7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Lost City Of Atlantis
Atlantis,
the intriguing mystery that leaves many of us curious to learn more,
and some of us skeptical and dismissive. What is it about this lost city
that leaves so many of us questioning much of
what we have been taught
to believe? Is there some truth to the story of Atlantis that we
inherently know, deep down inside that is true? Are we connected in some
way to this mythical place from, perhaps our past lives?
advertisement - learn more
These questions are fun to ponder, but we are unlikely to get any definite answers, at least not yet.
First, Some History
How much
do you know about Atlantis? Where does this story even come from? From
what we do know, the first known documentation of the story of Atlantis
came from the Greek philosopher, Plato in two of his writings, Timaeus and Critias,
both these books date back to about 360 BC. Within these books, Plato
wrote that the Greek sage, Solon was given the story of Atlantis in
Egypt by a priest and upon his arrival back to Greece, he shared the
story with his relative, Dropides who passed it down to his son Critias,
who then passed it down to his grandson – also names Critias, who then
finally shared it with the well-known Greek philosopher, Socrates.
So, given the above information, you can
see that this was a story that was told, and passed down through many
generations, therefore it should not be taken as fact. Despite of this,
for some reason many of us feel a strong connection to the story of
Atlantis and believe it to be true.
In the report, author M. Pierre Termeir, a member of the Academy of
Sciences and Director of Service of the Geologic Chart of France, gives a
lecture regarding the Atlantean civilization. He makes a compelling
case for further study of this lost city:After a long period of disdainful indifference, observe how in the last few years science is returning to the study of Atlantis. How many naturalists, geologists, zoologists, or botanists are asking one another today whether Plato has not transmitted to us, with slight amplification, a page from the actual history of mankind. No affirmation is yet permissible; but it seems more and more evident that a vast region, continental or made up of great islands, has collapsed west of the Pillars of Hercules, otherwise called the Straight of Gibraltar, and that its collapse occurred in the not far distant past. In any event, the question of Atlantis is placed anew before men of science; and since I do not believe that it can ever be solved without the aid of oceanography, I have thought it natural to discuss it here, in this temple of maritime science, and to call to such a problem, long scorned but now being revived, the attention of oceanographers, as well as the attention of those who, though immersed in the tumult of cities, lend an ear to the distant murmur of the sea.
advertisement - learn more
Regardless of how you feel about the lost city of Atlantis, here are 7 things you probably didn’t know…
1. We Know The Supposed Location
In Plato’s writings, he tells us exactly where the lost city lies, his text reads, “came
forth out of the Atlantic Ocean… there was an island situated in front
of the straits which are by you [in reference to the ancient Greeks],
called the Pillars of Heracles.” Today, these are known as the Straits of Gibraltar, the area between Spain and Africa.
In 2011,
archaeologist from the University of Hartford, Richard Freund and his
team found cities that were built in the image of Atlantis known as
“memorial cities.” They were found in the swamps of Doana National Park,
which is just North of Cadiz Spain. Interestingly Cadiz sits right
outside of the straights, which has Freund convinced that the real
Atlantis was buried in the mud flats of the Atlantic. This matches the
part of Plato’s story that says, “the sea in those parts is
impassable and impentrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way;
and this was caused by the subsidence of the island.”
2. The City Of Atlantis Was Named After A Demigod
Despite the fact that Atlantis is
apparently in the Atlantic ocean, that’s not where it got it’s name.
According to the texts, Poseidon – the Greek god of the sea – had five
pairs of male twins with an Atlantean woman, named Cleito. Poseidon gave
each of his 10 sons a different portion of the island to rule. His
first-born Atlas had the entire island and the surrounding ocean named
after him.
Your Inbox Will Never Be The Same
Inspiration and all our best content, straight to your inbox.
3. We Are Missing Half The Story
While we have a complete version of Timaeus, we do not have the completed copy of Critias. In this story we have up until Zeus, head of all Greek gods. “Collected
all the gods into their most holy habitation, which, being placed in
the center of the world, beholds all created things. And when he had
called them together, he spake as follows” and that’s where it
ends, talk about leaving you on the edge of your seat! Who knows, maybe
this next portion of the book was deliberately left out… it is not
known whether Plato did this on purpose or if we just never were able to
find the completed version. There is also a belief that Plato either
wrote or had planned on writing a third book about Atlantis called Hermocrates.
4. If Atlantis Were Real, It Would Be At Least 11,500 Years Old
As the
text goes, the story of Atlantis was handed to Solon in Egypt after he
wanted to draw one of the priests to speak about their oldest of tales.
In order to do this, Solon told the priests of the oldest Greek story
what he could recall and spoke to them about the great flood and the
first man. One priest responded, “O Solon, Solon… there is not an
old man among you… in mind you are all young; there is no old opinion
handed down among you by ancient tradition.“
The priest continued to say that the home city of Solon, Athens was actually much older than he thought it was.
5. Plato Believed The Story To Be True
Even though, aside from hearsay, this
story doesn’t really have any solid legs to stand on in terms of
physical evidence, Critias claims that this story is in fact, true, “Then listen… to a tale which, though is strange, is certainly true, having been attested by Solon.” To which Socrates responds, “Very
good, and what is this ancient famous action of the Athenians, which
Critias declared, on the authority of Solon, to be not a mere legend,
but an actual fact?”
6. Atlantis Was An Empire
In the story told by Plato, he tells us
that Atlantis was an empire, “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 is another name for Eturia, which is now simply known as Central Italy.
7. Atlantis Represents Just One Of Many Times Mankind Has Been & Will Be Destroyed
The
Egyptian priest told Solon that none of his stories were actually “truly
ancient” compared to his own. He claimed that the reason that Solon
lacked true ancient knowledge is because mankind has been destroyed time
and time again.
“There have been, and will be again, many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes; the greatest have been brought about the agencies of fire and water, and other lesser ones by innumerable other causes. When, on the other hand, the gods purge the Earth with a deluge of water, the survivors in your country are herdsmen and shepherds who dwell on the mountains.”
There
are many philosophers and spiritual teachers that believe that humankind
has been wiped out before and will be wiped out again. Some believe
this for a simple reason of science and or natural disasters, others
believe this is sort of like a cleansing process for us to start again
if we have headed on a path of destruction. I mean think about it, the
way we are heading now, in regards to how we are treating our
environment, there is a chance that we could wipe ourselves out yet
again, unless we learn from our mistakes and change our ways.
What do
you think about Atlantis? Do you recall a past life there? Do you feel a
strong connection to this mythical place? Let us know in the Collective Evolution Group, and join the discussion!
Much LoveH/T: ListVerse for coming up with the list.
Related CE Article: The Lost Land of Atlantis And The Real Reason For Its Downfall
No comments:
Post a Comment