Personal Narrative: The Pillars Of Hercules
Atlantis was an island city in the middle of the ocean. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato told of a city that was full of architects and engineers. It fell due to reasons unknown, and no one is sure when it fell or where it is. For almost one hundred years, scientists and explorers have been searching for this mysterious city.lost in the depths of the ocean.
Because I am someone who loves Greek mythology and archaeology, I joined a search with Pennsylvania State University to Europe. They were looking for clues as to where the lost city of Atlantis is. We all hoped that we could find this city and end rumors, true or untrue.
When we arrived, we decided to look around what Plato called the Pillars of Hercules, now known as the
Strait of Gibraltar. Plato had specifically stated that Atlantis used to lie in front of the Pillars, so that’s where we’d look. Before leaving, I was assigned along with a few others to research what was already known so it could help us through our trip.
Well, a theory that sounded promising was that of Angelos Galanopoulos, a Greek archaeologist from the late 60s. He theorized that Atlantis was destroyed by a nearby volcanic eruption on the Island of Santorini around 1500 BCE. He thought that the massive eruption wiped out all the nearby islands in the process of destroying Santorini. People thought that he had his dates wrong, but he reasoned that the Egyptian symbol for 100(a coiled rope) was mistaken for 1000(lotus flower). They only thing that doesn’t work with this theory is that Plato said that Atlantis was next to the Pillars of Hercules, which weren’t anywhere near Greece or the island of Santorini.
Because I am someone who loves Greek mythology and archaeology, I joined a search with Pennsylvania State University to Europe. They were looking for clues as to where the lost city of Atlantis is. We all hoped that we could find this city and end rumors, true or untrue.
When we arrived, we decided to look around what Plato called the Pillars of Hercules, now known as the
Strait of Gibraltar. Plato had specifically stated that Atlantis used to lie in front of the Pillars, so that’s where we’d look. Before leaving, I was assigned along with a few others to research what was already known so it could help us through our trip.
Well, a theory that sounded promising was that of Angelos Galanopoulos, a Greek archaeologist from the late 60s. He theorized that Atlantis was destroyed by a nearby volcanic eruption on the Island of Santorini around 1500 BCE. He thought that the massive eruption wiped out all the nearby islands in the process of destroying Santorini. People thought that he had his dates wrong, but he reasoned that the Egyptian symbol for 100(a coiled rope) was mistaken for 1000(lotus flower). They only thing that doesn’t work with this theory is that Plato said that Atlantis was next to the Pillars of Hercules, which weren’t anywhere near Greece or the island of Santorini.