The Real ‘Atlantis’

Source: Wikimedia_Lost_City_of_Atlantis_By George Grie –

Oceanographers were in for a real treat when they realized that lost continents are a thing and most of these will be found underwater. The rest aren’t underwater but stuck below another present-day continent. How does this work, you ask? See, when two continents collide with each other, they push each other and form folds which we call mountains. In some cases, this doesn’t go exactly as planned and one continent gets buried underneath the other.

Greater Adria was lost exactly this way and today lies below Italy and Greece. It is not unique though; traces of many other lost continents have been detected all over the globe. These hype up researchers and adventurers to start looking for them actively. And it also breathes life into one of the greatest mysteries of all time which was forgotten after a series of failed attempts- the sunken city of Atlantis.

The Real Atlantis

The idea and story of Atlantis was introduced to us by Plato who believed that it was an extremely powerful and advanced civilization that sank into the ocean around 9,600 B.C. It is most likely a mythical place; the readers of this work were very divided when they first read about Atlantis. Do we take it to be true or is it just a metaphor? Whatever it was, the interest it sparked was no joke and attempts have been made to find the city- or anything like it- since we got to know about it.

Time to get on with the story of Atlantis now! Plato’s Atlantis was an island that existed 9,000 years before his time and was as a big as Libya put together with Asia Minor. It was situated in the Atlantic a little further away from the Pillars of Hercules which probably refers to present-day Strait of Gibraltar. The kingdom had their own constitution, a super strong naval army, and a supremely advanced culture. The civilians were half god-half human whose city was protected by Poseidon, king of the seas, himself. Poseidon had given this city to his son Atlas, who was made king and was the inspiration for the name of the island. More details about this island tell us that it was full of gold, silver, and more precious metals, and was also home to some very rare wildlife. Such riches and their army eventually paved the way to victories far and wide; they conquered Africa till Egypt and also won Europe as far as present-day Italy.

Their arrogance also increased many folds though; as they became more powerful, the ethics they had deteriorated and the gods decided it was time for some reckoning. They were driven back by the Athenians from Europe. And soon, later on, their island suffered tremendously because of earthquakes and floods, and eventually, sank into the sea.

Some Egyptian priest told this story to an Athenian statesman Solon. This statesman told this story to some other person. This other person told it to his grandson, Plato. And Plato unfolded this story to us.

Theories behind its existence

After Plato, many others tried to come up with a theory to find Atlantis. It was unanimously decided that this most probably wasn’t true but no one could deny the fact that earthquakes and floods were quite good agents of destruction and the cause behind it sinking doesn’t seem very outlandish.

A novel titled ‘The New Atlantis’ was published by English philosopher Francis Bacon in 1627 which was all about a politically advanced society on an unknown island. Another book by the name of ‘Atlantis: The Antediluvian World’ written by Ignatious L. Donelly in 1882, was comparatively more widely accepted by theosophists. It recounted the story of Atlantis and also hypothesized that the survivors must have immigrated to ancient Europe, Africa, and the Americas, and their lives inspired much of Greek, Scandinavian, and Hindu mythology.

Soon after this, a swampy, prehistoric city was discovered in coastal Spain which was accepted as the Greek Island of Santorini. This Island had been destroyed because of a massive volcanic eruption some 3,600 years ago and sunk in the Aegean Sea. The inhabitants had been the Minoans, an advanced race, which disappeared into thin air at the same time this eruption happened.

Many can liken this to Atlantis but the researchers believe it isn’t the same city because the timing doesn’t coincide with what Plato had said. Moreover, they have good reason to believe that Plato created these stories to convey his philosophical theories and ideas- the gods “became angry because the people had lost their way and turned to immoral pursuits” and as punishment, the gods sent “one terrible night of fire and earthquakes” and sunk Atlantis.

The Real Atlantis?

Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/fish-swimming-above-sea-anemones-covering-the-ocean-floor-17681768/

Other than Santorini, many other links were also discovered which all wanted to connect to find the real Atlantis. Christos A. Djonis, author, suggests that the Cyclades Islands may be connected to the myth. This is because they are connected to a vast plateau which is underwater today; the floods described by Plato might just have been the water level rising.

Greater Adria was found but couldn’t be connected to Atlantis because it wasn’t found underwater but instead, found buried below another continent. So, our next hope at finding something related to Atlantis was Zealandia. This is a vast elevated region found on the ocean floors surrounding New Zealand and is two-thirds the size of Australia. Since, it big, single, and continuous, it has been classified as the eighth continent and was overlooked probably because it sunk so low beneath the waves with only New Zealand and New Caledonia emerging as dry lands. But could this be our real-life Atlantis? Unfortunately, not. The size, timing, and placement of the continent disqualifies it from the race to be recognized as Atlantis.

So, our leads have got us nothing yet so far. Scientists still push forward the fact that this is purely a myth and there never was a real city like Atlantis. But will our curiosity and the will of adventurers stop at this? I don’t think so.

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