Atlantis - legend or reality. Atlantis is not a legend! The legend of Atlantis of ancient Greece

The legend of Atlantis - a sunken island on which a highly developed civilization once existed, where a strong, enlightened and happy people lived - the Atlanteans - has been exciting humanity for more than two thousand years.

The only source of information about Atlantis is the writings of the ancient Greek scientist Plato, who lived in the 4th century BC. e., written in the form of conversation-dialogues. In two such dialogues - “Timaeus” and “Critius” - Plato cites the story of his contemporary, writer and political figure Critias about Atlantis - “a legend, although very strange, but completely reliable”, which Critias heard in childhood from his grandfather, who - from the “wisest of the seven wise” Athenian legislator Solon, and Solon from the Egyptian priests.

Egyptian priests, based on ancient records, said that once in the “Atlantic Sea” (as the ocean was then called) there lay a huge island - “larger than Libya (that is, Africa) and Asia taken together.” On this island “a great and formidable power of kings arose, whose power extended over the entire island and many other islands (...). In addition, they (...) controlled Libya to Egypt and Europe to Tyrrhenia” (as Italy was called at that time). The legend of Atlantis tells that in primordial times, when the gods divided the earth among themselves, this island came into the possession of Poseidon, the god of the seas. Poseidon settled there with ten of his sons, born from the earthly woman Clito. The eldest of them was called Atlas, after his name the island was called Atlantis, and the sea was called Atlantic.

From Atlas came a powerful and noble family of kings of Atlantis. This clan “collected such enormous wealth as had never before been seen in the possession of kings, and it would not be easy to form such a family in the future.”

On the island, earthly fruits grew in abundance, various animals were found - “both tame and wild”, minerals were mined in its depths, including “one rock, which is now known only by name, (...) - the orichalcum breed, extracted from the earth in many places on the island and after gold, which had the greatest value among the people of that time.”

The inhabitants of Atlantis built beautiful cities on their island with fortress walls, temples and palaces, and built harbors and shipyards.

The main city of Atlantis was surrounded by several rows of earthen ramparts and canals - “rings of the sea.” The city walls were covered “like mastic” with copper, tin and orichalcum, “giving off a fiery shine,” and the houses were built of red, white and black stone.

A temple to Poseidon and Clito was erected in the center of the city. The walls of the temple were lined with silver, the roof was covered with gold, and inside “a ceiling appeared to the eye.” Ivory, colored with gold, silver and orichalcum. They also erected golden idols inside the temple - a god who, standing in a chariot, ruled six winged horses, and himself, due to his enormous size, touched the ceiling with his crown.”

The Atlanteans conducted brisk trade, the harbors of Atlantis “teemed with ships and merchants from everywhere, who in their mass deafened the area day and night with shouting, knocking and mixed noise.”

Atlantis had strong army and a fleet consisting of one thousand two hundred warships.

The code of laws that Poseidon himself gave to the Atlanteans was inscribed on a high orichalcum pillar installed in the middle of the island. Atlantis was ruled by ten kings - each with their own part of the island. Once every five or six years they gathered in front of this pillar and “consulted about common affairs, or examined whether anyone had committed any offense, and held court.”

The Atlanteans were distinguished by their nobility and exalted way of thinking, “looking at everything except virtue with disdain, they valued little the fact that they had a lot of gold and other acquisitions, they were indifferent to wealth as a burden, and did not fall to the ground in the intoxication of luxury, losing power over oneself."

But time passed - and the Atlanteans changed, they were filled with “the wrong spirit of self-interest and power.” They began to use their knowledge and achievements of their culture for evil. In the end, Zeus became angry with them and “in one day and a disastrous night (...) the island of Atlantis disappeared, plunging into the sea.” According to Plato, this happened in the 10th millennium BC. e. Modern scientists express the opinion that the death of the island was caused by a catastrophe, the cause of which was one of the man-made achievements of the ancient Atlanteans.

Disputes about whether Atlantis really existed or whether Plato invented it began in ancient times. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, a friend and student of Plato, argued that Atlantis was completely fictional (according to legend, it was on this occasion that Aristotle uttered the famous saying: “Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer”). However, many believed that Atlantis really existed and traces of it could be found.

Over the course of subsequent centuries, interest in Atlantis faded and then awakened again, but never completely disappeared.

It is estimated that to date, about 3,600 scientific works have been written about Atlantis (not to mention numerous works of fiction). Atlantology has become an independent branch of science. Atlantean scientists have made many guesses regarding the location of Atlantis and the reasons for its destruction, and have put forward a hypothesis about the influence of the Atlantean civilization on the development of world civilization.

History of Atlantis: myths, speculations, mysteries and real facts

For more than one generation, researchers have been debating the existence of Atlantis, a powerful ancient state that disappeared from the face of the Earth once and for all. Interest in this topic arose after the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato saw the light of day. It was Plato who first wrote about Atlantis, described the ancient civilization, the strength and power of the Atlanteans. Was this a deliberate and skillfully created myth, or are we dealing with a description real facts ancient history human civilization remains a mystery. Neither before nor after it was possible to obtain and find evidence of the existence of the Atlantean state. The mysteries of Atlantis remain unsolved to this day, forcing historians to put forward new hypotheses and researchers to look for the location of the disappeared island-state on the map of the planet.

The Atlantean civilization is a source of controversy

Today about a lost mighty civilization ancient world A huge number of works have been written, ranging from poetic essays and literary descriptions to serious scientific treatises. In each individual case, one has to deal with a huge set of assumptions and hypotheses that the ancient world looked different from what the world map looks like today. Another new hypothesis gives rise to a new myth, which instantly acquires new details, assumptions and details. Another thing is the complete lack of facts that can answer the question: whether Atlantis existed in reality or not. This meager research material remains the preserve of science fiction writers and atlantologists. Skeptics believe that the history of Atlantis is an artificially created phenomenon in modern historical science.

The problem of Atlantis must be considered in two aspects: from the point of view of the historical epic, and using a scientific approach. In the first case, you have to deal with evidence and materials, the existence of which is never disputed by anyone. The palm in this area belongs to the works of Plato. The ancient Greek philosopher mentioned the powerful state of antiquity in the dialogues “Critias” and “Timaeus”, which were compiled on the basis of the diaries of another prominent ancient Greek scientist philosopher Solon, who was Plato’s great-grandfather. With the light hand of Plato, the name of the ancient state appeared, and its inhabitants began to be called Atlanteans.

In his notes and books, the ancient philosopher relied on the legend according to which the ancient Greeks fought with the state of the Atlanteans. The confrontation was ended by a grandiose cataclysm that led to the destruction of Atlantis. According to the ancients, it was this catastrophe that led to the island city of Atlantis disappearing from the face of the planet forever. What kind of catastrophe on a planetary scale led to such consequences is still not known and has not been proven. Another question is that in the scientific community this moment There is a point of view that 12 thousand years BC. The world really suffered a major catastrophe that changed the geography of the planet.

Plato's dialogue “Timaeus” quite accurately indicates the location of the country of the Atlanteans, and is full of descriptions of the details of the culture and life of the Atlanteans. Thanks to the efforts of the ancient Greek philosopher, the disappeared civilization is being persistently searched for in the Atlantic Ocean. Just one phrase, “opposite the Pillars of Hercules,” recorded by Plato, indicates the location of the legendary country. There is no more precise data on the location of the mysterious ancient state, so many researchers on this topic believe that Atlantis could have been located in any other part of the ancient world.

The inconsistency of many facts set out in Plato’s works raised a number of questions for subsequent generations. The main secrets of Atlantis are as follows:

• Is there a high probability of the existence of such an island? large sizes, traces of which are almost completely absent today;
• what catastrophe that occurred in ancient times could have led to the instant death of a large state;
• could a civilization exist in such ancient times with such a high level of development, which is attributed to the Atlanteans by ancient and modern researchers;
• why today there are no real traces from the past indicating the existence of Atlantis;
• Are we descendants of the highly developed Atlantean culture?

How did the contemporaries of the ancient Greeks see Atlantis?

By studying Plato's works, we can briefly summarize the information that has reached us. We are dealing with the history of existence and mystical disappearance a large archipelago or large island, which was located in the west of the then ancient world. Central city superpower was Atlantis, which owes its name to the first king of the state, Atlantis. The island location explains government system empires. Probably Atlantis, like many cities of ancient Greece, was a union of island rulers united under imperial leadership. Perhaps there was a different government system in Atlantis, but in Plato’s dialogues the names of the kings are given, after whom the other islands of the empire were named. Hence, ancient civilization took the form of a union or confederation.

Another question is detailed description Plato's life structure of a mysterious power. All the main buildings and structures of the state are located on the central island. Acropolis, royal palace and the temples are protected by several rows of earthen ramparts and a system of water channels. The interior of the island is connected to the sea by a huge shipping canal, so we can safely say that the power of Atlantis was aimed at achieving sea ​​power. Moreover, according to Plato’s version, the Atlanteans worship Poseidon (ancient Greek god, ruler of the seas and oceans - brother of Zeus). In Plato, the temples of the Atlanteans, their architecture and the arrangement of their homes shine with luxury and wealth. Reaching the shores of Atlantis, surrounded on all sides by water, and the path to the island lay only by sea, was not an easy task for sailors of that time.

In his narratives, Plato is very keen on describing the improvement of the Atlantean capital. The most interesting thing in this aspect is that the descriptions of the ancient Greek philosopher strongly resemble the descriptions of other ancient greek cities, found in other ancient sources. The described infrastructure, weapons, ships, religion and lifestyle of the inhabitants of Atlantis look like the height of human perfection and a model of well-being.

The mystery of Atlantis in Plato's descriptions is present at every step. Isn’t it amazing that people live far from the centers of civilization known to the world at that time, but have a fairly high level of development, can make long sea voyages, trade with everyone around them, eat spices and other crops. The Atlanteans have a powerful army and a large fleet capable of entering into confrontation with the armies of the ancient states of the Mediterranean.

This should be the end. Only Plato was able to describe the life and structure of the legendary state so clearly and in detail. There were no other sources that would point to similar facts, no, and perhaps there will not be. Neither the Sumerians nor the ancient Egyptians said anything about a large state in the Western Hemisphere. The ancient ruins of the Indian civilizations of North and South America are silent about interaction with the mysterious and powerful state. Could there have been such a powerful civilization in the central Atlantic many years ago, about which there is still no real evidence?

Secrets of Atlantis: myths and legends versus real facts

Some researchers continue to feed the world illusions that Atlantis really existed. Following the lead of Plato, who pointed out the exact location of the island, researchers in search of Atlantis are checking the territories in the area Azores, in the Bahamas. This is facilitated by the consonance of the names Atlantic Ocean and the legendary island.

According to one version, Atlantis was located in the Azores region. Studies of the Ampere seamount, located on the way from Europe to America, and the neighboring areas of the Atlantic mid-ridge have not yielded any results. The geological and morphological structure of the seabed does not give reason to believe that a large geological formation existed in this area of ​​the earth's crust in ancient times. Even a gigantic cataclysm that wiped out such a large island or archipelago from the face of the earth would leave behind indisputable evidence. If the island sank as a result of a successive chain of earthquakes and floods, then its remains could still be found today.

Modern scientists do not have information about the major geological and tectonic catastrophe that befell the earth in ancient times. The biblical data about the global flood that befell the Earth and humanity takes us to a completely different era. All information, events and facts that speak in favor of the existence of Atlantis in this part globe, do not stand up to criticism if we rely on the theory proposed by Plato.

Supporters of another hypothesis, the Mediterranean one, have more compelling evidence in their favor. However, here too there are a number of points that cause controversy. What were the real boundaries of such a powerful union, and where could such a union be located? big Island or a small continent. Western border known to people that time of the world, runs along the Pillars of Hercules - now the Strait of Gibraltar, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic. Why, with such an eventful and crowded environment, did the ancient world not have cartographic data on the location of a large state that influenced the political and economic structure of the world? On maps compiled by the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians and Egyptians that have survived to this day, known areas are limited to Mediterranean region, territories of Southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Many Atlantologists increasingly agree that a civilization of similar proportions could have existed in the Eastern Mediterranean, within the explored sphere of political and economic interests of ancient states. The disappearance of the island and the death of the country of the Atlanteans can be linked to the catastrophic eruption of the Santorini volcano, which erupted around the 17th century BC. This hypothesis takes place, since it was during this period that the Cretan power flourished. According to this theory, the volcanic eruption not only destroyed half of the island of Thira, but also destroyed numerous city-states that existed in the region. If we put aside the question of names and the connection to Plato’s statements about the Pillars of Hercules, such a picture of the ancient world has a right to life.

In this context, the version about the existence in ancient times of a powerful state competing with the ancient Greek city-polises fits perfectly. The facts of the strongest cataclysm of that time were also noted in ancient sources. Today, volcanologists and oceanologists reasonably consider this version of the death of Atlantis to be quite real. Scientists have found evidence that Minoan civilization really possessed enormous military power and had a high level of development, allowing it to wage a confrontation with the Greek states.

Sparta and Athens are located 300-400 kilometers north of the islands of Thira and Crete, which are ideal for the location of the Atlantean state. The explosion of a volcano, which destroyed a mighty power in one night, destroyed the balance in the world that had existed until that moment. The consequences of such a large-scale disaster affected the entire Southern Europe, North Africa and the coast of the Middle East.

Versions in favor of another location of the legendary power today have no basis. Researchers are increasingly linking the existence of Atlantis with Plato's philosophical view of existing world. This is echoed by other sources in which the land of the Atlanteans is associated with other mythical territories and states that existed in the imagination of the ancient Greeks.

Hyperborea and Atlantis - ancient mythical states

To the question of where to look for Atlantis today, the answer may sound prosaic. You have to look everywhere. It is possible to rely on ancient sources only in cases where the question is raised about cultural heritage, which has survived to our times. In the sense in which we perceive Atlantis today, as an imaginary country and highly developed civilization, the ancient Greeks at one time imagined Hyperborea. This mythical country, located in the far north, a thousand kilometers from the shores of Ancient Greece, was considered by the Greeks to be the habitat of the Hyperboreans, the descendants of the gods. Is this the Atlantis that Plato wanted to tell the world about when writing his treatises?

The Hyperborean lands, according to modern scientists, should have been located on the territory of the present Scandinavian countries: in Iceland or Greenland. The Greeks directly pointed out that even Apollo himself, the sun god, was considered the patron saint of this people. What kind of lands are these, do they really exist? It was assumed that Hyperborea was a fictional country for the ancient Greeks, where perfect and powerful people lived and the gods rested. The country that Apollo regularly visits may be the same Atlantis - the state to which the ancient Greeks strove in their development.

In the works of some ancient Greek historians, geographers, mythographers, mathematicians, theologians and astronomers, there is mention of one state that has sunk into eternity: legendary island Atlantis. About two thousand years ago, Plato, Herodotus, Diodorus and other respected authors wrote about it in their works.

Ancient authors about the sunken island of Atlantis

Basic information about the lost Atlantis is contained in the writings of Plato. In the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he talks about an island state that existed about 11,500 years ago.

According to Plato, the ancestor of the Atlanteans was the god Poseidon. He connected his life with a mortal girl, who bore him ten sons. When the children grew up, the father divided the island between them. The best part of the land went to Poseidon's eldest son: Atlan.

Atlantis was a powerful, rich and populous state. Its inhabitants erected a serious defense system against external enemies and built a network of circular canals leading to the sea, as well as an internal port.

Large cities were distinguished by amazing architectural structures and beautiful sculptures: temples made of gold and silver, golden statues and sculptures. The island was very fertile, with a variety of natural world; people mined copper and silver in the depths of the earth.

The Atlanteans were a warlike people: the army of the state included a navy of 1000 ships, the number of crews was 240 thousand people; The ground army numbered 700 thousand people. The descendants of Poseidon successfully fought for many years, conquering new territories and wealth; This was the case until Athens stood in their way.

To defeat the Atlanteans, the Athenians created a military alliance with the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula. But on the day of the battle, the allies refused to fight, and the Athenians were left alone with the enemy. Fearless, courageous Greeks defeated the aggressor and liberated the peoples previously enslaved by him.

But early on, the Greek warriors rejoiced at their achievements: they decided to intervene in the affairs of people, who had been monitoring the inhabitants of Atlantis for the last centuries. Zeus considered that the Atlanteans had become greedy, greedy, depraved and decided to punish them to the fullest extent by flooding the island along with its inhabitants and the Athenians who did not have time to celebrate the victory.

This is what Plato writes about Atlantis in his two works. At first glance, it's simple beautiful legend, an interesting tale. There is no direct evidence of the existence of Atlantis in ancient times, nor any references to authoritative sources.

But these two dialogues survived not only Plato himself, but also two more millennia - during which time many disputes and theories arose regarding the lost state.

Plato’s student Aristotle, who listened to the speeches of Platonist philosophers for about 20 years, eventually categorically rejected the existence of Atlantis, declaring that the dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critius” were simply fiction, the ravings of an old man.

It was because of Aristotle that Atlantis was talked about reluctantly, in a low voice, until the end of the 18th century. After all, this venerable philosopher enjoyed unquestioned authority in Europe, especially in the Middle Ages. All of Aristotle's statements were perceived by Europeans as the ultimate truth.

So why was Aristotle so sure that Atlantis was a fiction, because he had no irrefutable evidence of this? Why was he so harsh in his judgments? Some sources claim that the philosopher simply did not like his mentor, so he decided in this way to spoil Plato’s authority in the eyes of his fans and admirers.

Mentions of the Atlanteans in the works of other ancient authors

Other ancient authors wrote very little about Atlantis: Herodotus claimed that the Atlanteans had no names, did not see and were defeated by troglodytes - cavemen; According to the stories of Diodorus, the inhabitants of Atlantis fought with the Amazons. Posidonius, interested in the causes of land subsidence, believed that Plato’s story was plausible.

Proclus in his writings talks about one follower of the ancient thinker: a resident of Athens, Krantor.

Allegedly, he specially went to 47 years after the death of the philosopher to find evidence in favor of the existence island state; Having returned from his trip, Krantor said that in one of the ancient temples he saw columns with inscriptions retelling the historical events described by Plato.

Search for Atlantis

It is quite difficult to indicate the exact location of the lost Atlantis: there are many hypotheses about where the sunken state could be located.

Plato wrote that a huge island was once located in the ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules (i.e., beyond Gibraltar). But his search in the Canary, Balearic, Azores and British Isles came to nothing.

Some researchers propose to look for the remains of the material culture of the Atlanteans in the Black Sea, linking the flooding of the island with the “Black Sea flood” that occurred 7-8 thousand years ago - then the sea level rose in less than a year, according to various estimates, from 10 to 80 meters.

There is a hypothesis according to which Antarctica is lost atlantis. Scientists who adhere to this theory believe that Antarctica in ancient times was shifted to the south pole due to lithospheric shift, or a sharp displacement of the earth's axis as a result of the collision of our planet with a large cosmic body.

There is also an opinion that traces of Atlantis can be found in South America or Brazil. But most interpreters of Plato’s dialogues are sure: the lost island must be looked for only in the Atlantic Ocean.

In recent decades, the lost state has sought many expeditions, most of which returned empty-handed. True, from time to time the whole world is excited by news about the found traces of a submerged island.

Did the Russians find Atlantis?

In 1979, a Soviet expedition, while testing a diving bell, accidentally discovered some objects in the Atlantic Ocean that looked like the ruins of an ancient city.

The action took place just behind the “Pillars of Hercules” indicated by Plato, 500 km from Gibraltar, above the Ampere seamount, which many thousands of years ago protruded above the surface of the ocean, but then for some reason went under water.

Three years later, the Soviet ship Rift set off to the same place to explore the ocean floor using the Argus submersible. The aquanauts were amazed by what they saw; from their words, a panorama of city ruins opened up to them: the remains of rooms, squares, streets.

But the expedition that took place in 1984 did not live up to the hopes of the researchers: an analysis of two stones raised from the ocean floor showed that it was just volcanic rock, frozen lava, and not the creation of human hands.

The opinion of modern scientists about Atlantis

Atlantis is a fiction

Most modern historians and philologists are convinced: Plato’s dialogues are just a beautiful legend, of which the philosopher has many. There are no traces of this state either in Greece, or in western Europe, or in Africa - this is confirmed by archaeological excavations.

The opinion of scientists that Atlantis is only a figment of the imagination is also based on the following: the philosopher writes about a network of canals built on the island, about an inland port, but such large-scale projects in ancient times were beyond the power of people.

Plato indicated the approximate date of the island's immersion in the ocean depths: 9000 years before he wrote his dialogues (i.e. approximately 9500 BC). But this contradicts the data of modern science: at that time humanity was just emerging from the Paleolithic era. It is not easy to believe that somewhere in those times there lived a people who were thousands of years ahead of the entire human race in their development.

Many scientists are convinced that Plato, when writing his works, took as a basis some events that occurred during his life: for example, the defeat of the Greeks during their attempt to conquer the island of Sicily and the flooding of the town of Gelica as a result of an earthquake followed by flooding.

Other researchers believe that the basis for the philosopher’s works was the eruption of a volcano on the island of Santorini, which subsequently hit the coast of Crete and other islands. Mediterranean Sea tsunami - this disaster led to the decline of the developed Minoan civilization.

The version is supported by the following fact: the Minoans really fought with the Archeans who inhabited Greece in ancient times and were even defeated by them (just as the Atlanteans were defeated by the Greeks in the dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critias”).

In general, many researchers of the thinker’s works believe that Plato, being an idealistic utopian, with his writings only wanted to call on his contemporaries to build an ideal exemplary humane state in which there would be no place for dictatorship, violence and tyranny.

However, the philosopher himself constantly emphasizes in his dialogues that Atlantis is not just a legend, but a real island state that once existed.

Plato doesn't lie

Some researchers still admit: there is a grain of truth in the works of the ancient thinker. Excavations carried out in last years archaeologists, helped scientists obtain new information about life and technical achievements our ancestors living 5-10 thousand years ago.

Modern archaeologists find the remains of grandiose structures created by ancient people everywhere: in Egypt, Sumer, Babylon. Tunnels for collecting groundwater, many kilometers of adits, stone dams, man-made lakes- all these structures were in operation long before the birth of Plato.

Consequently, the philosopher’s dialogues cannot be attributed to fiction only on the grounds that humanity 11 thousand years ago was unable to build a network of canals and bridges: the latter archaeological excavations prove the opposite.

In addition, since Plato’s works have come down to us, rewritten more than once, there is a possibility that over two millennia there has been confusion with the dates.

The fact is that in the system of Egyptian hieroglyphs, the number “9000” is indicated by lotus flowers, and the number “900” by rope knots; supporters of the existence of Atlantis believe that later copyists of dialogues could easily confuse symbols that were so similar to each other, thus pushing aside historical event several thousand years ago.

On top of that, Plato, who belongs to a highly revered family in Ancient Greece, refers in his dialogues to his ancestor: the wisest of the “seven wise men,” the legislator Solon. And the ancient Greeks were very sensitive to their roots and tried to preserve the sacred memory of their relatives. Would Plato, given his moral qualities, have referred to Solon in his works, because if this whole story with Atlantis was just a fiction, he would have tarnished the name of the wisest representative of the family?

Afterword

Atlantis has been shrouded in an aura of mystery for many centuries. People have been trying to find the suddenly disappeared state for almost two thousand years: some wanting to take possession of the treasures described by Plato, others out of scientific interest, others simply out of curiosity.

In the 50s of the last century, a doctrine called “Atlantology” even appeared; its main task is to identify true information about Atlantis in historical sources and mythical legends.

The debate about whether the mysterious land once existed or whether the ancient Greek thinker simply made it up continues to this day. Various theories are born and die, guesses appear and disappear. Some of them are supported by science, while others are more like a beautiful fairy tale.

Perhaps our children or grandchildren will solve the riddle of Atlantis. But it may happen that another two thousand years will pass, and the mystery lost island it will remain unsolved, and our descendants, just like us today, will be tormented by guesses and assumptions.

ARTICLE IN VIDEO FORMAT

The legend of Atlantis - a sunken island on which a highly developed civilization once existed, where a strong, enlightened and happy people lived - the Atlanteans - has been exciting humanity for more than two thousand years. The only source of information about Atlantis is the writings of the ancient Greek scientist Plato, who lived in the 4th century BC AD, written in the form of conversation-dialogues. In two such dialogues - “Timaeus” and “Critius” - Plato cites the story of his contemporary, writer and political figure Critias about Atlantis - “a legend, although very strange, but completely reliable”, which Critias heard in childhood from his grandfather, who - from the “wisest of the seven wise” Athenian legislator Solon, and Solon from the Egyptian priests. The Egyptian priests, based on ancient records, said that once in the “Atlantic Sea” (as the ocean was then called) there lay a huge island - “larger than Libya (then there is Africa) and Asia taken together." On this island “a great and formidable power of kings arose, whose power extended over the entire island and many other islands (...). In addition, they (...) ruled Libya as far as Egypt and Europe as far as Tyrrhenia" (so at that time called Italy) The legend of Atlantis tells that in the primordial times, when the gods divided the earth among themselves, this island came into the possession of Poseidon, the god of the seas. Poseidon settled his ten sons there, born from the earthly woman Clito.

The eldest of them was called Atlant, after his name the island was called Atlantis, and the sea was called Atlantic. From Atlant came a powerful and noble family of kings of Atlantis. This clan “collected such enormous wealth as had never before been seen in the possession of the kings, and even later it would not be easy to form such a family.” The fruits of the earth grew in abundance on the island, and various animals were found - “both tame and wild,” its raw minerals were mined, including “one rock that is now known only by name, (...) - the orichalcum rock, which was extracted from the ground in many places on the island and, after gold, had the greatest value among the people of that time.” The inhabitants of Atlantis erected on their island there were beautiful cities with fortress walls, temples and palaces, built harbors and shipyards. The main city of Atlantis was surrounded by several rows of earthen ramparts - “rings of the sea”. The city walls were covered, “kakmasti-koi,” with copper, tin and orichalcum, “which gave off a fiery shine,” and the houses were built of red, white and black stone. A temple to Poseidon and Clito was erected in the center of the city. The walls of the temple were lined with silver, the roof was covered with gold, and inside “one could see an ivory ceiling, colored with gold, silver and orichalcum. They also erected golden idols inside the temple - a god who, standing in a chariot, ruled six winged horses, and himself, according to enormity of size, the crown of the ceiling touched." The Atlanteans conducted brisk trade, the harbors of Atlantis "teemed with ships and merchants from everywhere, who in their mass deafened the area day and night with shouting, knocking and mixed noise." Atlantis had a strong army and fleet consisting of a thousand two hundred warships. The code of laws that Poseidon himself gave to the Atlanteans was inscribed on a high orichalcum pillar installed in the middle of the island. Atlantis was ruled by ten kings, each with his own part of the island.

Once every five or six years they gathered in front of this pillar and “consulted about common affairs, or examined whether anyone had committed any offense, and held court.” The Atlanteans were distinguished by their nobility and exalted way of thinking, “looking at everything except virtue with disdain, they valued little the fact that they had a lot of gold and other acquisitions, they were indifferent to wealth as a burden, and did not fall to the ground in the intoxication of luxury, losing power over oneself.” But time passed - and the Atlanteans changed, filled with “the wrong spirit of self-interest and power.” They began to use their knowledge and achievements of their culture for evil. In the end, Zeus became angry with them and “in one day and a disastrous night (...) the island of Atlantis disappeared, plunging into the sea.” According to Plato, this happened in the 10th millennium BC. Modern scientists express the opinion that the death of the island was caused by a catastrophe, the cause of which was one of the man-made achievements of the ancient Atlanteans. Disputes about whether Atlantis really existed or whether Plato invented it began in ancient times. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, a friend and student of Plato, argued that Atlantis was completely fictional (according to legend, it was on this occasion that Aristotle said the famous saying: “Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer”) Nevertheless, many believed that Atlantis really existed and can find its traces. Interest in Atlantis faded and then arose again over the following centuries, but never disappeared completely. It is estimated that to date about 3,600 scientific works have been written about Atlantis (not to mention numerous works of fiction).

For more than two thousand years, people's minds have been haunted by Plato's story about Atlantis. Information about this country was allegedly reported by Sankhes, the high priest of the temple in Sais, to the ancestor of Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher and statesman, Solon, who visited Egypt around 600. BC. Solon's information about Atlantis, which reached Plato through Timaeus and Critias, was presented by him in the sections of the Dialogues of the same name.

Photos from open sources
Plato's Atlantis

According to Plato's story, the Atlanteans created a civilization that was far superior in its achievements and power to other peoples of the Earth. They undertook expansion into the Mediterranean with the goal of conquering the peoples there. The limit to their aspirations, according to Sanghes, was set by the ancestors of the Greeks. He provided amazing information about the time of events, the size and location of Atlantis.

From the very beginning to the present day, people in relation to Plato's story are divided into romantics who accept it as truth, and skeptics who do not believe it. The first and most authoritative skeptic was Aristotle. He believed that Plato invented Atlantis to reinforce his ideas about the ideal state.
Aristotle’s famous phrase: “Plato is my friend, but truth is dearer” was said by him precisely in this regard.
The following are some excerpts from Timaeus and Critias:

"So, nine thousand years ago (Plato lived in 428 BC, which means 10,000 + 2,000 years ago, so we read: 12,000 years ago) these fellow citizens of yours lived, about whose laws and whose greatest feat I have to tell you briefly; Later, at our leisure, with letters in hand, we will find out all the circumstances and in order... After all, according to the evidence of our records, your state put a limit on the audacity of countless military forces that set off to conquer all of Europe and Asia, and kept their path from the Atlantic Sea.
In those days it was possible to cross the sea, for there was an island that lay in front of that strait, which in your language is called the Pillars of Hercules. This island was larger in size than Libya and Asia combined, and from it it was easy for travelers of that time to move to other islands, and from the islands to the entire opposite continent..." [Plato's Dialogues, Timaeus].

In Critias, Plato tells the story of the settlement of this continent, the rise and fall of the Atlantean civilization:

"As you know, the gods divided all the countries of the earth among themselves by lot. They did this without strife... Each of the gods settled in their own country; Having settled, they began to nurture us, their property and pets, like shepherds tending a flock... So Poseidon, having received the island of Atlantis as his inheritance, populated it with children conceived from a mortal woman...
Having produced male twins five times each, Poseidon raised them and divided the entire island of Atlantis into ten parts, and to the one of the eldest couple who was born first, he gave his mother's house and surrounding possessions as the largest and best share, and made him king over the rest, and these others - archons, to each of whom he gave power over a populous people and a vast country... All of them and their descendants lived there for many generations, ruling over many other islands of this sea and, as has already been said earlier , extending all power on this side of the Pillars of Hercules right up to Egypt and Tyrrhenia...
Much was imported to them from subject countries, but most The island itself provided what was needed for life, first of all, any types of fossils, hard and fusible metals, and among them what is now known only by name, but then existed in reality: native orichalcum, extracted from the bowels of the earth in various places on the island.
The forest provided in abundance everything that the builders needed for their work, as well as for feeding domestic and wild animals. There were even great numbers of elephants on the island, for there was enough food not only for all other living creatures inhabiting swamps, lakes and rivers, mountains or plains, but also for this beast, the largest and most voracious of all animals.
Further, all the incense that the earth now nourishes, be it in roots, in herbs, in wood, in oozing resins, in flowers or in fruits - she gave birth to all this there and cultivated it perfectly. Moreover, every fruit and grain cultivated by man, which we use as food or from which we make bread, and various kinds of vegetables, as well as every tree that bears food, drinks or anointings, every tree unsuitable for storage and used for fun and delicacy the fruit that we offer as a snack to those who are satiated with lunch - all this the then sacred island under the influence of the sun gave birth to beautiful, amazing and abundant. Taking advantage of these gifts from the earth, the kings built sanctuaries, palaces, harbors and shipyards and put the whole country in order.
For many generations, until the nature inherited from God was exhausted, the rulers of Atlantis obeyed the laws and lived in friendship with the divine principle akin to them: they cherished the true and in everything great system of thoughts, treated the inevitable determinations of fate and each other with reasonable patience, despising everything except virtue, they did not value wealth at all and easily regarded piles of gold and other treasures almost as an annoying burden.
They did not become drunk with luxury, did not lose power over themselves and their common sense under the influence of wealth, but, maintaining sobriety of mind, clearly saw that all this owed its growth to general consent in combination with virtue and that when wealth becomes a matter of concern and turns out to be honor, it goes to dust, and along with it virtue perishes. While they reasoned in this way, and the divine nature retained its power in them, all their wealth, briefly described by us, increased. But when the inherited portion from God weakened, being repeatedly dissolved in mortal admixture, and human disposition prevailed, then they were unable to bear their wealth any longer and lost their decency.
To one who knows how to see, at that time they presented a shameful spectacle, for they squandered the most beautiful of their valuables; but unable to see what a truly happy life consists of, they seemed most beautiful and happiest just when unbridled greed and power were seething within them.
And so Zeus, the God of gods, observing the laws, being well able to discern what we were talking about, thought about the glorious race that had fallen into such pitiful depravity, and decided to impose punishment on it, so that, having sobered up from trouble, it would learn decency". [Plato's Dialogues, Critias].
This punishment was the Great Flood that occurred 12,000 years ago.

Thus, Plato described Atlantis as a continent larger in area than Libya (Africa) and Asia combined, representing a large island (or group of islands) that was located beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar) and sank during the Great Flood for 9000 years to Solon, that is, 11600-11500 years ago.

Photos from open sources
Strait of Gibraltar between Africa and Spain.

Most modern researchers who believed Plato imagine Atlantis as a continent located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and Africa on one side and the two Americas on the other, which, as a result of tectonic processes, sank to the bottom, and there they are trying to find its remains. However, geology leaves no hope for this.

Photos from open sources
sunken Atlantis

Research in recent decades has brilliantly confirmed Wegener's assumption that once upon a time, during the 1st and 2nd races, there was a single continent, Gondwanaland, which split apart approximately 50 million years ago, and its fragments - Eurasia, Africa and the two Americas - have dispersed over a long distance over the elapsed time.

Photos from open sources
Gondwana

Wegener came to this idea due to the coincidence of the outlines of the coasts of the continents located opposite each other across the Atlantic Ocean, and found its confirmation in the coincidence of geological structures on the corresponding sections of the opposite coasts.

The age of its sections is determined by magnetization and the thickness of sedimentary deposits, which continuously increases in proportion to their distance from the fault. All changes and inversions of the Earth's magnetic field, which occurred repeatedly over 50 million years, are recorded in the basalt rock of the ocean floor during its formation, as if on a tape. No anomalies in this pattern, allowing for the existence in the near or distant past of a continent in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, have been discovered. But...

The cultural influence of Atlantis on various civilizations of the world, noted by many researchers (pyramids, embalming, etc.) dates back to a much more ancient time. The laws of the Atlanteans are more reminiscent of the ancient Aryan “Laws of Manu,” which presupposed the division of citizens into varnas:
"You can imagine the laws of your ancestors from here: you will now find in Egypt many institutions adopted in those days (nine thousand years ago) and among you, and, first of all, for example, the class of priests, isolated from others, then the class of artisans , in which everyone is engaged in his craft, without interfering with anything else, and, finally, the class of shepherds, hunters and farmers; and the military class, as you must have noticed yourself, is separate from the others, and the law orders its members not to care about anything other than war…".

Finally, Sanges clearly indicated where the expansion was coming from " countless military forces (Atlanteans) who set off to conquer all of Europe and Asia, and kept their path from the Atlantic Sea".
No fewer objections can also be raised against considering the American continent or the islands adjacent to it to be Atlantis, as Andrew Collins does.

The fact that Atlantis is the same Hyperborea is evidenced by the legends about the travels of Hercules for the rejuvenating apples of the Hesperides and the cows of Geryon.

Photos from open sources
Hyperborea was located at the North Pole of the Atlanteans

So, when going to the Garden of the Hesperides, Hercules went to the far west, where the entrance to Hyperborea, guarded by Atlas, was located. And when going for the cows (or bulls) of Geryon, to the Hyperborean island of Erithea (Erithea is one of the names of Hyperborea, which probably comes from its location behind the Riphean mountains), Hercules goes to Erithea through Gibraltar, and returns from it through Scythia, located in the northeast of Greece: " Hercules, driving away the bulls of Geryon, arrived in that then deserted land, which is now inhabited by the Scythians. Geryon lived outside of Pontus, living on an island that the Greeks call Erythea. It is located near Ghadir, located on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules by the Ocean".

Photos from open sources
Holy Kailash - Mount Meru of the Atlanteans

The conclusion suggests itself that in all these legends we are talking about the same country. American atlantologist I. Donnelly came to the conclusion that Atlantis was a common cultural center The Old and New Worlds, and identified it with other mythological places: Eden, the Garden of the Hesperides, the Champs Elysees, the gardens of Alcinous, the Viking Midgard.

Hermann Wirth, in his works “The Origin of Man” and “The Sacred Proto-Writing of Humanity,” argued that Atlantis is identical to Hyperborea and the country of Altland of the sacred tradition of the Ingevons. The name Altland means old country.
The Egyptians, apparently, did not understand its meaning, did not translate it into their language and distorted the sound. And the names of the inhabitants of Midgard (Ingevons, Hermiones and Istevons) could mean: living at the entrance (to Midgard), in the middle and at its exit.

Photos from open sources
Midgard - Shambhala and Agartha

Victor Yanovich "Heritage of Millennia"