Comments on: The Atlantis Legend

By: Richard Welch

Richard Welch — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:59:21 +0000

The Thera theory of Atlantis is weak because the Minoans were thriving on Crete for several decades after that eruption. There is no evidence for any significant damage to Crete beyond a probable tsunami which might have briefly damaged a couple ports on the north coast. Plato is quite specific about the locale of Atlantis: a ways beyond Gibralter and facing the region of Gades (Cadiz). It was, in fact, a supervolcanic island off Portugal that exploded and sank in the 17th century BC. (See Roots of Catalysm, Algora Publ.NY 2009.)

By: Greekgeek

Greekgeek — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 18:34:03 +0000

Absolutely! I was trying to keep my post brief, but there's so much one could say. I knew about the Caphtor/Crete connection -- maybe the Keftiu in Egyptian inscriptions -- but had not realized Caphtor means wreath. Very interesting! Re the Poseidon connection: According to Vermeule's Greece in the Bronze Age, Poseidon's name is about the most common in Linear B inscriptions (p. 293). In fact Plato describes the Atlantians as having a bull-ritual in which they hunted the bulls with "nooses and staves" but equipment more appropriate for a rodeo-type ritual than a typical sacrifice. Also, Plato's emphasis on the elaborate plumbing and baths sounds very much like Minoan architecture, which included passive solar heat (dark-painted roof cisterns). Personally I think the case for Thera/Crete = Atlantis is nailed shut, but there have been so many esoteric cults and beliefs about Plato's Atlantis -- I'm sure not all of them are convinced. So many have taken the myth and run with it in the last few centuries -- even someone pretending to be Schliemann's grandson who claimed to have sealed documents from Schliemann about his discovery of Atlantis, which was an Atlantic continent. For me, at least, Thera is as sacred as Delphi, Delos and Eleusis, and I wasn't just being a casual tourist when I walked from the ruins down to the ocean to bathe on the last afternoon before flying back to the States. I was wearing my Minoan snake-goddess necklace. I'll have to track down that documentary you saw, since I've only got those two books I mentioned, which are outdated, and must otherwise hunt for more reliable web pages!

By: mahud

mahud — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:14:05 +0000

Thanks for the post! Atlantis never really features in most books on Greek mythology, I guess because, Plato is the only source, and it’s not considered traditional enough, but it certainly contains many mythical elements, and is certainly awe inspiring.

I often see it as a Golden Age myth that through moral corruption was destroyed, much like the pre-flood world in Genesis.

I’m familiar with much of what you’ve written, regarding the Island of Thera, mostly through watching a documentary a few years ago. It’s likely that the destruction of the island, became part of the Atlantis myth. Also, didn’t the Atlantians worship the Bull Poseidon? Which certainly corresponds with the cult of the bull in Crete.

Another thing I thought I’d mention is the Philistines of Old Testament, who seem to have had some contact with the Cretans, judging by their pottery. In the Old Testament they are said to come from a place called Caphtor (Amos 9:7), which was identified with Crete, although, according to one translation the word Caphtor means ‘wreath-shaped’, which makes me think they they were the inhabitants of Thera. Anyway, it’s little more that a guess, but an interesting one