by Bluebird

Created on: August 31, 2009

Atlantis was a legendary island with a highly advanced civilization whose very existence is questionable after its supposed disappearance into the depths of the sea due to the wrath of the sea god Poseidon or a natural calamity, one does not know.

The first we hear of this fabled city is from Plato. He suggested that 9000 years before his time, there existed an island of magnificence ruled by mighty kings who held sway over Atlantis and many other islands.

Plato put forward that Atlantis was located due west of 'The Pillars of Hercules', now known as the Straits of Gibraltar. He described the island as larger than Libya and Asia together.

It was Poseidon, the sea god who discovered the island and acknowledged the civilization blooming there as one of the most beautiful and intelligent that he had ever seen. He came upon a hill at the very center of the island where he met a gorgeous maiden named Cleito with whom he fathered ten sons. The island thus was divided into ten sections. Each to be ruled by a son. The eldest was named Atlas and it was in his honor that the island was named Atlantis and the surrounding ocean the Atlantic Ocean.

Poseidon who was of a suspicious nature did not place his trust even on Cleito. Thus, he isolated her from the rest of the island by digging moats around the hill, which was her abode. Thus it came to be known as The Hill of Cleito. Around the hill was built a magnificent city, a marvel of architecture and engineering. Upon the Hill of Cleito was built a temple for Poseidon with all the splendor of gold and gems depicting the God riding his chariot driven by six winged horses.

Thus the city prospered until finally it seemed that Poseidon's own nature was passed on to its inhabitants and slowly and swiftly they turned to greed, jealousy and violence and sought to conquer the world. Finally, when they attempted to invade Athens the wrath of the gods was turned on them and the city of Atlantis sank to the depths of the sea in a single day and night of misfortune.

Ignatius Donnelly, an American politician suggested that civilization itself began with Atlantis and eventually spread outwards. He believed that the Atlantians taught the Egyptians and Mayans to build pyramids and the Greeks to construct Atlantes.

Researchers have tried in vain to find remnants of the island in the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover the ocean bed is covered with sediments which take years to accumulate. This further disproves Plato's theory.

Another interesting observation was made by K.T. Frost, who suggested that Atlantis lies to the east of the Pillars of Hercules, not west and that Atlantis sank 900 years before Plato's time, not 9000.

Frost suggested that Atlantis was the island of Crete where the Minoan empire flourished. The description of Atlantis appears similar to that of Crete, which coincidentally was destroyed by a tsunami. The powerful Minoan empire vanished without a trace and in its place stood a frail Crete unable to provide proof of the magnificence it once harbored.

Personally, I believe that Frost has uncovered the truth about the lost city of Atlantis.

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