In 350 BC, Plato completed his immortal Treatise, The Dialogues, in which the continent of Atlantis was first mentioned. According to its relatively obscure description, it was a vast continent hanging alone in the Atlantic Ocean, and there was a highly developed mature civilization very early on. It was only because of the tyranny of the rulers and the frequent wars that they were wiped out by the angry gods with the Great Flood. Although the above statements were by no means the core of the magnificent tome, they were remembered by the disseminators in later years and maintained their influence to this day.
But anyone who has all the popularity of the Legend of Atlantis will find that the content of the story itself does not matter, but the psychological tendencies of the audience are more critical.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > ancient civilizations are not far away</h1>
Night view of the Strait of Gibraltar from a satellite perspective
The imaginary picture of the legend of Atlantis is based entirely on the level of geographical knowledge in the 21st century. Although our knowledge of low-Earth orbit and the vast deep sea is still very limited, we have long since concluded that we have completed a complete mapping of the land-based field. Thus, plato's marked position of the ancient continent was conventionally thrown beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. Any ship from the Mediterranean world would have to pass through the Pillar of Herachris there before taking the first step out to visit the ancient civilization.
The location of Atlantis is closely related to the Pillar of Hercules
However, when the timeline is pulled back to the ancient 4th century BC, most of the reference basis does not exist. Because the ancient Greek world, including Plato himself, had only a fairly narrow international geographical perspective. Relying on their first-class navigational skills, they completed their initial exploration of the Mediterranean and The Black Sea, and occasionally ventured into the Gulf of Biscay and the North Sea, and even further afield to the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf. But they rarely leave the coast too far, let alone know much about the harsh sea conditions in the Atlantic. Even a travel pioneer like Herodotus could not shake off his dependence on the Persian royal avenue. So much so that even Central Asia and India, which have long been known to exist, are the actual cognitive blind spots of the Greek sages.
The Ancient Greek Pillar of Hercules is right on the edge of the Aegean Sea
Secondly, through long-term historical comparisons, it will be found that the location of the so-called Pillar of Herachris is not static. Today, it is interpreted as a hill on the island of Gibraltar, mainly influenced by ancient Rome. When they conquered the Iberian Peninsula with their mighty legions, they took control of the strait from their old rivals, the Carthaginians. The latter also long regarded ancient Greece as its main competitor, and would not open up routes to Plato's compatriots. In turn, pressure was exerted by various means to confine them to the Catalan coast. Thus, the geographical benchmark of Greece in Plato's time was in the Gulf of Laconia on the edge of the Aegean Sea. It is the southernmost tip of the Peloponnese and a quick stopover from continental Europe to Crete.
The Minoan civilization, which was devastated by volcanic eruptions and tsunamis
In 1450 BC, the volcano of Santorini, located in the heart of the Aegean Sea, erupted. The resulting super strait directly hit the Minoan civilization centered on Crete. The Mycenaean civilization, which later took its place, had already emerged on the Greek peninsula at that time. Although they were suppressed by the Minoans for a long time, they used the power of nature to reverse the situation, and the anti-guest domination took over the Mediterranean hegemony. Coincidentally, Plato's anti-Atlantis core Athens was founded by the Mycenaeans who moved south. Because it is still some distance from the coast, it is even less susceptible to tsunamis. Memories have also been passed down orally by generations and have been the inspiration for the content of later writings. But when the audience of the myth shifted from Greece to Rome, the shift in position naturally caused cognitive bias, which was eventually passed on by other tooth-picking wise men.
The Mycenaeans, who occupied athens and other places, then became the hegemons of the sea by the forces of nature
In addition, Plato himself may have visited Egypt and attributed the source of the content about ancient civilization to local sacrifices. This further reinforces the possibility that Atlantis is right in Crete. Because the minoans in history took the kingdom of the pharaohs as the main object of trade. The characteristics of the future Aegean civilization are also very significant in this initial stage. This is because Crete is not suitable for large-scale wheat cultivation, and can only rely on the export of olive oil and handicrafts in exchange for daily necessities. The Nile River basin on the opposite bank is rich in production and civilized in the ancient world, which naturally makes the two sides become strategic partners created by heaven and earth. So where Plato's information comes from, it won't be a very outrageous thing.
Ancient Egypt was the main object of trade of the Minoans
Of course, Plato's original intention in writing the legend of Atlantis was not to popularize the history of his contemporaries. His birth, growth, learning and enlightenment were the process of his hometown of Athens. The long Peloponnesian War and the massive plague completely destroyed this former beacon of Aegean democracy. In the end, the Spartans even demanded that the walls be demolished and ruled by puppets installed by external forces. At the same time, more Greek cities were transferred to tyrant control and became the imperial core of bullying their friends. For example, Plato's most visited Syracuse in his lifetime is an outstanding representative of this trend. The ports, fleets, and massive fortifications carefully maintained by its rulers are realistic reflections of the image of ancient Atlantis. As for the "non-European" nature set by the legend, it is also possible to allude to the contemporary Persian Empire. After all, artistic processing and insinuation cannot go beyond the level of cognition of the author's Buddha-figures.
The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War had a great impact on Plato
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > carved boat sword style exploration</h1>
The legend of Atlantis fell silent for a time with Plato's death
In 423 BC, Plato, who had been working hard all his life, died of illness, and the legend of Atlantis left behind did not attract much attention. His most famous student, Aristotle, was a skeptic, viewing the ideal state of his teacher as a political metaphor. Later Greco-Roman scholars were unable to argue for its authenticity and could only help reprint it in their respective works. No matter how much european civilization developed, curiositists and careerists simply turned their visions and fantasies to the East.
Neither Columbus nor Amerigo could explain their results
However, the popularity of the legend of Atlantis bottomed out at the end of the Middle Ages. With the discovery of the New World by accident in 1492, the strongest successors of ancient Greek civilization turned their attention to the West. Although Columbus's claimed arrival in India was ruthlessly overturned, America's claim to title could not be reasonably explained. So before the theorists could finish constructing the narrative, countless Spanish expeditions rushed into this unknown world and were deeply shocked by the fantastic scenes they saw. Both cortés, a lawyer-born general, and Pizarro, an illiterate cousin who imitated his strategy, were surprised when they first saw the indigenous megalithic capital.
The megalithic capital of the American Empire surprised the Spanish conquistadors
As a result, the legend of Atlantis, which had been silent in the old paper pile for too long, resurfaced by the spring breeze of the Great Navigation Age. In an era when archaeology was lacking, any ancient legend could become the answer to history, and the Americas would in a short period of time be the best proof of the existence of ancient civilizations. Coupled with Plato's long-term setting of the ancient continent to be larger than Asia + Libya, the vast wilderness between Newfoundland and Cape Horn seems more appropriate. However, the scope of Libya and Asia in ancient Greece was far smaller than the definition of today and even the Renaissance. To most ordinary people at the time, the former tended to refer to colonial cities on the Cyrenaica Peninsula, while the latter was nothing more than a narrow area such as Ionia on the west coast of the Aegean Sea. If the fulcrums near these coastlines are pieced together, the total area obtained may not be as large as that of some feudal power in later generations. Therefore, Zhang Guanli Dai's explanation in the early modern period finally fell silent due to the deepening of scientific exploration. Until the more secretive Mayan city-states attracted academic interest, similar effortless assumptions were brushed by different people for two centuries.
Atlantis legends are also always used to explain the Mayan civilization
At the same time, the true meaning of the legend of Atlantis was revived in another form in mainland Europe. Thomas Moore drew heavily on Plato's Atlantean style of decoration when he created the beautiful ideal of Utopia. Even if he finally loses his head, the title of the work has become an unrealistic utopian synonym, which still enlightens the younger generations to a large extent. As a result, Plato's meaning of that year was revived by more modern critics, and they used the disastrous end of ancient civilizations to warn everyone. For about 300 years, similar groups emerged in almost every major European power that suffered stagnation. Their disciples and grandchildren will evolve into many of today's mystics and continue to circle fans through the medium of popular science. But this kind of behavior is to touch Plato's original intention, and it can be regarded as understanding the true meaning of the existence of ancient civilizations.
Utopia and the Occult rediscover the unrealistic meaning of Atlantis
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > superstition in the scientific age</h1>
Wegener's continental drift says it briefly blocked Atlantis supporters
In 1912, Wegener officially launched the famous continental drift theory, which seemed to fundamentally shoot the myth of the catastrophe of the continent of Atlantis. However, people can still combine old and new theories and apply them to the geographical advances of their contemporaries, as appropriate. Antarctica, for example, which was only officially observed in the second half of the 19th century, ushered in many regular expeditions in the 20th century. Through the continuous development of geographical, biological and climatic research, the academic community realized that this frozen land had also had mild weather and was inseparable from Australia for a long time. Thus, the continent of Atlantis was habitually moved to the local area, without the slightest regard for plato's statement in the original book 9,000 years ago.
The mysterious continent of Antarctica is still thought to be related to Atlantis
A more real case might have been a mistake made by Plato or an ancient clerk in his busy copying, enlarging the original year by a factor of 10. According to this calculation, the initial setting of the legend of Atlantis should be around the 13th century BC, which is very much in line with the demise of the Minoan civilization. But the progress of climate archaeology in the late 20th century gave proponents of ancient civilizations more ammunition. In particular, the end of the last ice age, which began 12,000 years ago, is often used directly to explain the sinking of the ancient continent, which invisibly allows the Atlantis doctrine to complete the scientific rebirth.
The end of the ice age and rising sea levels can also be used to explain the sinking of the paleocids
Similarities have been exacerbated by advances in satellite and deep-sea exploration technology. Whenever experts discover prehistoric islands in today's sea areas, they consciously attribute them first to the monuments of Atlantis. Such an approach can quickly make headlines and bring more prestige and investment to your research. In particular, geomorphological studies have rejected the continental tip hypothesis of many Atlantic islands, so it is logical to make way for new results. At the same time, more nation-states with shorter histories have their own narrative needs to turn the study of the ancient lands of Atlantis into an international bidding. The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Spain, Ireland, Morocco and even Greenland, the Faroe Islands or Western Sahara, whose future status is uncertain, have all joined the claims for the sites of ancient civilizations. This is definitely a protracted mess that Plato, Amerigo, and Wigner could not foresee.
Many countries and regions have joined the battle for the ruins of Atlantis
Therefore, the authenticity and historical origin of the legend of Atlantis are no longer important. The platonic political metaphor of B.C. has long been replaced by the carved sword argument of the Age of Discovery, and has become the best medium for the public to accept the new scientific conjecture in the contemporary era. Such a huge change itself is also a microcosm of the process of human beings constantly exploring the world. As for the Moorish figures who insist on taking the political line, I am afraid that they will not get a better ending than utopia, even if this psychology is an eternal need of human beings.
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