Word Count: 833 ATLANTISWhere is it?Atlantis was an ancient civilization which was destroyed in one massive explosion. Many people have searched for Atlantis but it has still not been found. According to Plato, a Greek philosopher, Atlantis was located in the Atlantic Ocean past the pillars of Hercules, the Strait of Gibraltar. Plato has been credited with many scientific discoveries, but Atlantiss existence is still unproved. Plato, one of the fathers of western thought, is out sole direct source for the legend of Atlantis. His fragmentary account of the continent that was swallowed up by the sea still excited the modern mind. (Readers Digest)The story of Atlantis began about 11,000 years ago. Atlantis was the dwelling of Poseidon, the sea god in Greek mythology. Poseidon fell in love with a mortal woman, Cleito. He built an island, Atlantis, and he constructed a elaborate house in the center of the island. Poseidon built rings of land and water surrounding his house with walls on either side of them. Poseidon and Cleito had five sets of twin boys who would become the rulers of the island. Once the boys were old enough to rule each was given a section of the island to rule. Atlantis had a huge plain and very high mountains. Many exotic animals and plants inhabited the island. As the story goes the highly advanced inhabitants slowly became corrupt. The gods called a meeting and discussed what should be done. They decided to destroy the island to punish the Atlanteans. In one massive explosion beautiful Atlantis was gone.
Atlantis has been mentioned in hundreds of readings, but none give the exact location of the destroyed island if it really once existed. Even though the Atlanteans were advanced in technology they lost contact with their religion (Edgar Cayce)surrounding countries. Even though Atlantis was destroyed the survivors probably fled to nearby advance civilizations. Egypt did become one of the most advance civilizations in the World.
Plato gives a vivid description of what Atlantis looked like in his wrightings. There was a 300 foot wide, 100 foot deep canal on Atlantis. 5.5 miles from the ocean was where the rings of water and land were located. there were three sets of rings. Each of the land rings were surrounded by walls which were coated in precious metals. On the continent of Atlantis there was a huge plain 330 miles long and 110 miles wide. To the north of the plain there were very high mountains.
The search for Atlantis has been narrowed down to three places. First, the Azores Islands. These islands are located in the Atlantic Ocean and are roughly where Atlantis was supposedly located. These islands could be the tops of Atlantiss very high mountains, or they could just be a group of islands in the Atlantic. Time will tell. The only problem with this theory is that there is no evidence of a highly advanced civilization, on the island or under the sea. The second location is the Bimini Islands of the coast of Florida. These islands have huge roads of stone blocks they lead off into the ocean. These islands are close to the Bermuda Triangle, which is a source of countless mysteries. These islands could also be the tops of the mountains that were on Atlantis, or they could be the remnants of the continent itself. The third location is the Greek island of Thera. A highly advanced civilization lived on this island until its destruction, the survivors fled to neighboring countries and merged in with the other societies. On Thera there are many artifacts and buildings left, but much of the island is gone or sunken into the Mediterranean. Three fourths of the island was destroyed in the explosion destroying or sinking most of the islanders Thera is a volcanic island and was completely destroyed by and explosion about 900 years before Christ. There is one problem though, Plato stated that Atlantis existed 9000 years before Christ. Although Atlantis has still not been found the search continues. Many expensive high-tech devices are used in the search. Some of the tools are: remote operated submarines, radar equipped boats, and high tech mini-submarines driven by humans. Even with all of the technology Atlantis still remains a myth. It was not a poart of any ancient oral tradition. It was not a legend passed down, by word of mouth, from generation to generation, over the centuries. It was the work of one man, Plato. (Readers Digest)
