How do we know that Atlantis existed

While I was looking at this I started to wonder if Alantis ever existed.

I have heard loads of stories about it, especially when reading books about mythology and I have started thinking and I must ask "is the search for atlantis pointless because it was a mythological island, where no-one really knows where it may have been?"

People have been speculating that Atlantis was just off Greece, in the mediteriannian (sp?) or in the atlantic ocean. Well the site which I have linked states

Over 11,000 years ago there existed an island nation located in the middle of the Atlantic ocean populated by a noble and powerful race. The people of this land possessed great wealth thanks to the natural resources found throughout their island. The island was a center for trade and commerce. The rulers of this land held sway over the people and land of their own island and well into Europe and Africa.

I also began to wonder "why did they worship Greek Gods and they have never come into contact with the Greeks"

This just backs up a theroy that Atlantis exists. What do you think?


[edit on 4-3-2006 by speight89]

Greetings Fellow Believers,

I will dispute the location of Atlantis. However, I will not dispute the existence of it.

The burden of proof lies with us.

I believe that the discovery of a previously existing civilization that was as advanced as we are today--existing thousands of years ago--would be humbling.

I'd recommend reading Plato's dialogues on it.
Read it, and you'll see that he is talking about a real place (which he emphasizes at least three separate times), and describes exactly where it is, and what it looks like, and how large it is, etc. (and this fits South America perfectly)...and specifically the Altiplano region for the capital.

He explains the Greek gods too, as he states in the writings that he uses Greek terms and gods for the purpose of his audience, but that these are not the actual gods worshipped....akin to using Zeus for Jupiter, Aries for Mars, etc. He makes this disclaimer prior to the narrative, so this really shouldn't be a cause for doubt.

Also, he makes no claims for them being any more advanced than the Greeks of his day...only that since they were so long ago (even to him), it was considered advanced.

You won't see Plato mention death rays, flying ships, etc. This is the product of later, sci-fi authors....not the historic account.


[edit on 5-3-2006 by Gazrok]

Plato also said "Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history."

This article explores the relationship between myth and fact in Plato's historical work:
www.dur.ac.uk...

For anyone wanting it, this pro-Atlantis site has a full transcript of everything Plato said about Atlantis:
www.stevequayle.com...

Cheers.

[edit on 6-3-2006 by d60944]

The Masons, who have more complete records that were squirreled away in various locations as a result of the recurring desctructions of the libraries of Alexandria, keep Atlantis a secret because of an agreement they made with the Catholic Church to keep the story of Jesus relating to the Jews, rather than with the Atlaneans, where the real Sons of God lived. Very complicated.

Originally posted by Jack of Scythes

I believe that the discovery of a previously existing civilization that was as advanced as we are today--existing thousands of years ago--would be humbling.

if they were as advanced as we are today, how come there is 0 evidence of what they drove, fought with, ate, flew and sports played? dont you think some type of evidence would have been somewhere in the world?

Originally posted by Enkidu
The Masons, who have more complete records that were squirreled away in various locations as a result of the recurring desctructions of the libraries of Alexandria, keep Atlantis a secret because of an agreement they made with the Catholic Church to keep the story of Jesus relating to the Jews, rather than with the Atlaneans, where the real Sons of God lived. Very complicated.

That's interesting. I always thought that Atlantis had alot in common with Jesus. For instance they are/have both been talked about and passed down in stories with grandeur and reverence. Up to this point the claims made by these authors in both stories cannot be truly confirmed or denied.

hey gazrok, can you educate me on two points

did anyone beside plato document atlantis ?

if atlantis went to war with other nations, which nations were they ?

did anyone beside plato document atlantis ?

That's really what I want to know too, if it was only Plato that has written about atlantis, then I almost can't believe that it had really existed. There were more people with the capability or writing these days. So there MUST be more literature about Atlantis if it had really existed...

Looking at the posts above me, it says that Plato was the only person to document Atlantis, could this mean that Atlantis could be only part of a novel like Narnia? CS Lewis wrotenovels about Narnia, and Plato wrote novels about Atlantis

Originally posted by speight89
"Is the search for atlantis pointless because it was a mythological island, where no-one really knows where it may have been?"

We basically base the belief in its existence on Plato's writings. He's very matter-of-fact about the place, discusses it in great detail, and tells you very specifically where it was. Now, a lot of people have said he was just using Atlantis as an allegory, a cautionary tale warning against human hubris. But if you read the actual description, it's not really that at all.

But aside from the Plato stuff, there are no other historical accounts to back him up. All lost in the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, maybe. There are some curious carvings on either side of the Atlantic which suggest contact with a group of people who were good seafarers. Some of them had beards. Some wore feathers on their heads. It's not a lot of evidence.

So until somebody manages to find actual ruins of a relatively advanced civilization somewhere along the Mid-Atlantic ridge, it'll hold onto its mythological status for now.

Originally posted by Enkidu
The Masons, who have more complete records that were squirreled away in various locations as a result of the recurring desctructions of the libraries of Alexandria, keep Atlantis a secret because of an agreement they made with the Catholic Church to keep the story of Jesus relating to the Jews, rather than with the Atlaneans, where the real Sons of God lived. Very complicated.

Where in the world did you get the idea that masons were behind this at all? what proof do you have? i am a mason and know probably less about atlantis then 99% of the people on this sight. so to say that I have a secret treaty with the catholic curch to cover this up really is an insult.

There is absolutly no trueth in what this guy says at all.

I can say just 3 words : Only GOD knows !

Ummm... On account of Edgar Cayce maybe?...

WTF? What does Edgar cayce have to do with it? Yeah thats right NOTHING!

ONE MAN (Plato) had a STORY/IES about a fabled place... Get over it.

There is no proof. No nothing. Everything else you have ever heard is made up or imagination INCLUDING Edgar Cayce. No proof. None.

[edit on 4-9-2006 by donk_316]

Originally posted by donk_316
WTF? What does Edgar cayce have to do with it? Yeah thats right NOTHING!

ONE MAN (Plato) had a STORY/IES about a fabled place... Get over it.

There is no proof. No nothing. Everything else you have ever heard is made up or imagination INCLUDING Edgar Cayce. No proof. None.

[edit on 4-9-2006 by donk_316]

No, no since I'm pretty sure Edgar Cayce is more than enough proof as they have indeed found something new at the exact places that he cited in his readings. Bimini after all really is the place where the Atlantis Resort is and in the year 1998 there was a major archeological discovery over in Egypt that of which was broadcasted live on network television (this goes in accordance with the first year of what he calls the Aquarian Age).

Originally posted by speight89
While I was looking at this I started to wonder if Alantis ever existed.

I have heard loads of stories about it, especially when reading books about mythology and I have started thinking and I must ask "is the search for atlantis pointless because it was a mythological island, where no-one really knows where it may have been?"

People have been speculating that Atlantis was just off Greece, in the mediteriannian (sp?) or in the atlantic ocean. Well the site which I have linked states

Over 11,000 years ago there existed an island nation located in the middle of the Atlantic ocean populated by a noble and powerful race. The people of this land possessed great wealth thanks to the natural resources found throughout their island. The island was a center for trade and commerce. The rulers of this land held sway over the people and land of their own island and well into Europe and Africa.

I also began to wonder "why did they worship Greek Gods and they have never come into contact with the Greeks"

This just backs up a theroy that Atlantis exists. What do you think?


[edit on 4-3-2006 by speight89]

If Atlantic ever existed, I think it is reasonable to assume it never reached any significant degree of technological sophistication. This is because we have not found any old stockpiles of nuclear radiation waste such as would have existed had they perfected nuclear energy. This stuff has half-lives of 1000s of years, thus it is reasonable they would have left some irradiated waste for us to discover.

Also, they never perfected space travel to the degree that they ever landed on the moon. This is because, there is no evidence that they left any trash (equipment, structures, etc) on the moon the way we did when we visited there.

Originally posted by risitar


No, no since I'm pretty sure Edgar Cayce is more than enough proof as they have indeed found something new at the exact places that he cited in his readings.

Bearing in mind too that Calfornia sank into the sea in the 1980s ..... as predicted by Cayce

Actually it's very simple to prove that Cayce was a fraud with regards to Atlantis - the fact that he referred to such a name at all (he also used the similarly greek name Poseidon a lot, as I recall)

One of the few facts we know is that no-one at the time called the place Atlantis - which is a translation of a translation of the original name. The Atlanteans were neither Greek nor Egyptian - and their language was very different to both cultures. Anyone who therefore uses Greek names is clearly making it all up....

How do I know? Plato told me. You remember Plato - the bloke who started it all off

Essan, you don't really know what you're talking about because there is simply too much archeological evidence sprinkled all over the world and such that does nothing but to support what Edgar Cayce was getting at. If you think about it, there comes a point whereby all of the so called coincidences adds up to the immense laser precision of the ancient Atlanteans. I would love to be convinced otherwise and while you're at it, let's go about a debate about whether or not the moon landings were real or inexplicably faked.

Originally posted by risitar
Essan, you don't really know what you're talking about because there is simply too much archeological evidence sprinkled all over the world and such that does nothing but to support what Edgar Cayce was getting at.[/qupt]

????????

Not that I know of ( and I'm pretty well read on the subject

) Do you have some examples?

I would love to be convinced otherwise and while you're at it, let's go about a debate about whether or not the moon landings were real or inexplicably faked.

Well if faked it would be inexplicable