The myth of Atlantis, from Plato’s “Timaeus” and “Critias” to the hypotheses of Azores and Sardinia

The existence ofisland of Atlantis (in Greek Ἀτλαντὶς) is one of myths most fascinating and well-known among those that have come down to us from classical antiquity. It was first mentioned in the 4th century BC within two philosophical dialoguesThe Timaeus and the Critias Of Platoin which the Greek author describes the characteristics and history of alegendary islandadministered with wisdom by its sovereigns. Afterwards, the search for power and conquests would have pushed her to go to war against Athensby which she was defeated. The Atlanteans were then punished by Poseidon with the destruction el’sinking of their land. Atlantis was almost certainly invented as narrative device by Plato to advocate his philosophical theses and his ethical and political positionsbut starting from Renaissance many intellectuals began to wonder whether the legendary island of Atlantis could have actually existed or not. From that moment the theories more disparate than the location of the island, come on Caribbean at the Sardiniagive it Azores to Crete.

The story of Plato’s Atlantis myth

Although the myth of Atlantis seems to be lost in the mists of time, the first person to talk about it was the Athenian philosopher Plato (428/427-348/347 BC), in two of his most famous dialogues, Timaeus And Critiaswritten in the middle of 4th century BC Before Plato, there is no trace of this story’s existence within the complex Greek mythology, attested in written form at least from the 8th-7th century. BC The Athenian philosopher described Atlantis as an island prosperouslocated beyond the “Pillars of Hercules“large and rich, administered by ten kings extremely devoted to Poseidongod of the sea. Over time, Atlantis’ expansionist aims grew, and approximately 9,000 years before Plato’s time the island found itself in conflict with the Athenians. To punish the Atlanteans of their arrogancethe gods did sink the island in the sea during a cataclysm lasting one day and one night.

In all likelihood, Atlantis is pure literary invention of Plato, functional to describe a ideal place in which the author’s political ideas and civic morals had been put into practice with positive results, but then degenerated. This degeneration it would have been a ploy to describe what he saw in the Athens of his time. The precise geographical reconstruction of the island made in the dialogues, in this sense, is almost certainly pure literary fictiondesigned for entertain the public, creating a realistic and fascinating landscape.

The fact that Atlantis did not exist but was solely the fruit of Plato’s literary genius, it was already clear to most of the authors of antiquity subsequent ones. As much as some of these they believed to the actual existence of the island, it is a small minority. Also supporters of the existence of Atlantis in antiquity they are authors who lived a few centuries after Platowhich in all likelihood did not fully grasp the philosophical and political meaning of Timaeus and of Critias. To testify that the majority of authors after Plato did not actually believe in the myth of Atlantis, there was already in ancient times a proliferation of parodic literary worksinspired by Plato’s dialogues.

During the Middle Agesthe story of Atlantis fell in forgottento come back into fashion starting from Renaissance European, this time as a possible historical reality, generating the series of misunderstandings who would see the island as really existing and not as a literary device. The historical event that mainly influenced the perception of the myth of Atlantis at the time was the “discovery” of America. Let’s find out why.

Where is Atlantis located? The main hypotheses

In his dialogues, Plato describes Atlantis as an island located in the ocean beyond Pillars of Herculestraditionally identified as the Strait of Gibraltar. The next one discovery beyond the ocean of a continent and of populations unknown thus laid the foundations for the identification of Atlantis or how a vanished island in the middle of the Atlantic or how a territory of the same American continent.

The 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were great explorations and the possibility that Atlantis could have truly existed stimulated the curiosity of scientists, geographers and explorers. Contact with the advanced native civilizations ofCentral and South Americahow Maya, Aztecs And Incaled some Europeans to believe that those peoples could be the descendants of the Atlanteans, presupposing a relationship between European and American populations well before the discovery of the New Continent. Of course this is not supported by no evidence, neither historical, nor archaeological nor anthropological.

Another theory, much influenced byarcheologysees the myth of the apogee and destruction of Atlantis as a reflection of the memory that the Greeks had of the ancient Aegean civilizations of the Bronze Age who had preceded them, like that one Minoan of Crete and that Mycenaean on the Hellenic Peninsula. At the end of the Bronze Age (approximately 1400-1200 BC), these two civilizations reached a level of progress, wealth And social complexity which would be reached again in the Mediterranean world only several centuries later.

The sudden end of these two cultures, in the context of what is called “Bronze Age collapse“, due to a combination of economic, environmental and social causes, has been identified as the grain of truth in the story of the fall of Atlantis. Particularly fascinating in this regard is the destruction of the Minoan settlement on the island of Santoriniaround the 1600 BCdue to a very violent eruption which changed the geomorphological structure of the island, an element that closely recalls Plato’s story.

The generic location inAtlantic prompted some supporters of the historical existence of Atlantis to identify the lost island with some archipelagos currently existing in the ocean. Theories have been put forward that it was once in the area of Bahamas or even some Canaries. Even the archipelago of Azoresbelonging to Portugalhas been the subject of a theory that would identify it with the lost Atlantis.

Starting from the second half of the 19th centurysome supporters of the historical veracity of the legendary island, starting from the alleged assumption that Atlantis was located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, saw in the Azores islands the remains of the lost island. In fact, the Azores are islands of volcanic origin, which in their shapes can recall something of the mountains emerging from the sea. Due to their geomorphological peculiarities, the islands of the Portuguese archipelago have been interpreted as the mountain peaks found on Atlantis before it was swallowed by the ocean. Geologists have shown that the Azores, like many volcanic islands, instead they emerged from the searather than having been submerged.

Theories about Atlantis in Sardinia

A rather well-known theory would see the Sardinia like ancient Atlantis. The main promoter of the theory is the journalist Sergio Frauone of the best-known supporters of various fantasy archaeological theories linked to Sardinia. According to the supporters of the Sardinian theory, the Pillars of Hercules that Plato intended should not be identified with the Strait of Gibraltar, but with channel of Sicilyor the strait between the island and the Tunisia. In this way Sardinia would find itself in the position mentioned by the Greek philosopher. The advanced civilization that inhabited Atlantis would therefore have been that nuragic of the Bronze Age. However, the alleged traces of the tsunami that would have led to the end of the Sardinian-Atlantean civilization have been widely denied by scientists.