Atlantis : A brief Sketch..

A map showing a supposed location of Atlantis.
From Ignatius L. Donnelly's Atlantis: the Antediluvian World, 1882

Atlantis is a mythical island state,first described by the classical greek philosopher Plato in his dialogues "Timaes" and "Critias".It is supposed to be a naval force which had conquered several regions in the western parts of Europe and Africa.Plato placed its existence 9000 years before his time,so approximately around 9400 BC.Plato wrote about 40,000 words describing this state as a vast city around 9400 BC,layered out in concentric circles with waterways,built with red,black and white bricks,it had elephants roaming the place and a strong cult of bull sacrifice.It supposed to have been completely destroyed in a single night by some kind of natural catastrophe,and sank beneath the ocean.

The possible existence of a genuine Atlantis was actively discussed throughout the classical antiquity, but it was usually rejected and occasionally parodied. While basically unknown during the Middle Ages, the story of Atlantis was rediscovered by Humanists at the very beginning ofmodern times.Plato's description inspired the utopian works of several Renaissance writers, like Francis Bacon's "New Atlantis". To this day, Atlantis inspires today's literature, from science fiction to comic books and movies, its name having become a byword for any and all supposed prehistoric but advanced (and lost) civilisations.

To Quote, Plato himself from "Timaes" :

"Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in our histories. But one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and valour. For these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end. This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was larger than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire..."

The 1882 publication of "Atlantis: the Antediluvian World" by Ignatius L. Donnelly stimulated much popular interest in Atlantis. Donnelly took Plato's account of Atlantis seriously and attempted to establish that all known ancient civilizations were descended from its high Neolithic culture,as if Atlantis was the mother culture of cultures like the egyptian or the mayas.According to Ignatius L. Donnelly in his book Atlantis: The Antediluvian World, there is a connection between Atlantis and Aztlan (the ancestral home of the Aztecs).He claims that the Aztecs pointed east to the Caribbean as the former location of Aztlan

Since Donnelly's day, there have been dozens – perhaps hundreds – of locations proposed for Atlantis, to the point where the name has become a generic term rather than referring to one specific (possibly even genuine) location. This is reflected in the fact that many proposed sites are not within the Atlantic at all. Some are scholarly or archaeological hypotheses, while others have been made by psychic or other pseudoscientific means.

IN my next article i will briefly talk about the various locations as proposed by the searchers of atlantic..i prefer to call them searchers because all are not historians or geologists..they are people from diverse feilds having diverse views..but with a single aim in their mind..to "search" for Atlantis..like we are searching wisdom...

Ispirare..