Pseudoscience, Myths, and Other Mysteries

By, Patrick and Daniel

The story of Atlantis might not be a very well known one, but it is one of great tragedy and excitement. Atlantis, meaning “Island of Atlas,” in Greek, was first mentioned in the great philosopher Plato’s two dialogues, Timaeus, and Criteus. They are both part of a trilogy made by Plato, the second book was never finished, and the third never started; they are the only known respectable sources of Atlantis from that time period.

          The story is based on the character Solon, a Greek legislature, who takes a trip to Egypt. He meets a collection of priests there, who tell him the great tragedy of Atlantis. They trust him with this information because they both believe in the same deity, Athena, the Greek goddess of knowledge, and the Egyptian goddess Neith, also goddess of knowledge.

          The Egyptians say that according to their temple records, the Athenians and the Atlanteans fought a brutal war nine thousand years previous, and the Athenians prevailed. After the battle the gods punished the Atlanteans for being obsessed with power and wealth. The ships were sent to the bottom of the ocean, and Atlantis itself began it’s descent towards the bottom of the ocean in the ensuing storm. This great storm is said to have shaken the whole world; earthquakes shook the earth, volcanoes erupted and tidal waves crashed into the shores.

          What about Atlantis before the great storm? It was a very prosperous land. The story of Atlantis is a different matter entirely.

          At the beginning of the reign of the gods, Poseidon, god of all bodies of water, aquatic life, and horses, had chosen to rule over an island that had come to be known as Atlantis. Atlantis was said to be larger than Asia and Libya combined.  Poseidon had 10 kids with Cleito, and gave her the island in the middle of Atlantis. Atlantis consisted of five concentric rings of water and land surrounding a middle island where Cleito lived. The middle island in the center of Atlantis had Cleito’s home and was on a high hill at the center of the island. The home overlooked a fertile plain. The five rings around Cleito’s island became the city’s water supply. Atlas, Poseidon’s first son, was made king of Atlantis. Atlantis was a peaceful nonviolent place for a long time, but after a while, the kings became greedy and started to disobey laws.

Once every five years, the ten kings assembled in Poseidon’s temple for their quinquennial, meaning once every five years, parliament, and this was the greatest festival celebrated by the Atlanteans.  The first part of the festival was dedicated to the pledges that were exchanged by the attending citizens. After a great meeting, the cattle herders let free a number of bulls, to be chased down and captured by the hunters, who had no weapons. Then the captured bulls were sacrificed to Poseidon; the blood was then drunk by all who attended while they made oaths saying that they would follow all laws.

The continent of Atlantis was a prosperous one. The land was rich, the people were smart, and they had amazing technological advances. They spread their wisdom and knowledge to all. The Atlanteans invented reading, writing, mathematics, agriculture, architecture, and all aspects of the modern civilization today. The people of Atlantis eventually decided that all benefited from their ideas and inventions should be subjected to their laws and policies. They sent their ships to Central and South America, where they overwhelmed the Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs; they also sent a force to conquer the entirety of North Africa and Egypt. Then, they attacked Athens, where their army was completely and utterly destroyed by the Athenian Navy. A great storm followed their defeat in Athens, and when it had ended, Atlantis had disappeared, swallowed by the ocean.

            There are many possible theories for the disappearance of Atlantis. One of these theories is that Atlantis didn’t sink under the ocean, but under Antarctica. It is possible that Antarctica once had a sub tropical climate. Antarctica could have moved, and evidence shows that between 1900 and 1960, the North pole moved 10 feet. Between 1960 and 1968, the North Pole moved an additional 10 feet. This pattern shows that the North Pole isn’t only moving, but the rate of motion is also increasing, so it would make perfect sense that Atlantis had gone under Antarctica.

          Temple ruins dated at 12,000 years old have been found near Bimini, Bahamas. Analyses have shown that the original structures, although smaller than the pyramid of Giza, are more advanced. A hermetic seal has been found in the temple, along with unrusted iron; the iron began to rust soon after the seal was opened, which shows that the seal could have prevented the entry of oxygen for thousands of years. There was also said to be a very rich lost city in Naples that could resemble the story of Atlantis somewhat. Plato described the island’s existence in such detail that it was really hard not to believe in this lost city.

Professor Winwood, a British researcher, claims to have unearthed a mysterious crystal-domed medallion at an undisclosed ancient archeological site in Egypt. This medallion is made of some type of hardened crystal, and is about four inches in diameter. He believes that the writing on the medallion predates even the oldest Verdic writing known to us today. One of many conclusions that people have come to is that the medallion is some sort of calendar. Professor Winwood claims that the medallion does not match any known culture, and could have easily drifted from Atlantis across the ocean and into Egypt, or it could have been the subject of a trade to Egypt, and stayed there until found.

A plausible explanation for all of the supposed incredible technology in the lost city of Atlantis was that Solon had made an error in recording the events. He could have written down that Atlantis existed 9000 years ago as an accident, and actually meant to write 900, which, since 9000 doesn’t, matches Plato's story. This would also place the Atlanteans around the middle of the Bronze Age. Now there is some feasible evidence as to how the Atlanteans were able to possess all the necessary material needed to create the magnificent structures in Atlantis.

How does an entire civilization sink under the ocean in one night? How is it that a civilization had been able to reach our level of technology and knowledge thousands of years ago? How could there be barely any evidence that this civilization existed, even they were said to be such wide traders? How is it possible that remnants of Atlantis have been found in various places throughout the world, if Atlantis supposedly was located in the Atlantic Ocean? We don’t know the answer to any of these questions, probably because Atlantis never existed. Have you ever thought that Plato just made up this story and that it is just entirely fiction? Plato could have added as much detail as he wanted, since the entire thing could have just come from his imagination.

If you ever decide to visit the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, you will never find any remnants of a lost continent. That is because the Greeks were a people who liked to make things up and create stories to explain anything that they didn’t understand. Also, before Plato's Timaeus and Criteus, there were no references anywhere that had anything to do with Atlantis. What are we supposed to believe?

How does an entire civilization sink under the ocean in one night? How is it that a civilization had been able to reach our level of technology and knowledge thousands of years ago? How could there be barely any evidence that this civilization existed, even they were said to be such wide traders? How is it possible that remnants of Atlantis have been found in various places throughout the world, if Atlantis supposedly was located in the Atlantic Ocean? We don’t know the answer to any of these questions, probably because Atlantis never existed. Have you ever thought that Plato just made up this story and that it is just entirely fiction? Plato could have added as much detail as he wanted, since the entire thing could have just come from his imagination.

If you ever decide to visit the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, you will never find any remnants of a lost continent. That is because the Greeks were a people who liked to make things up and create stories to explain anything that they didn’t understand. Also, before Plato's Timaeus and Criteus, there were no references anywhere that had anything to do with Atlantis. What are we supposed to believe?