancient wisdom / Geoffrey Ashe''". New York, N.Y., Thames and Hudson; 1992. ISBN 0500810397 | |||
| * Zeilinga de Boer, Jelle, et. al., "''Volcanoes in human history : the far-reaching effects of major eruptions''". ''The Bronze Age eruption of Thera : destroyer of Atlantis and Minoan Crete?''. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press; 2002. | |||
| * Ley, Willy, ''"Another look at Atlantis, and fifteen other essays''". Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday; 1969. LCCN 69011988 | |||
| * Galanopoulos, Angelos Geōrgiou, and Edward Bacon, "''Atlantis; the truth behind the legend''". Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill; 1969. LCCN 71080738 //r892 | |||
| * Donnelly, Ignatius, "''Atlantis : the antediluvian world''". New York, Harper, 1882. LCCN 06001749 | |||
| * Erlingsson, Ulf, "''''". Lindorm Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0975594605 | |||
| * Flem-Ath, Rand & Wilson, Colin, "''The Atlantis Blueprint''". 2000. | |||
| * Shirley Andrews, "''Atlantis''". Llewellyn Publications, 2002. ISBN 156718023X | |||
| ==External links |
==External links== | ||
| ===Accounts=== | ===Accounts=== | ||
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| ===Location theories=== | ===Location theories=== | ||
| ''For detailed links about possible locations see ] | |||
| * ]: | |||
| * | |||
| '''Directories''' | |||
| *]: | |||
| '''Information''' | |||
| * ],Discovery of Atlantis at www.discoveryofatlantis.com | |||
| * Bill Lauritzen's theory of Atlantis at www.earth360.com | |||
| *"'' in front ], between ] and ]; Atlantis = ], Atlanteans and ]s''". '']''. Apr 2000. | |||
| *"'' = Tartessos, Atlanteans and Sea Peoples''". '']'' (quarterly journal of archaeology) | |||
| *Prof. Arysio N. Santos' "'' in ]''" | |||
| *Jim Allen's -- Historic Atlantis in ]. | |||
| *Riven,The Seer and RoyalBloodline to Atlantis; [http://www.mts.net/~perasa Tribes of Atlantis, Dragon Claw Orb High Prow ship(Tarxien,Malta 3500.bC), appears also on Stonehenge Pillar and Atlantean Machine Discovered. The most Factual and Conclusive research on Atlantis according to the Critias and Timaeus. Atlanteans still very much alive and well. Josephine,Torre,Ormonde Seamounts,Atlantic Ocean 300km ahead of Pillars of Hercules. | |||
| * | |||
| * in the ] | |||
| * in the ] | |||
| * (Blavatsky.net) | |||
| * (www.lost-civilizations.net) | |||
| * (About.com) | |||
| * -- detailed explanation. | |||
| * "''''". AtlantisDiscovery.com. Madrid, Spain. | |||
| * Dr. site (University of ]) | |||
| * geological analysis of the Spartel Bank hypothesis | |||
| *, Atlantis Motherland by Eagle/Wind | |||
| '''Forums''' | |||
| * ] Forum -- Posts: Oct 31, 2003. | |||
| * -- website and debate forum | |||
| '''Non-english sites''' | |||
| * 250 Links/100 bibliographical references - German/English/various languages | |||
| * Bock, Ior, "''''". (German/English) | |||
| * (German only) | |||
| * in ], Antlanteans and ]s (German language) | |||
| * in front of ], between Andalusia and Morocco. ]s and ] discoveries. (Spanish/English) | |||
| '''News''' | |||
| *], "''''". August 15, 2005. | |||
| *BBC News, "''''". June 6, 2004. | |||
| *BBC News, "''''". November 15, 2004. | |||
| *BBC News, "''''", September 20, 2001. | |||
| *Radford, Tim, ], "''''", September 14, 2000. | |||
| * -- overview on recent findings | |||
| '''Skeptics''' | |||
| *Christopher, Kevin, "''''" -- ] | |||
| ] | ] | ||
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Revision as of 20:45, 28 September 2005
- This article is about the mythical island. For other uses, see Atlantis (disambiguation).
Atlantis was a mythical ancient island, whose existence and location have never been confirmed. The first mentions we have are from the classical Greek philosopher Plato, who said that it was destroyed by possibly an earthquake or a tsunami about 9,000 years before his own time. Plato claimed it was somewhere outside the Pillars of Hercules (also known as the Strait of Gibraltar). While there are many theories about Atlantis, nearly all serious research shows that Atlantis as Plato described it never existed, though elements of his story may have been drawn from real events.
Plato's Account
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Main article: Critias (Plato)
Plato's Timaeus (21e - 25d) and his Critias are the only written accounts of Atlantis. According to Plato's story, over 9,000 years ago a war between those outside the pillars of Heracles and all who dwelt within them took place . Those on the outside were supposed to inhabit an island greater in extent than Libya and the then known Asia. This supposedly was sunk by an earthquake. The land became an impassable barrier to voyagers sailing to any part of the ocean. There was a plain which is said to have been very fertile. Near the plain, and also in the centre of the island at a distance of about fifty stadia, there was a mountain not very high on any side. There at the inner hill the land was enclosed all round by alternate zones of sea and land larger and smaller, encircling one another; there were two of land and three of water. The whole island and the ocean were called "Atlantic". The island was facing the country called the region of Gades (Greek, Eumelus; Atlantean, Gadeirus).
Atlantis is likely a work of fiction, an extended parable intended to illustrate Plato's philosophy of the ideal government, much as Plato's allegory of the cave. Plato's account purports to be based on a visit to Egypt by the Athenian lawgiver Solon, itself quite possibly a legendary event. That the Athenians had to hear from the Egyptians about a Greek battle from 9,000 years ago further suggests the extraordinary and likely illustrative nature of the story. Sonchis, priest of Thebes, is purported to have translated it into Greek for Solon.
Aristotle
Aristotle wrote of a large island in the Atlantic Ocean that the Carthaginians knew as Antilia. Proclus, the commentator of "Timaeus" mentions that Marcellus, relying on ancient historians, stated in his Aethiopiaka that in the Outer Ocean (which meant all oceans, not just the Atlantic) there were seven small islands dedicated to Persephone, and three large ones; one of these, comprising 1,000 stadia in length, was dedicated to Poseidon. Proclus tells us that Crantor reported that he, too, had seen the columns on which the story of Atlantis was preserved as reported by Plato: the Saite priest showed him its history in hieroglyphic characters. Some other writers called it Poseidonis after Poseidon. Plutarch mentions Saturnia or Ogygia about five days' sail to the west of what is called nowadays Britain. He added that westwards from that island, there were the three islands of Cronus, to where proud and warlike men used to come from the continent beyond the islands, in order to offer sacrifice to the gods of the ocean.
Other Greek accounts
An important Greek festival of Pallas Athene, the Panathenaea was dated from the days of king Theseus. It consisted of a solemn procession to the Acropolis in which a peplos was carried to the goddess, for she had once saved the city, gaining victory over the nation of Poseidon, that is, the Atlanteans. As Lewis Spence comments, this cult was in existence already 125 years before Plato, which means that the story could not have been invented by him. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that the intelligentsia of Alexandria considered the destruction of Atlantis a historical fact and described a class of earthquakes that suddenly, by a violent motion, opened up huge mouths and so swallowed up portions of the earth, as once in the Atlantic Ocean a large island was swallowed up. Diodorus Siculus recorded that the Atlanteans did not know the fruits of Ceres. Pausanias called this island "Satyrides," referring to the Atlantes and those who profess to know the measurements of the earth. He states that far west of the Ocean there lies a group of islands whose inhabitants are red-skinned and whose hair is like that of the horse. (Christopher Columbus described the Indians similarly.) A fragmentary work of Theophrastus of Lesbos tells about the colonies of Atlantis in the sea. Hesiod wrote that the garden of the Hesperides was on an island in the sea where the sun sets. Pliny the Elder recorded that this land was 12,000 km distant from Cádiz, and Uba, a Numidian talks of an enormous island outside the Pillars of Hercules. He describes it as having a climate that is very mild; fruits and vegetables grow ripe throughout the year. There are huge mountains covered with large forests, and wide, irrigable plains with navigable rivers. Scylax of Caryanda gives similar account.
Marcellus claims that the survivors of the sinking Atlantis migrated to Western Europe. Timagenes tells almost the same, citing the Druids of Gaul as his sources. He tries to classify the Gallic tribes according to their origins and tells of one of these claiming that they were colonists who came there from a remote island. Theopompus of Chios, a Greek historian called this land beyond the ocean as "Meropis". The dialogue between King Midas and the wise Silenus mentions the Meropids, the first men with huge cities of gold and silver. Silenus knows that besides the well-known portions of the world there is another, unknown, of incredible immensity, where immeasurably vast blooming meadows and pastures feed herds of various, huge and mighty beasts. Claudius Aelianus cites Theopompus, knowing of the existence of the huge island out in the Atlantic as a continuing tradition among the Phoenicians or Carthaginians of Cádiz. Perhaps the Byzantine friar Cosmas Indicopleustes understood Plato better than the ancient and modern "Aristotelians", says Merezhkovsky. In his Topographia Christiana he included a chart of the (flat) world: it showed an inner continent, a compact mainland surrounded by sea, and this was surrounded by an outer ring-shaped continent, with the inscription, "The earth beyond the Ocean, where men lived before the Flood." The Garden of Eden is placed in the eastern end of this continent.
Modern interest
With rare exceptions, such as Francis Bacon's book The New Atlantis, interest in Atlantis mostly languished, until, some 2,200 years after Plato, the 1882 publication of Atlantis: the Antediluvian World by Ignatius Donnelly. Donnelly took Plato's account of Atlantis seriously and attempted to establish that all known ancient civilizations were descended from its high-neolithic culture.
In middle and late 19th century, several serious Mesoamerican scholars, starting with Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, and including Edward Herbert Thompson and Augustus Le Plongeon propose that Atlantis was somehow related to Mayan and Aztec culture; several of the researchers later recant their controversial claims.
Around this same time, the mythical nature of Atlantis became was combined with other lost continent myths such as Mu and Lemuria by popular figures in the occult and the growing new age phenomenon. Helena Blavatsky, the "Grandmother of the New Age movement" writes in The Secret Doctrine that the Atlanteans were cultural heroes (contrary to Plato who describes them mainly as a military threat), and are the fourth "Root Race", succeeded by the "Aryan race". Rudolf Steiner based much of his writings on occult revelations of Mu or Atlantis. Famed psychic Edgar Cayce likewise proposed that Atlantis was an ancient, now-submerged, highly-evolved civilization which had ships and aircraft powered by a mysterious form of energy crystal. His work Toward the Light (1920) claims to describe Atlantis, including its exact geographical location.
Oddly enough the concept of Atlantis also entered Nazi Mysticism through Theosophy and Anthroposophy. In 1938 Heinrich Himmler organized a search in Tibet to find a remnant of the white Atlanteans. According to Julius Evola (Revolt Against the Modern World, 1934), the Atlanteans were Hyperboreans -- Nordic supermen who originated on the North pole. Similarly, Alfred Rosenberg (The Myth of the Twentieth Century, 1930) spoke of a "nordic-atlantean" or "aryan-nordic" master race. Aleister Crowley has also written an esoteric history of Atlantis, although this may be intended more as metaphor than as fact.
As continental drift became better understood and accepted during the 1950's, most "Lost Continent" theories of Atlantis were proven conclusively false. In response, some recent theories propose that elements of Plato's story was derived from earlier myths including that of the (now mostly sunken) Sunda Plain, which is sometimes called Sundaland in Southeast Asia. Proponents of this idea include Bill Lauritzen, Steven Oppenheimer and Arysio Nunes dos Santos. There is stronger evidence, however that some of Plato's story elements were drawn from the natural disasters that have taken place in the Mediterranean, such as the volcanic eruptions around Santorini which may have destroyed the Minoan civilization. As yet there have been no conclusive results.
Location hypotheses
- Main article: Location hypotheses of Atlantis
Since Donnelly's day, there have been dozens — perhaps hundreds — of locations proposed for Atlantis. Some are more-or-less serious attempts at legitimate scholarly or archaeological works; others have been made by psychic or other pseudoscientific means. Many of the proposed sites share some of the characteristics of the Atlantis story (water, catastrophic end, relevant time period), but none have been proven conclusively to be the historical Atlantis. Most of the historical proposed locations are in or nearby the Mediterranean, either islands such as Sardinia, Crete and Santorini, Malta, and Ponza or as land based cities or states such as Troy, Andalucia or Tantalus (in province of Manisa, Turkey) as possible locations. The submerged island of Spartel near the Strait of Gibraltar is another proposed location which would coincide with some elements of Plato's account.
Outside of the Mediterranean, locations as far as Antarctica, Indonesia and the Caribbean have been proposed as Atlantis' site. In the area of the Black Sea, three locations, Bosporus, Sinop and Ancomah, a legendary place near Trabzon. The nearby Sea of Azov was proposed as another site in 2003. Various islands or island groups in the Atlantic were also identified as possible locations notably the Azores off Portugal and several Carribbean islands. In the North Atlantic, Finland (by Finnish pseudohistorian Ior Bock) and Ireland have been proposed. Areas in the Pacific and Indian Ocean have also been proposed including Indonesia, Malaysia and stories of a lost continent off India named "Kumari Kandam" have drawn parallels to Atlantis.
In fiction
As a popular myth, Atlantis is frequently featured in many books, television shows and other creative works. Below is a partial listing of works where Atlantis is featured as a major part of the storyline.
- Jules Verne's classic 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea includes a visit to sunken Atlantis aboard Captain Nemo's submarine Nautilus.
- The book Romance of Atlantis by Taylor Caldwell.
- The book Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler.
- The book Decipher by Stel Pavlou.
- In the Pendragon Cycle survivors of Atlantis settle in Britain
- A new book 'Atlantis' by David Gibbins was published in 2005.
Movies
- Atlantis is the subject of the 1961 film Atlantis, the Lost Continent.
- Atlantis is the central premise of Disney's 2001 animated feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
- The French film Atlantis by Luc Besson (1991) is in fact an underwater wildlife documentary.
Television
- Atlantis plays a major part during one season of the Japanese anime Yu-Gi-Oh.
- The SciFi series Stargate Atlantis
Comics/Manga
- Many comic book characters including Aquaman, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Lori Lemaris - among others - were said to have come from a sunken Atlantis.
See also
External links
Accounts
- "Timaeus" translated by Benjamin Jowett; alternative version with commentary.
- "Critias" translated by Benjamin Jowett; alternative version with commentary.
- Project Gutenberg Presents: "Atlantis: the Antediluvian World" by Ignatius Donnelly
Location theories
For detailed links about possible locations see Location hypotheses of Atlantis
Categories: