THE MYTH OF ATLANTIS | Daily News

THE MYTH OF ATLANTIS

Zeus
Zeus

According to legend, the Olympian Gods and Goddesses held sovereignty over the earth and divided the land among each other. Poseidon, Greek God of the Sea, took control of the Island of Atlantis. He was satisfied with it. According to legend, he fell in love with a woman who lived on the island named Cleito. They were married and had five sets of twins together, all sons. The oldest son, Atlas, was given dominion over all the island. In addition to being king of the island, he was also named King of the sea.

Poseidon’s love for Cleito was so great that he built a great city for her. He carved the mountain where she lived into a great palace and placed three moats around it – each moat larger than the last. The moats were approximately one to three stadia wide and were separated by rings of land that were just as expansive. Bridges were constructed leading into the island and tunnels were carved into the moats to allow the passage of boats in and out of the main city. Each moat was heavily guarded to ensure the protection of Cleito and her sons.

The island was a paradise. It was almost like the Garden of Eden that the bible talks about. Life was easy and full of joy. Food was plentiful. The land was also rich in precious metals like gold and silver. All the peoples’ needs were taken care of. However, we are told that greed corrupted the hearts of the Atlanteans. Interestingly, the bible speaks of the Nephilim who were supernatural beings, specifically the offspring of human women and “sons of God” who appear significantly in the Book of Genesis (Chapter 6).

In the story of Atlantis, we are told that the gods intermarried with the humans on the island. Soon the Atlanteans began to hunger for power. Country after country began to fall to the power of the Atlanteans. Athens was the one force that was able to defeat the superior Atlanteans. Zeus was angered by the actions of the Atlanteans and their attempts to conquer lands far beyond their own. Because of this, he sent a series of earthquakes so great that Atlantis sank into the ocean in the course of one day and one night.

Plato’s Critias says he heard the story of Atlantis from his grandfather, who had heard it from the Athenian Statesman Solon (300 years before Plato’s time), who had learned it from an Egyptian priest, who said it had happened 9,000 years before that. Plato supposedly quotes Solon, who is said to have traveled to Egypt between 590 BC and 580 BC. While there, he supposedly came across the Egyptian records of Atlantis and translated them. It was through these records that he discovered the story of Atlantis. This story was supposedly passed on from Solon and eventually Critias became aware of the legend. It is Critias’ character who narrates the story of Atlantis in Plato’s dialogues.

Paul Wagner, wrote an article – “Has the City of Atlantis Been Discovered in the Eye of the Sahara?”. In it, he has mentioned the following passage, attributing it to Plato’s Timaeus/Critias

“There were a great number of elephants in the island, and there was provision for animals of every kind, both for those who live in lakes and marshes and rivers, and also for those who live in the mountains and on the plains, and therefore for the animal which is the largest and most voracious of them.”

 


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