Atlantis is....Totally OBVIOUS

Sorry for the earlier Blank post....I accidentally hit enter while typing the title!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlantis to me seems fairly obvious as to what Plato may have been referring to.

Lets look at Plato's description:
Firstly, he described it as being located on a CONTINENT to the west of the Straits of Gibraltar (pillars of Hercules)...
There are 2 things we can take from this....
1) A continent once located in the Atlantic disappeared because Poseidon got mad
2) Plato is referring to an existing, non-disappearing continent(s) lying west of Spain....

Lets look at a map and see if there are any unknown(at the time of Plato) continents west of Spain...



hmm...what could that be????
I am going to guess: The Americas!!!!

Ok...with that, lets look at his description of the capital city:

The capital city of Atlantis was a marvel of architecture and engineering. The city was composed of a series of concentric walls and canals. At the very center was a hill, and on top of the hill a temple.

link

Here is a picture of Tenochtitlan based on the description by Cortez and his scribes. The map was drawn in 1524:

Blown up, better colorized version of the above pic:

Ok, I know that Tenochtitlan is a stretch to be the fabled capital city, but it does look alot like what Plato described...

And maybe I just think that archeology has been VERY late to the party as related to giving the South American cultures their due when it comes to societal evolution...
When I went to school in the 1970s and 80s, South American history and the great peoples who once lived and thrived there was not taught...

I dont know why this is but suspect Americas tendency toward Eurocentrism may be the culprit...
Heck, I am a white Texan so I have seen South Americans in general denigrated my entire life...
So it is no surprise to me that people are unwilling to believe ancient civilizations in the Americas did indeed rival those across the pond...

Soapbox dismounted

Anyhow, I am no expert on Atlantis, just my opinion...what do y'all think???

Yes, I think just about every location on Earth (and beyond?!) has already been suggested at some point or another:

en.wikipedia.org...

your link takes us to the forums top topics page, just an fyi

i think it's a decent theory as good as any really.

your link needs fixing

reply to post by VelvetSplash


I am a noob....I think I fixed it

Interesting thought, but at this point I am pretty much convinced that Crete and more specifically the island of Santorini was to blame for the Atlantis myth. A volcano took out the culture there, and made parts of the island completely impassable because of the volcanic mud. There are many indications this is what was referred to by Plato as Atlantis... or Atlantis was just an allegory for Plato's literary purposes.

Look it up sometime.

So why did the Aztecs invade the Med - leaving no trace of their presence in the process - thousands of years before they existed (being beaten, eventually, by Athens thousands of years before Athens existed).

Doesn't really make sense? It's like saying the Belgians won battle of Troy or New Zealanders defeated the French at Agincourt.

I think when people explore the right site for Atlantis, they will know it. When technology is uncovered that has absolutely no sane explanation which can reconcile with accepted history, they'll know they're in the right spot. Just don't push any red buttons to see what they do. Some if it may very well still work.


For that reason, and I believe the above to my core to be true, I don't think Atlantis exists among any area Man has yet seen or explored. We may be looking right at it....but it's under ice or under water by sheer logic of the fact we haven't found what I mention above and what is logical to discover. I'm betting it's submerged in the Atlantic..somewhere. Time will tell though.

Inventive theory. The main obstacle to this idea of Tenochtitlan as Atlantis, not dismissing all the objections noted above, is that the Aztec capital wasn't built until 1325 AD.


Hey Wrabbit

Just don't push any red buttons to see what they do. Some if it may very well still work.

I believe you are just funnin' but just encase you are not...the Atlantis Plato described had technology equal to Athens of his time. The 'advanced' Atlantis is a creature of later myth makers

Essan - open your mind!

So why did the Aztecs invade the Med - leaving no trace of their presence in the process - thousands of years before they existed (being beaten, eventually, by Athens thousands of years before Athens existed).

Simple solution the Aztecs were really the Kelts - I mean as anyone every denied that they were? lol. Good point when looking for Atlantis you have to go with what Plato said and he said a lot. Good story

Which only proves that Plato was a prophet, Hans.

Gawd, man! Think before you post!!!!

Harte

Originally posted by Osiris1953
Interesting thought, but at this point I am pretty much convinced that Crete and more specifically the island of Santorini was to blame for the Atlantis myth. A volcano took out the culture there, and made parts of the island completely impassable because of the volcanic mud. There are many indications this is what was referred to by Plato as Atlantis... or Atlantis was just an allegory for Plato's literary purposes.

Look it up sometime.

Allegory definitely!!!
Minoans could definitely be responsible for the legends....especially with things turning up like the antikythera device popping up...

Although I would tend to think that a culture as seafaring as Plato's Greece wouldve simply said Crete....

But who really knows....

Star for you because it was a good post

-Chris

Originally posted by Harte
Which only proves that Plato was a prophet, Hans.

Gawd, man! Think before you post!!!!

Harte

[admonishment mode] I'm am humbled in your light of your wisdom[/admonishment mode]

reply to post by Christosterone


Santorini was destroyed before Plato's time. It was passed down through stories. Perhaps he knew of it by the name Atlantis, or changed the name for his purposes. Who knows, but in my mind, Santorini is our best bet.

Don't get me wrong, I like your theory... it's just not the one I subscribe to.

Originally posted by Essan
So why did the Aztecs invade the Med - leaving no trace of their presence in the process - thousands of years before they existed (being beaten, eventually, by Athens thousands of years before Athens existed).

Doesn't really make sense? It's like saying the Belgians won battle of Troy or New Zealanders defeated the French at Agincourt.

First off: New Zealand actually won the battle of Troy

And, yes, I know my theory is plagued with holes if Platos account is taken as literal...
I only mean to suggest that there MAY have been ancient interactions between the early civilizations of the Mediterranean and of the Americas....
And, as any religious book can attest, we humans have a tendency to expand on stories as time goes by...
And if Plato had 8000, or even 80 years of stories to source from Egypt then there is no telling what is actually true or not...

Heck, in those days a simple exchange of tobacco for lebanese pine couldve taken place between Egyptians and Olmecs and as the story spread, Atlantis (Meso-America) became more and more sensationalized as the strory got retold...
And by the end, the cool city I pictured in my post becomes a marvel of engineering complete with flying machines and all...

just a thought

-Christosterone

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
I think when people explore the right site for Atlantis, they will know it. When technology is uncovered that has absolutely no sane explanation which can reconcile with accepted history, they'll know they're in the right spot. Just don't push any red buttons to see what they do. Some if it may very well still work.

For that reason, and I believe the above to my core to be true, I don't think Atlantis exists among any area Man has yet seen or explored. We may be looking right at it....but it's under ice or under water by sheer logic of the fact we haven't found what I mention above and what is logical to discover. I'm betting it's submerged in the Atlantic..somewhere. Time will tell though.

Good post...star for you!!!

Also, I tend towards Antarctica harboring SOMETHING!!!
What it is, I dont know...maybe the Ruskies will find something at lake Vostok...

And, btw, I am TOTALLY with you on not pushing any red buttons....lol

-Chris

Like I said in my earlier post that was removed I believe Atlantis is/ was in Atlanta, Georgia
and Lemuria falls between the Coast of Japan and California
In 18th/ 17th century dictionaries Lemurians were defined as the "third root race of blacks"
-that is my two cents

reply to post by Hanslune

Inventive theory. The main obstacle to this idea of Tenochtitlan as Atlantis, not dismissing all the objections noted above, is that the Aztec capital wasn't built until 1325 AD.

I shouldve said it my post that because of that fact, it is possible the Olmecs/Aztecs/Inca (or whoever they may have been defined by at the time) possibly built this site based on a long held tradition of building cities in this fashion...

Perhaps it was a defensively advantageous style that their culture adopted...much like the forts on a hill in England, Scotland, and Ireland...

Just a thought.

Star for you...

-Chris

Originally posted by Christosterone

Howdy Christosterone

Well good theory except that...

Heck, in those days a simple exchange of tobacco for lebanese pine couldve taken place between Egyptians and Olmecs and as the story spread, Atlantis (Meso-America) became more and more sensationalized as the strory got retold...

Olmec naval technology probably consisted of single log canoes at that time. Could a Phoenician or other old world ship make it to Meso-America and back in that time frame? Its possible but not probable, one can speculate on it but the lack of evidence makes it unprovable....perhaps in time we might find some evidence to suggest such a voyage...

reply to post by Christosterone


Of course there is always the possibility that Tenochtitlan was built based upon Atlantean designs. Say we took Plato's account literally and it was in the Atlantic ocean, I suppose a group of people who would later become the Aztecs could have had exposure to the Atlantean culture, and adopted some of their aspects.

Still love Santorini, but as long as we're playing with possibilities, sounds like a good hypothetical to me.

I doubt it, a lot of south america is not even totally done with the stone age yet. I just don't think even at the height of the south american civilizations that plato would be impressed with anything they had to offer.