Searching for Atlantis…
Atlantis is regarded very much as a myth for many; a legend that came forth from the dialogues of Plato, who may have lived 4th century BC. According to Timaeus and Critias it was a continent housing an advanced civilisation, which an earthquake caused to sink beneath the ocean in the year 9500BC following an attempted invasion on Athens. It was separated from the rest of the known world permanently by what is described as an impassable mud shoal. It was furthermore described as larger than Libya and Asia combined. However, the rise of the tectonic plate theory, which suggests that it is impossible for a land plate to slide below an ocean one makes Atlantis seem unlikely to scholars, historians and scientists alike, so the preferred explanation that Plato was using the continent as an illustrative metaphor became the dominant viewpoint. One Plato scholar puts it that Plato’s misrepresentation as a historian when he is a poet is a perfect example of the dangers of Poetry expressed in his Republic, that it is essentially deceit and therefore immoral. However, she forgets that, essentially, very little is known about Plato, so little that scholars cannot really be certain that Plato was just one individual, or a group. How then can the assessment be made that Plato is not in earnest when he writes that Poetry is immoral? That he writes fiction and not history? It’s a ridiculous assumption to make. Thus, how is it that the concept of Atlantis has been written off when there is evidence that seems to support its existence?
The reality of Atlantis seemed to be divided even in Greek times: whilst historians and philosophers such as Crantor, Xenocrates, Solon, Herodotus and Proclus seemed to argue for it’s existence, others like Aristotle and Theopompous, who parodied Plato’s account, seem more cynical. However, there is second-hand evidence that no longer exists, which seem to support the views of the former. For instance, Crantor reportedly travelled to Ancient Egypt and found hieroglyphics giving a total independent mention of Atlanteans and their countries. In addition to this, Solon found “something” else that could be taken to hand.
As the great Portuguese and Spanish explorers of the late 14th century began to explore the oceans and map the world, Atlantis, though still debatable in existence began to seem more unlikely. It remained however in public consciousness in Utopian literature, as well as dystopian tragedy. Some 19th century scholars said that it was related to Mayan and Incan civilisations in America. Surely, it would therefore follow that, America could possibly have been what was known as Atlantis. The Nazi’s were particularly interested in finding it, using the myth to confirm their own views of their cultural heritage. They were described by these theorists as “Nordic supermen”.
By this point “evidence” (I use the term broadly) had been gathered to suggest another two sunken continents: the continent of Mu and Lemuria. Mu was thought to be a lost continent in the Pacific Ocean and it’s idea originated from a traveller’s translation of some Mayan writing that describe such a continent. This was a continent pre-dating the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. It’s thought to be found just off the coast of a Japanese island known as Yonaguni, although this is a controversial finding. It was also suggested that Easter Island may be the destination of Mu, because of an apparent road which leads into the sea, but this was later discredited as lava flow.
Lemuria, on the other hand, was invented as a Victorian explanation as to why an identical species of lemur was found in Madagascar and India exclusively (not in neighbouring Africa or the middle East) when they are separated, by so much Ocean. As a result, there was a lost continent that was theorised to have connected the two countries at some stage. This idea was cutting-edge science at one point: it was even suggested that the ‘missing link’ for proving Darwinism existed on this island. This can even be connected to classical Southern Asian accounts of a sunken Kingdom called “Kumari Kandam”. Like Mu and Atlantis however, this theory has also gone out of fashion due to plate tectonics.
The evidence for any of these “lost” kingdoms is spurious to save the least, but it seems to me, slightly ironic that inevitably we take scientific law over the accounts of individuals nearest to the perceived realities of these continents. Science is supposed to be out exploring possibilities and developing understanding, and yet in this case the idea of the sunken continent is constantly rejected for a tidy theory with all the logic of a clergyman sentencing a man who says that the Earth revolves around the sun to death. The most compelling argument towards the idea of the sunken continent is one that I haven’t even mentioned yet: the like have already been discovered.
In addition to what was thought to be Mu off the coast of Japan, which seems to be irrationally cast aside, there is evidence of two such sunken continents in Zealandia (Tasmantis), covering modern day New Zealand and various various islands of Oceania, as well as the Kerguelen Plateau in the southern Indian Ocean. The main difference between these continents and the more problematic ones: these continents can be explained by tectonics, whilst the others challenge it.
What happened to science that embraced change? That loves anomalies? What happened to science without an agenda? There have been past instances where contemporary science has discredited mysticism and human experience dogmatically, only to end up revising the assessment later. One thing that never changes throughout history is a fundamental disrespect of the intellegence of our ancestors. The Mayans and the Greeks alike were intelligent civilisations and it would be rash in the extreme to cast out ideas that emerge from them without strong evidence that they were incorrect. After all, there is no more real account than the unreliable personal account. As far as I’m concerned, the search goes on…
If there are any plate tectonic experts who I have offended with any ignorance, I apologise. I should point out that various wikipedia pages are my main source. Do you think Atlantis exists?
