07 Mar 2012, 3:31 pm
ruveyn wrote:
Vigilans wrote:
I'd say the majority of accounts are definitely fictional but I suspect they may have origin with a real event, probably the Minoan civilization
The Minoans did not have Death Rays, flying machine and shining eyes at the top of pyramids. They were a remarkably advanced culture, but still technologically primitive by modern standards. They couldn't even predict tsunamis following earthquakes at sea, which shows how primitive their science was. ruveynPrimitive, yes - Stone Age primitive, at best. No science beyond what any Stone Age culture might produce - pyramids, maybe; flying darts, spears, and arrows, yes; death rays ...
... the "Evil Eye" of the village shaman, perhaps! All of that "Death Ray" nonsense was added later, much of it by contemporary "New Age" wonks and tabloid journalists.What Thomas Jefferson did to the four Gospels, I wish he would have done to the Atlantis Myth as told by Plato in "Timaeus", as well. This is the full text of that account, as translated by Benjamin Jowett:
Plato wrote:
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.
Cut out the supernatural aspects, and those in direct conflict with known evidence, and...
Quote:
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, and there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was the way to other islands, and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent; 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. 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 the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea.
Even in the full account, there are no death rays, flying machines, and shining eyes at the top of pyramids. Yet there is an account of a foreign power, based in the Atlantic Ocean, invading and conquering the Mediterranean people, and eventually being driven back and defeated.
As for the "disappeared in the depths" part, the 1692 Port Royale earthquake caused most of the city to sink below sea level and about 2,000 people died as a result of the earthquake and the following tsunami. Thus, such an event is not impossible.
But it still does not support Plato's claim that Atlantis existed as he described it, or that a single city named "Atlantis" even existed at all.
07 Mar 2012, 5:10 pm
07 Mar 2012, 5:59 pm
