Atlantis. Myth? (1 Viewer)

Was it real or just a myth?

Discuss?

That there was an island or town that was lost to the sea I suspect is very likely. There will have been lots of places which have suffered similar fates.

I find the stories of advanced societies and "magical" technologies difficult to believe though. I suspect the real stories of places lost to the sea were built upon by later storytellers over the generations to create the grand myths we have today.

Makes for good story telling but there is no compelling evidence that the Atlantis of Plato's dialogues ever existed. My money is on no. But it would be cool to be proven wrong.

Do you reckon if people read Harry Potter in a few thousand years they'll wonder if Hogwarts existed?

I'd bet on it being a real civilization that was exaggerated.
Advanced technology is not unlikely ( the romans were pretty advanced for their time).

I imagine people from the past would think many of the things we have today are 'magic' like a aircraft that can fly 13,000mph and 3D printers.

I'll preface this by saying that I am a believer in the paranormal/supernatural/metaphysical world. I do believe that Atlantis existed, but I do not believe that we will ever find its ruins. At least not in this Age of Mankind. Then again, if he Mayans are right, this Age of Mankind might be ending fairly soon.

Sarcogito said:

Makes for good story telling but there is no compelling evidence that the Atlantis of Plato's dialogues ever existed. My money is on no. But it would be cool to be proven wrong.

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There is. Problem is deciphering Plato.

There existed a massive city built in the same design as Atlantis, and its citizens were known for their metalurgy skills.. just like the citizens of Atlantis. This city was located past the pilars of Hercules like Atlantis and was known in the ancient world as the place to get metal stuff and quality pottery... like Atlantis. This city vanished from recorded history around the time of Atlantis was supposedly destroyed. The city was not called Atlantis, but Tarshish and was fabled for its silver and other metals.,.. it is actually in the Bible.

We also know that the coast of Cadiz in Southern Spain has been hit by tidal waves and Tusnamies through out recorded history.. and some big ones at that. We also know that in Southern Spain, around the Cadiz area, that metallurgy was rampant due to vast resources of the area. Silver and copper are and were abundant in the area.

We also know that around the time of the vanishing of Tarshish, that the coast was hit by a massive Tusnami... which fits with the Atlantis myth. They have also found stuff in the sea off Cadiz and the wet lands that point to habitation in the area and so on.

The evidence is mounting more and more that this is actually the fabled Atlantis..

Signs of Atlantis found in southern Spain: scientists - Technology & Science - CBC News

The city had a different name but it is known to have existed and vanished. But no one has until now understood where it was exactly and put it together with the Atlantis myth. Also in Southern Spain there are several ancient monuments depicting what looks a lot like the description of Atlantis, made by survivors of the ancient city destroyed long ago... the survivors of Tarshish.

If you can get your hand on the National Geographic show, it is very very very interesting and worth a watch.

Sadly the area where they have evidence of the city is not only in protected marshlands, but is in fact in marshlands.. and the ground water is higher than the ruins they can see via radar.. so to excavate the area would cost a hell of a lot of money and would require not only draining the marshes but keep ground water from seeping in.

Enola said:

Lost city of Atlantis, swamped by tsunami, may be found | Reuters

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I'm open to the possibility that Atlantis may have existed at some point in history. The thing is, however, is that there have been multiple reports of Atlantis being found over the years, none of which could be absolutely confirmed. Apart from that, we really only have Plato's descriptions to go on, so if we even find it, it may be difficult to confirm.

More interesting to me, is that concept of "prehistoric civilizations" in general, which is the idea that multiple times throughout history, humankind built up advanced civilizations only to have them destroyed by natural disaster (think great Flood or deluge), only to begin anew.

The whole story was described in the source material -- Timaeus -- as a fictional story, one which was going to be the inspiration to transform Athens.

spud_meister said:

Do you reckon if people read Harry Potter in a few thousand years they'll wonder if Hogwarts existed?

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Thats the best explanation of it....starts as fiction many years later becomes factual myth

spud_meister said:

Do you reckon if people read Harry Potter in a few thousand years they'll wonder if Hogwarts existed?

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Well .. technically it did/does... well parts of it. Plus there is a Hogwarts at some amusement park in the US I believe.

But myths have more than often a basis in fact.

lpast said:

Thats the best explanation of it....starts as fiction many years later becomes factual myth

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Yea like the Bible and Jesus right?

PeteEU said:

Yea like the Bible and Jesus right?

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Like europe!

PeteEU said:

Yea like the Bible and Jesus right?

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spud_meister said:

Do you reckon if people read Harry Potter in a few thousand years they'll wonder if Hogwarts existed?

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My child shall star as the next Dumbledore. Damb, i just remembered they finished the who series altogether not long ago :doh

There probably was an Atlantis, but land mass changes through volcanic eruptions, etc. destroyed where is was. The Greeks wrote about it. It's pretty much a fact that Noah's Ark is still on Mt. Ararat, but it's been protected from people by many factors (unstable area slide wise, politically, etc.).

The "Greeks" didn't write about it. Plato did. And in his dialog, he made it clear it was fiction.

It was made up. It was a story, just like any fictional story anyone writes today. It didn't happen. And in fact, only in the past century or two did anything think it was anything but a fiction.