All right, time to set the record straight (again) about Atlantis. Atlantis is the bane of nearly every archaeologist who studies lost civilizations. It is also the final thread of ultimate mystery to which some cling desperately in their hope for Something Greater, or their need for the Establishment to be Wrong, or their assertion that Technology Is Bad.
What’s pertinent to this discussion is that Atlantis probably never, ever existed outside of Plato’s mind. People may find a sunken island here or a lost civilization there, and proclaim that they’ve found Atlantis (or, to give themselves some wiggle room, the “inspiration for the story of Atlantis”. Well, the sunken island and lost civilization may be genuine, but they are not Atlantis by any means.
There have been efforts to legitimize the tale, or to “appease” the Atlantis-mongers by finding “Atlantis” or its real-life counterpart on some island or other, which was destroyed. The problem with any such assertion is that no matter
when the island existed or was destroyed, there’s absolutely no way of telling for certain whether
this was the island that Plato used for inspiration. It’s all whistling in the wind.
The only place on earth, in history, anywhere,
ever, that the tale of Atlantis is mentioned, alluded to, suggested, or even paraphrased is in the works of Plato; specifically the two dialogues which Cleopatra mentioned – the
Timaeus and the
Critias. In the
Timaeus, Atlantis is only briefly references amongst a number of other stories. The
Critias more or less goes into great detail about the island itself and its government, etc. Yet, we only need the
Timaeus to tell us that Atlantis never existed.
In the
Timaeus, “Critias” is telling a story to Socrates about a story handed down to him from his ancestors. Here’s part of the relevant text:
From the Timaeus
Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in our histories. But one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and valour. For these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end. This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was larger than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless continent.
Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. This vast power, gathered into one, endeavoured to subdue at a blow our country and yours and the whole of the region within the straits; and then, Solon, your country shone forth, in the excellence of her virtue and strength, among all mankind. She was pre-eminent in courage and military skill, and was the leader of the Hellenes. And when the rest fell off from her, being compelled to stand alone, after having undergone the very extremity of danger, she defeated and triumphed over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who were not yet subjugated, and generously liberated all the rest of us who dwell within the pillars.
But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island.
We’re all used to hearing about Atlantis referred to as a peace-loving techno-marvel society which, through abuse of technology or nature or both, met an untimely end through cataclysmic volcanic activity. But how twisted the tale has become! Here, in the beginning, and the first mention of the story in history, we find that Atlantis was a race of brutish warrior thugs that set out to enslave the entire Mediterranean Sea, and nearly succeeded! Only the efforts of the (really) ancient Athenians saved the world from this horrible menace.
Yet this whole account, all by itself, proves the non-existence of Atlantis. Plato gives a wealth of geographic information pertinent to the Atlantis story. He places the island, without any grey area,
in the Atlantic Ocean, outside the Pillars of Heracles (otherwise known as the Straits of Gibraltar. Some have suggested that Plato meant a
different “Pillars of Heracles”, but Plato makes it clear he’s talking about Gibraltar. According to the account, Atlantis enslaved the Mediterranean peoples as far as Tyrrhenia (Italy) on the north coast and Egypt on the southern coast. He also states that the island of Atlantis was frickin’
huge…
bigger than all of then-known Europe and Africa!
An island of that size cannot have existed in the Mediterranean. All of the “candidate islands” in the Mediterranean – Cyprus, Crete, Santorini, and the rest – are simply way too small to support an army large enough to rule the Sea. And it flies in the face of common sense that these islands’ militaries would be able to subjugate Spain, Italy, Libya, and Egypt, yet not have any influence over Greece, Turkey, or Palestine, to which they are much, much closer. Finally, all islands that were destroyed by volcanoes are disqualified; Plato specifically mentions earthquakes and floods (in the
Critias, Plato explains that the floods were caused by torrential rains), but no volcanoes. There isn’t a single island in the Mediterranean that meets the specific criteria established by Plato. Of course, simple juxtaposition will lead us to the conclusion that there aren’t any islands in the
Atlantic which meet the criteria either. The Atlantis legend does not stand up to scientific scrutiny in any way, shape, or form. At this point in time, it’s safe to say that Plato invented the story.
