Atlantis: A myth? A legend?

[PH]

Hi all!

Yes... yet another topic created by me...

The last few weeks I've been listening a bit to Pallas' new album. Not much, I must admit. I don't think it's a brilliant masterpiece.
But one thing stuck with me. The whole Atlantis tale. Although Pallas altered it a bit.
I've also been playing Tomb Raider: Anniversary for the last two months or so. My girlfriend loves the game too.
That game has a lot of references to Atlantis and even the horse that's on the cover of "XXV" is in it. It made me realize even more that this Atlantis tale isn't just a tale, but there's more to it. What exactly? I don't know of course. But I find it very interesting and would like to discuss a few things with you.

Do you think the legend of Atlantis (a big and wealthy island that sank into the ocean) is true?
And why do you think this?
Where do you think Atlantis could have been?
What knowledge did they have? And is some of this knowledge still here?



I am not sure. There are many legends and myths. For example the King Arthur legend (another one that interests me very much). But for some reason I think this myth could be true. Or perhaps I just want it to be. I don't think of it as a paradise or something, but it just sounds so cool.
If it did exist, I think it would have been in the Atlantic Ocean and not only because of the name. Specifically the North Atlantic Ocean. There's also a seamount there.

Something that I find enormously interesting is the fact that the people of Atlantis were of great intellect. As were the Ancient Egyptians and the South and Mexican Americans. These people built piramids and we still don't know how they did it exactly. So the Atlanteans must have been related in any way.

Well, I think that's it for now. If anyone has something interesting to say about this, go ahead! Are there any great movies about Atlantis by the way? This tale speaks to my imagination, I'd like to see more of it.


Tell me what you have to say about this.

[Nicky007]

Tell me what you have to say about this.

OK, so be it Atlantis this time 

Paxi, looks like you and I are the only Roomies who wanna discuss religion, theosophy and philosophy. Our fellow Roomies havent yet realised that this stuff is a big part of prog 

The myth of Atlantis goes back to the Athenian lawgiver Solon:  "The priests of Egypt told Solon the ancient story of the lost continent of Atlantis. Solon translated the story of Atlantis into Greek verse, thinking that it would be a very good thing for the Greeks to know." - www.e-classics.com/solon.htm

Plato picks up on this, and Atlantis is discussed in his two dialogues Timaeus and Critias. Actually the only one who mentions Atlantis here is the politician Critias:  "In his account, ancient Athens seems to represent the "perfect society" and Atlantis its opponent, representing the very antithesis of the "perfect" traits described in the Republic." - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis

So Atlantis doesnt stand in a very good light here 

Mankind then lost track of Atlantis thru the ages, until Helena Blavatsky, the mother of modern theosophy, in her formidable Secret Doctrine (1888), described Atlantis as the great civilisation preceding the historical civilisations that we know: the Egytian, Indian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, and now Anglo-American.

"Blavatsky wrote in The Secret Doctrine that the Atlanteans were cultural heroes (contrary to Plato who describes them mainly as a military threat), and are the fourth "Root Race", succeeded by the "Aryan race". Furthermore, she expressed the belief that it was Homer before Plato who first wrote of Atlantis. Theosophists believe the civilization of Atlantis reached its peak between 1,000,000 and 900,000 years ago but destroyed itself through internal warfare brought about by the inhabitants' dangerous use of magical powers. William Scott-Elliot in The Story of Atlantis (1896) elaborated on Blavatsky's account, claiming that Atlantis eventually split into two linked islands, one called Daitya, and the other Ruta, which was later reduced to a final remnant called Poseidonis." - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis

Reminds one of the Biblical Deluge !

In fact there's a lotta talk about that the Atlanteans became more and more egoistic, and used more energy to satisfy their lusts, and fought more among each other to gain access to their highs. So all of a sudden hell broke loose, and Atlantis sank. God's Wrath, or environmental disaster ?

You know, myths tell some of the deepest stories, historical or not. What's our present situation ?  People have become materialistic, and the highs they get are satisfaction of their lusts:  Eating, screwing, technology, and travelling hither and thither to seek comfort and sensation. OK, the sex part of it need not consume much energy (more manpower than horsepower), but the other departments sure do, more and more, like we're destroying the tropical forests to breed hamburgers 

So how is this all gonna end ?  Well, either we decide to live modestly, implying a lot less meateating, technology, and travel ... or else 

That's the lesson to be learnt from the Myth of Atlantis/Deluge 

Nicky.

[Nicky007]

the King Arthur legend (another one that interests me very much).

Well, then ya gotta get Gary Hughes' Once And Future King, the best introduction to the Arthurian Legends that I know of 

Now that Ten have become acceptable in the Room, this is well within reach 

The music is of course superb - and there are even some marshies in the mix:  Arjen and Irene Jansen 

Nicky.

[kmorse]

Some archaelogists think that the island of Santorini in the Aegean is where the Atlantis story originated.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060823-thera-volcano.html

It seems plausible, at least.

[Nicky007]

Some archaelogists think that the island of Santorini in the Aegean is where the Atlantis story originated.

My top boss, the director of Experimentarium, too. He's an engineer 

Had a chat with him about Atlantis yesterday. Thanx to Paxi's initiating this thread, I had culled a lotta choicy items about Atlantis, one being Platon's dialogues, with which I could impress him. So thanx Paxi even tho you can be a p*i*t*a* (bred)

But I don't find that the most important thing about Atlantis. What I find most important about all myths is what they tell us about human nature, and what they warn us about, like what I wrote above, that our egoism is destroying the biosphere, and that man's meat craze may end up wiping out the human race and all mammals. Great way to end human evolution 

Nicky.

[kmorse]

I see a lot of parallels between the fascination with Atlantis and with the sinking of the Titanic. Both have been turned into tales of man's hubris.