Atlantis, A Lost Continent Essay Example For Students

Atlantis, A Lost Continent Essay Introduction. Atlantis was a continent of the Atlantic Ocean where, according to Plato, an advanced civilization developed some 11,600 years ago. Plato affirms that, as the result of a huge volcanic cataclysm of worldwide extent, this continent sunk away underseas, disappearing forever. Official Science the one you learn at school rejects the actual existence of Atlantis, as it has so far been unable to find any traces of its reality. But the reason for that is simple to explain. Everybody has been looking in the wrong locations, as Atlantis indeed lies in the opposite side of the world. So been told, of courseWat does the name Atlantis actualy means?The first thing to keep in mind is that mythical terms have a number of different etymologies, and are often interpretable in different languages, into which they were adapted when the myths were introduced locally. For instance, Atlas means, in Greek, the one who could not withstand. Atlas was known as the Pillar of Heaven, that is, its support. Wh en Atlas became overburdened, the skies fell down, burying Atlantis. The names of Atlas and Atlantis originally came from the Sanskrit, which is the Holy Language of India, name of their Hell called Atala. This word means Deprived of its Pillar or, conversely Bottomless or, rather, Sunken to the Bottom. Many further derivations are yet possible. Atlas is the personification of the Holy Mountain that is the support of heaven. He is the god that the Hindus equate with Shiva, also called Sthanu, meaning Pillar of Heaven in Sanskrit. The problem of Atlantis. BelieversActually most of the scientists, scholars and researchers who have been studying the problem of Atlantis build up a lot of theories that are quite different from each other. If we have to report a survey about the possible existence of Atlantis we can know that the 60% of scholars believe in Atlantis and the 40% of them point out the mid Atlantic as the reliable site of Atlantis itself. StudyDisbelieveUnfortunately the study and research of Atlantis is really difficult and ambiguous because a lot of authors put their own country as the place where old ruins of the ancient empire lie, by showing a useless nationalism, while esoteric fonts describe atlanteans as the first inhabitants of the world, who were firstly only souls and later become the principal race of the Earth. When someone tries to analyse the problem of Atlantis, he should ignore all these sources, because they are, reasonably, the origin of the scepticism towards Atlantis. How can people believe that atlanteans had psychological powers and destroyed themselves for more than two times? Best proof comes from non-believersWe cannot have proofs about these assertions, but, on the other hand, some none-believers constructed theories that are rather reliable and demonstrate the real existence of Atlantis. One of them, maybe the greatest, is Charles Berlitz, who wrote some books between 1969 and 1984 and believes in a flourishing Stone Age civilisation existed 12000 years ago. But the pioneer of modern studies about Atlantis is Ignatius Donnelly with the best seller Atlantis the antediluvian world, published in 1882. His theses are still the base of modern conjectures. Among the best authors of Atlantis are Berlitz, Lewis Spence, Donnelly, L. Sprague De Camp, Edgerton Sykes, Flem-Ath, Otto Muck and J.V. Luce. Their proposals are founded on scientific proofs and evidence and appeal subjects as geology, history, oceanography and mythology. All of them were non-believers, who saw the theorie as som ething scientific and later on, after serieus study, started to believe in this matter. What where they studying aboutWe have two different important questions about Atlantis: where was it? Which kind of culture and technology did it develop? Its really difficult giving an answer because we havent many documents about Atlantis: we dispose only of Platos dialogues Timaeum and Critias. Then we find some little references to Atlantis in ancient Greek literature, historical reports or poetry. At last the existence of a large continent in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean could be read in many ways and so Atlantis can become Antarctica or the American continent. Regarding the culture of Atlantis we know their customs from Plato but we could suppose there is more than what Plato wrote. But it is writing by Plato, and although he is old, he didnt life in the time Atlantis was supposed to excist. Horse Dealer's Daughter EssayInstead, recently in 1997, deep studies were done under Japan Sea because of a big stone construction that is aged 12000 years ago. This is certainly mans work and it is really big: it is not a pyramid but a squared palace that looks similar to a fort. So its interesting to notice that human civilisation could have begun thousands years before we believe. With these examples were putting archaeological and geological evidence of the possible existence of an unknown civilisation in the same time Atlantis would have existed. With this proof, many scientifists started to think that doing research toward Atlantis isnt a wast of time. Even if it didnt excistid, there could be possibility, there was something other, an other civilazation. DisbelieversMany scientists refuse to accept Atlantis because it could discredit their own theories. For example, some of them still believe that sea level is constant since millions and millions years ago: this is unaccepta ble because sand, canyons and complex mountains under sea prove those areas were not covered by water before. Egyptologists believe the Sphinx was built by Chefren because they found his statue near the Sphinxs temple, because the face of the great monument looks like his one (but was proved by specialised identifiers theyre different) and because Titmouse IV erected a obelisk in which declare that Chefren took off the sand that partially submerged the Sphinx. If Atlantis really existed the history should be rewritten and it frightens a lot of scientifists. Also teachers are scared of this fact. Check this out, if the excistince of Atlantis becomes proven. The hole theorie of the Bible, historicy changes, everything becomes different. We dont talk anymore about the first civilization in 4004 BC, no we start to talk about the first civilazation in 12000. Before the latest ice-time. Maybe, they even lived together with the dinosaurs, but that would get us too far. The lost of librarysIn ancient documents and literature we find only Plato mentions explicitly Atlantis while a lot of material was irremediably lost: for example, the great library of Alexandria was burnt and so for Syracuse s one. Especially in Alexandrias library were kept thousand and thousand books that were continuously read by the wisest people of the time (Tolomaeum, Plato, Solonis etc.). In that library all Egyptians knowledge was saved and it would have contained some information on Atlantis, since Egyptians are the first civilisation after hypothetical end of Atlantis. Other writers, preceding or succeeding Plato, seem to refer to Atlantis indirectly and they often allude to a great island that were submerged in the ocean. Then, for centuries, during mediaeval age the subject was left apart and the name of Atlantis came back during 1500 and 1600. During Last two centuries small researches in all the world were made to discover Atlantis ruins, especially after Donnelly s be st seller, but results are still poor and some clues were found accidentally (Bimini wall, for example). Gladstone, English prime minister, after reading Donnellys book, tried to arrange an expedition for finding Atlantis, but no one wanted to risk such a research. Doctor Ewing studied Atlantic Ocean for 13 years, but he never found anything and eventually concluded Atlantis never existed. However, by analysing Platos description on Atlantis we can try to get out the truth about Atlantis. Again, this is a great way, to keep the legend alive, al the evidence is lost. Words/ Pages : 1,940 / 24