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Atlantis: Do you think it was real?

Q

Queso

Suspended
Original poster
Mar 4, 2006
11,821
8
And I don't mean either the Space Shuttle or that Stargate spin-off :p

Back in 355BC the Greek philosopher Plato wrote a couple of dialogues Critias & Timaeus, describing a continent located out in the Atlantic Ocean, one which had warred against Athens 9000 years in their past before disappearing beneath the waves. Some have speculated that the numbers are wrong, others that Plato made it up to describe his view of a perfect society. However, it hasn't stopped archeaologists even today looking for lost cities and/or islands, and of course the modern name for the Ocean "beyond the Pillars of Heracles" itself derives from the name of Plato's continent, Atlantis.

So what do you think? Do you believe it ever really existed? And where would you locate it based on your thoughts?

atlantiscity.jpg
 
No, I don't believe it ever existed. Some aspects of the Atlantis story were probably based in real events, but that's about it.
 
Real place bulit in the crater of a volcanoe. Big mistake but the talk of the technology has been blown up big time. They have found it near "Crete" sort of all under water and blown away. The legend grew a lot bigger then the truth. Geologists are figuring out a lot of mysterys and this is one.
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
Real place bulit in the crater of a volcanoe. Big mistake but the talk of the technology has been blown up big time. They have found it near "Crete" sort of all under water and blown away. The legend grew a lot bigger then the truth. Geologists are figuring out a lot of mysterys and this is one.
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I've heard the statue of Atlantis in Plato's writings had been found near Crete. That's not to say it is Atlantis, as near Cyprus has also been a very plausible site for Atlantis's existence, given the topography of the area.
 
benthewraith said:
I've heard the statue of Atlantis in Plato's writings had been found near Crete. That's not to say it is Atlantis, as near Cyprus has also been a very plausible site for Atlantis's existence, given the topography of the area.
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My mistake I think it was Cyprus not Crete. Its been awhile but I saw a special on it. The basic story is another earthquake or eruption took it out since it was a in the middle of the med.
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
My mistake I think it was Cyprus not Crete. Its been awhile but I saw a special on it. The basic story is another earthquake or eruption took it out since it was a in the middle of the med.
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Actually, both have been linked. The question of whether it will or can be found is different. The alarm for Cyprus is what appears to be a canal wall, guaranteed to be a canal wall due to it's shape.
 
I believe in it, but as a regular island and not some super-powered super-advanced race of people living on it.

Then again I also believe in the Claimh Solais and other legendary Irish weapons.
 
dynamicv said:
Back in 355BC the Greek philosopher Plato wrote a couple of dialogues Critias & Timaeus, describing a continent located out in the Atlantic Ocean
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Well, no, it was described simply as "beyond the Pillars of Hercules". There is another candidate for the Pillars of Hercules at the mouth of the Bosphorus. I have read an interesting theory that it could have been Troy. Can't remember the name of the book.

There's probably a kernel of truth in there somewhere, but even the Egyptian priests who reportedly told the story to Solon before its transmission to Plato, could not in truth point to a history of 9,000 years. Herodotus claimed they had records going back 30,000 years, which is equally fantastical. The archaeological evidence is not there, period.
 
skunk said:
There's probably a kernel of truth in there somewhere, but even the Egyptian priests who reportedly told the story to Solon before its transmission to Plato, could not in truth point to a history of 9,000 years. Herodotus claimed they had records going back 30,000 years, which is equally fantastical. The archaeological evidence is not there, period.
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That's why I think there was a translation error in the numbering system. Divide everything by 10 and you come up with quite a good match for the Minoans, with the "capital" being on the since-disappeared island of Thera, near Crete. It's also quite possible the Egyptians had records going back 3,000 years, but you're right that 30,000 is pushing it beyond believability.

Although that theory doesn't quite match with three things. The "Beyond the Pillars of Heracles" assertion, the Celtic people's obsession with paradise being in the West, and simlarly the Central American peoples' legends of fair-skinned teachers coming from the East. I suppose the last could have been the Phonecians, who some speculate at least managed to get to The Azores.

I think it interesting anyway.
 
I can believe that it existed and they might have been technologically advanced compared to the other people but that's not saying much.

Of course, being too smart for their own good might have sunk them but I don't see any Earthlings of the time having lasers. Maybe, they could have designed the pyramids? There were several cultures that apparently were somewhat better at science and were destroyed.

They could be at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean or resting comfortably somewhere underground. There could be a lot of civilizations, dead and alive, hidden from us.
 
I think it did, i think it was an advance city but thats about it. I do not think that the island diapered in 1 day.
 
crazycat said:
I think it did, i think it was an advance city but thats about it. I do not think that the island diapered in 1 day.
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When you think of the devastation caused by natural events, for example the Asian Tsunami, the disappearing in one day bit is the most likely part of the legend. A "city" in ancient times was much smaller than what we consider just a town today.
 
dynamicv said:
That's why I think there was a translation error in the numbering system. Divide everything by 10 and you come up with quite a good match for the Minoans, with the "capital" being on the since-disappeared island of Thera, near Crete. It's also quite possible the Egyptians had records going back 3,000 years, but you're right that 30,000 is pushing it beyond believability.

Although that theory doesn't quite match with three things. The "Beyond the Pillars of Heracles" assertion, the Celtic people's obsession with paradise being in the West, and simlarly the Central American peoples' legends of fair-skinned teachers coming from the East. I suppose the last could have been the Phonecians, who some speculate at least managed to get to The Azores.

I think it interesting anyway.
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There were some DNA studies that suggest that the gene responsible for literacy is only about 7000 years old. Right around the time that the first historical records were being put down in India and mesopotamia
 
I find the Santorini connection to be most plausible.

I'm very curious about the myths surrounding European visitors to the Americas prior to Leif Ericsson. Designs on ruins discovered in New Hampshire bear a striking resemblence to designs on bronze and stone age celtic burial chambers. I witnessed first hand the possible connection between designs on Anazasi cliff dwellings in Arizona and bronze age celtic designs specifically at the burial chambers of Newgrange, though this is most likely coincidental due to the vast distance between these places. Both places were built to certain astronomical proportions.

The designs are probably mere coincidence. Both the native american and celtic designs were of spiral patterns.

The possibilities are very interesting. For instance, the Romans knew of China, and China knew of Rome, and several studies point to the indication of Roman legionaires working as mercenaries under Chinese warlords in the early AD centuries.
 
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