Atlantis The Lost Civilization Research Paper
English 101 Section 125
11 December 2012
Atlantis: The Lost Civilization The legend of the Lost Civilization of Atlantis has intrigued people from all walks of life for centuries… over two millennia actually. From Plato’s writings the story may have actually been written in stone being as the story was passed on from ancient Egyptians. Atlantis is probably one of the most inspirational “lost civilizations” in recorded history. It doesn’t matter which story you’ve read or what documentary you’ve watched, the origin of this epic deviates very little. There are a couple theories on when it existed and many more where it existed.
The first written account comes from Plato’s dialogues Timaeus and Critias. In the first dialogue, Timaeus, …show more content…
a disciple of Socrates named Critias, tells a tale that was told to his grandfather by Solon, a famous Athenian statesman and lawgiver. Solon had visited Egypt and met a priest in the city of Saïs. The priest told Solon that Egyptian historical records contained an account of a great war that had been fought in very ancient times… around 9600 B.C., between Athens and “a mighty host which, starting from a distant point in the Atlantic Ocean was insolently advancing to attack the whole of Europe and Asia to boot.” The invaders, the priest said, came from an island called Atlantis, which lay outside the Pillars of Hercules (today’s Strait of Gibraltar). These Egyptian records, believed to possibly be in a hall beneath the Sphinx, have yet to be found. The Greeks were the last power standing and defeated the Atlanteans, liberating all those who dwell within the Pillars. Afterwards came violent earthquakes and floods and in a single day and night Atlantis had disappeared into the sea .(Into the Unknown)
At least part of this story has to be true. Solon was said to have been very honest. I believe part of the flaw lies in the timeline. The Egyptians say it happened over 9000 years earlier, but we learned in our History class that the first written language was found in Mesopotamia around 3200 B.C. I think it’s a rather far-fetched notion to think an accurate account could be passed on for 6000 years at the very least. That’s easily over 300 generations of passing down stories by word-of-mouth. Don’t you think some deviations would occur during this massive time span?
In Plato’s second and unfinished dialogue, the Critias, Critias describes Atlantis in much more detail.
The island was a very fertile plain surrounded by mountains on every shore. It was rich in animal, mineral AND vegetable. The capital city lay on an island within and was a marvel of wealth and advanced engineering. It contained the royal palace and the Temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Poseidon’s temple was adorned with gold, silver, ivory and a bronze-like metal called oricalch, which, according to Critias, “gleamed like fire.” This central island was surrounded by 3 rings each of alternating canals and land with another canal leading outward straight to the …show more content…
sea.
In that era it is believed that due to corruption of wealth and power the Atlanteans stopped worshiping the gods and had to be punished. A very similar story lies in The Clash of the Titans (2010) which is to say the people of Atlantis grew corrupt with all the wealth and power they’d attained. They felt they no longer needed the gods to sustain their livelihoods so they stopped paying them homage. But there came earthquakes and floods and in a day and a night Atlantis sank into the depths of the sea.
In more modern times this nation’s demise is believed to have come from a volcanic explosion and the tidal waves that followed similar to that which destroyed the island of Krakatoa in 1883. Or was this really Atlantis? The creation and destruction of islands is not all fiction. Volcanic islands which rise out of the sea then disappear actually do occur in the Atlantic, particularly in the Azores and near Iceland.
I’ve seen several news articles saying Atlantis is believed to have been found as far back as 1949 when it was reported that a typist, Frances Dale, was possessed by a priest from Atlantis to write his story.
She told her publisher she would accept no royalties. Her publisher says Miss Dale has both feet on the ground and knowing her style that she couldn’t have written it. Several instances lay claim to discovering Atlantis but apparently with no resolution as we’re still searching. Some are devout scientists and some seemingly just “crackpots.” In 1973 Maxine Asher led a team to the coast of Spain to explore the region. She said, “I simply know we will find it because I am psychic and the highly civilized people of Atlantis are very psychic. How strong the vibrations are these
days!”
There are those who try and disprove one theory in order to promote their own. “Atlantis, The Lost Continent Created out of Seaweed is one of the headlines in a 1936 Milwaukee Journal. That’s what Professor Ralph Linton, University of Wisconsin anthropologist wanted to disprove. It certainly gets your attention; wondering how seaweed fits in the picture. It is Professor Linton’s opinion that Atlantis still exists today as the island of Crete. This is also one of the more popular theories to explain this legend. He blamed the myth of Atlantis being situated in the Atlantic on errors in Egyptian geography and early Greek curiosity. It seems the Egyptians weren’t really interested where these marauders and traders came from; they just surmised they came from the west. The Greeks, on the other hand, did want to know their origin. When Greek traders and explorers ventured beyond the Pillars of Hercules they came across patches of floating seaweed just like they’ve seen on their own shores. They deduced there must be land out there was well, but there was none. However, if there was a continent there, all that might remain would be seaweed. On the other hand, I suspect the seaweed originally came from the open sea and followed the currents and tides and where else would it stop but the shores of, oh, let’s say Greece, Italy or Spain. The story of Atlantis has been dissected, theorized and interpreted with countless possibilities; from the shores of ancient Greece to North America and from Greenland to the Mayan culture of South America. It seems any time there’s a new archaeological discovery is made, the question of it possibly being Atlantis arises. It is one of man’s inborn needs to search for answers. We may never find the real Atlantis, but we sure are finding a lot of neat stuff along the way.
Clash of the Titans. Dir. Louis Leterrier. Perf. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Warner Bros 2010. DVD
Milwaukee Journal. “Atlantis, The Lost Continent Created out of Seaweed.” 22 Oct. 1936, Green Sheet Edition, page 1. Print
Milwaukee Journal. “Priest From Sunken Atlantis Wrote Book, ‘Typist’ Says.” 24 Oct. 1949, sec. 1:3. Print
Milwaukee Journal. “Atlantis Evidence Promised – Soon.” 18 July 1973, Part I:3. Print
Reader’s Digest. Into the Unknown. USA. 1981. Print
Reader’s Digest. The World’s Last Mysteries. USA 1976. Print
Stargate: Atlantis. Creators Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright. Perf. Joe Flanigan, Rachel Luttrell, and David Hewlett. MGM 2004-2009. DVD.
The Lost City of Atlantis – Myth or Memory? The UnXplained Factor. Web. 11 Dec. 2012
11 December 2012
Atlantis: The Lost Civilization The legend of the Lost Civilization of Atlantis has intrigued people from all walks of life for centuries… over two millennia actually. From Plato’s writings the story may have actually been written in stone being as the story was passed on from ancient Egyptians. Atlantis is probably one of the most inspirational “lost civilizations” in recorded history. It doesn’t matter which story you’ve read or what documentary you’ve watched, the origin of this epic deviates very little. There are a couple theories on when it existed and many more where it existed.
The first written account comes from Plato’s dialogues Timaeus and Critias. In the first dialogue, Timaeus, …show more content…
a disciple of Socrates named Critias, tells a tale that was told to his grandfather by Solon, a famous Athenian statesman and lawgiver. Solon had visited Egypt and met a priest in the city of Saïs. The priest told Solon that Egyptian historical records contained an account of a great war that had been fought in very ancient times… around 9600 B.C., between Athens and “a mighty host which, starting from a distant point in the Atlantic Ocean was insolently advancing to attack the whole of Europe and Asia to boot.” The invaders, the priest said, came from an island called Atlantis, which lay outside the Pillars of Hercules (today’s Strait of Gibraltar). These Egyptian records, believed to possibly be in a hall beneath the Sphinx, have yet to be found. The Greeks were the last power standing and defeated the Atlanteans, liberating all those who dwell within the Pillars. Afterwards came violent earthquakes and floods and in a single day and night Atlantis had disappeared into the sea .(Into the Unknown)
At least part of this story has to be true. Solon was said to have been very honest. I believe part of the flaw lies in the timeline. The Egyptians say it happened over 9000 years earlier, but we learned in our History class that the first written language was found in Mesopotamia around 3200 B.C. I think it’s a rather far-fetched notion to think an accurate account could be passed on for 6000 years at the very least. That’s easily over 300 generations of passing down stories by word-of-mouth. Don’t you think some deviations would occur during this massive time span?
In Plato’s second and unfinished dialogue, the Critias, Critias describes Atlantis in much more detail.
The island was a very fertile plain surrounded by mountains on every shore. It was rich in animal, mineral AND vegetable. The capital city lay on an island within and was a marvel of wealth and advanced engineering. It contained the royal palace and the Temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Poseidon’s temple was adorned with gold, silver, ivory and a bronze-like metal called oricalch, which, according to Critias, “gleamed like fire.” This central island was surrounded by 3 rings each of alternating canals and land with another canal leading outward straight to the …show more content…
sea.
In that era it is believed that due to corruption of wealth and power the Atlanteans stopped worshiping the gods and had to be punished. A very similar story lies in The Clash of the Titans (2010) which is to say the people of Atlantis grew corrupt with all the wealth and power they’d attained. They felt they no longer needed the gods to sustain their livelihoods so they stopped paying them homage. But there came earthquakes and floods and in a day and a night Atlantis sank into the depths of the sea.
In more modern times this nation’s demise is believed to have come from a volcanic explosion and the tidal waves that followed similar to that which destroyed the island of Krakatoa in 1883. Or was this really Atlantis? The creation and destruction of islands is not all fiction. Volcanic islands which rise out of the sea then disappear actually do occur in the Atlantic, particularly in the Azores and near Iceland.
I’ve seen several news articles saying Atlantis is believed to have been found as far back as 1949 when it was reported that a typist, Frances Dale, was possessed by a priest from Atlantis to write his story.
She told her publisher she would accept no royalties. Her publisher says Miss Dale has both feet on the ground and knowing her style that she couldn’t have written it. Several instances lay claim to discovering Atlantis but apparently with no resolution as we’re still searching. Some are devout scientists and some seemingly just “crackpots.” In 1973 Maxine Asher led a team to the coast of Spain to explore the region. She said, “I simply know we will find it because I am psychic and the highly civilized people of Atlantis are very psychic. How strong the vibrations are these
days!”
There are those who try and disprove one theory in order to promote their own. “Atlantis, The Lost Continent Created out of Seaweed is one of the headlines in a 1936 Milwaukee Journal. That’s what Professor Ralph Linton, University of Wisconsin anthropologist wanted to disprove. It certainly gets your attention; wondering how seaweed fits in the picture. It is Professor Linton’s opinion that Atlantis still exists today as the island of Crete. This is also one of the more popular theories to explain this legend. He blamed the myth of Atlantis being situated in the Atlantic on errors in Egyptian geography and early Greek curiosity. It seems the Egyptians weren’t really interested where these marauders and traders came from; they just surmised they came from the west. The Greeks, on the other hand, did want to know their origin. When Greek traders and explorers ventured beyond the Pillars of Hercules they came across patches of floating seaweed just like they’ve seen on their own shores. They deduced there must be land out there was well, but there was none. However, if there was a continent there, all that might remain would be seaweed. On the other hand, I suspect the seaweed originally came from the open sea and followed the currents and tides and where else would it stop but the shores of, oh, let’s say Greece, Italy or Spain. The story of Atlantis has been dissected, theorized and interpreted with countless possibilities; from the shores of ancient Greece to North America and from Greenland to the Mayan culture of South America. It seems any time there’s a new archaeological discovery is made, the question of it possibly being Atlantis arises. It is one of man’s inborn needs to search for answers. We may never find the real Atlantis, but we sure are finding a lot of neat stuff along the way.
Clash of the Titans. Dir. Louis Leterrier. Perf. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Warner Bros 2010. DVD
Milwaukee Journal. “Atlantis, The Lost Continent Created out of Seaweed.” 22 Oct. 1936, Green Sheet Edition, page 1. Print
Milwaukee Journal. “Priest From Sunken Atlantis Wrote Book, ‘Typist’ Says.” 24 Oct. 1949, sec. 1:3. Print
Milwaukee Journal. “Atlantis Evidence Promised – Soon.” 18 July 1973, Part I:3. Print
Reader’s Digest. Into the Unknown. USA. 1981. Print
Reader’s Digest. The World’s Last Mysteries. USA 1976. Print
Stargate: Atlantis. Creators Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright. Perf. Joe Flanigan, Rachel Luttrell, and David Hewlett. MGM 2004-2009. DVD.
The Lost City of Atlantis – Myth or Memory? The UnXplained Factor. Web. 11 Dec. 2012