Many believe that Santorini once was
Atlantis. But why ?
Atlantis - the story about a prosperous land that disappeared
without trace, sunk into the sea by the anger of gods - has
been one of the oldest myths of mankind. Atlantis stands for one of mankind's
oldest dreams and myths, the one of the lost paradise. In similar versions it occurs
in many civilizations. The
classical Atlantis story, however, the one where the name Atlantis is
used, is the one told by the
Ancient Greek philosopher Plato in two of his dialogues, Kritias and Timaeus.
In Plato's version it is not a objective report of events, but rather a moral
tale that uses the story of - true or invented - events in the background. As a
consequence, when it comes to interpreting the story as a report, it is not
ambiguous. One of the most debated questions has always been the location of the
place Plato might have referred to.
Now, Atlantis has been assigned to almost every possible place
on earth (even Antarctica...) which proofs that there are virtually
no limits for the human fantasy. Everyone favors 'his' Atlantis.
Very few people, however, seem to know the actual sources of the
legend and discern physically and geologically possible facts
from pure fiction. It is obvious that fiction sometimes can be more stimulating
and fascinating than perhaps reality.
As can be imagined, the discussion about Atlantis is extremely
vivid and far from ending. It has brought forth innumerable
books, films, web-pages, articles, but most of them of highly
speculative or esoteric character. Some people even believe that
the inhabitants of Atlantis were extraterraneans...Whatever and
wherever Atlantis was, if such a place really once existed, we
probably will never know for sure. However, there are a number of clues to be
found in Plato's story that make many people believe that the destructive Minoan
eruption on Santorini is the most likely candidate for being the historic fact
behind the story.
The legend and
the written sources
The antique sources from the ancient world that seem to be
connected with the Atlantis myth are mostly from Egypt and
Crete (listed in Luce, 1969). A
serious investigation of the myth should rely on them, but they are few and not always very
clear. The texts where the Name Atlantis
itself occurs came to us by Plato (427-347 BC). He
tells us in his dialogues Kritias and Timaios in great detail the story of a
high-standing, flourishing civilization with divine origins that
lived on an island or a small continent outside the columns of
Hercules (mostly interpreted as the Straits of Gibraltar). The
race of the Atlantians was strong and healthy, had all the virtues and lived in peace as long
the portion of their divine nature still was strong. But with time it
faded and was more and more diluted. "When the human nature
got the upper hand" (Plato, Critias 121b), they became sinful and invaded
by crimes. As a consequence, they were bound to loose their paradise. Towards
the outer world, they started to fight wars and subjected other races to their
cruel power. Only the Athenians, by virtue of their own military and moral power,
were able to stop and defeat Atlantis from subduing the world. By then, the Gods'
anger against Atlantis was so strong, that they destroyed it in a single
day and night, by earthquakes, and sunk it into
the sea, leaving only a mass of mud behind.
As to the support the authenticy of his account,
Plato - through the words of Kritias - sustains that he used an old Egyptian
report that he had obtained from his grandfather, who had got it from a friend who
in turn got it from the Great Solon who lived around
640-560 BC. Solon was told the story during one of his
travels by Egyptian priests at Sais, but also got a copy of it with written in
old Egyptian, that he later translated.
To come back to the story, the most relevant passages are cited
as follows:
Extracts from Plato's dialogues Kritias
and Timaios:
(Plato: Kritias, 108e)
"Let me begin by observing first of all, that nine
thousand was the
sum of years which had elapsed since
the war which was said to have taken
place between those who dwelt outside
the Pillars of Heracles and all who dwelt within them; this war I
am going to describe. Of the combatants on
the one side, the city of Athens was reported to have
been the leader and to have
fought out the war; the combatants on the other side were
commanded by the kings of
Atlantis, which, as was saying, was an
island greater in extent
than Libya and Asia, and when
afterwards sunk by an earthquake, became an impassable
barrier of mud to voyagers sailing from
hence to any part of the
ocean."
(113e ff) "And Poseidon, receiving for his lot the
island of Atlantis, begat children by a
mortal woman, and settled them
in a part of the island, which I will describe. Looking towards the sea, but in
the centre of the whole island, there was a plain which is said to have
been the fairest of all plains and very fertile. Near the plain again, and also
in the centre of the island at a
distance of
about fifty stadia, there was a mountain
not very high on any side.
In this mountain there dwelt one of the earth born
primeval men of that country,
whose name was Evenor, and he had a wife named Leucippe, and they had an only daughter who was
called Cleito. The maiden had already reached
womanhood, when her father and mother died; Poseidon fell
in love with her and had
intercourse with her, and breaking the ground, inclosed the hill in which she dwelt all round,
making alternate zones of sea and land larger and smaller,
encircling one another; there were two of land and three of water, which he
turned as with a lathe, each having its circumference equidistant every way from the
centre, so that no man could get to the island, for ships and voyages
were not as yet. He himself, being a god, found no difficulty in making special
arrangements for the centre island, bringing
up two springs of water from beneath the earth, one of
warm water and the other of
cold, and making every variety of food to spring up
abundantly from the soil. He
also begat and brought up five pairs of twin male
children; and dividing the
island of Atlantis into ten portions, he gave to the
first-born of the eldest pair
his mother's dwelling and the surrounding allotment, which was the largest and best, and
made him king over the rest; the others he made princes, and gave them rule
over many men, and a large territory. And
he named them all; the eldest, who was the first king, he
named Atlas, and after him the
whole island and the ocean were called Atlantic."
(translated by Benjamin Jowett, MIT archives, online-version)
(Plato: Timaios, 25a-d)
"Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your
state in our histories. But
one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and valour.
For these histories tell of a
mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of Europe
and Asia, and to which your city put an end. This power came forth out of
the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and
there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you
called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was larger than Libya and Asia put
together, and was the way to other islands, and from these you might pass
to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean;
for this sea which is within the Straits of Heracles is only a harbour, having a
narrow entrance, but that other is a
real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly
called a boundless continent. Now
in this island of Atlantis there was a great and
wonderful empire
which had rule over the whole island and several others,
and over parts of the
continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had
subjected the parts of Libya
within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. This
vast power, gathered into one, endeavoured to subdue at a blow our country and
yours and the whole of the region within the straits; and then, Solon, your
country shone forth, in the excellence of
her virtue and strength, among all mankind. She was
pre-eminent in courage and
military skill, and was the leader of the Hellenes. And
when the rest fell off from
her, being compelled to stand alone, after having
undergone the very extremity
of danger, she defeated and triumphed over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who
were not yet subjugated, and generously liberated all the rest of us who dwell
within the pillars. But afterwards there occurred violent
earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your
warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in
like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the
sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of
mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island."
(translated by Benjamin Jowett, MIT archives, online-version)
Look
here for entries (text passages by Plato, Loeb edition
translation, and Plutarch and other entries) referring to Atlantis from the Perseus Project
classical resources database !
The reception
of Plato's Atlantis through history
Even though Plato himself sustains the thruth of his story,
already short time after he had published it, Atlantis was
interpreted by some as an educational legend invented by Solon
and /or Plato in order to glorify the virtue of the Athenians and
to illustrate their philosophical ideas. Aristotle (384-322 BC),
as inferred from two passages in Strabo (Geographica II, 102 and
XIII, 598) was among the first major critics. On the other hand,
there were also sustainors of Platon's theory, as Plutarch (Solon
32.1-2), Proclus (410-485 AD, 76.1-10), Strabo (67 BC- 23 AD,
Geographica II.3.6-7), Posidonius (135-51 BC), Ammianus
Marcellinus (330-400 AD) who tell that the legend was regarded a
historic fact in Alexandria (from Friedrich, 1994). One thing is
very clear: invented or not, the major purpose of Platon's
dialogues was not to tell a historic story or a fascinating
science fiction, but to educate people and glorify Athens and its
virtues. In this, the decadence of Atlantis from its divine
origins and its prosperity to decadence and total destruction
acts as both as a counterpoint to Athens and as a warning. It is
also important to note, that the connection between gods, humans
and nature is always present and naturally embedded in Plato's
and the Ancient world. So to say, there are several levels within
Plato's story: the Ancient world where gods and humans are
connected and natural phenomena, especially if exceptionally
powerful, are acts of gods, the educational and moral aspects of
the tale, and finally, the story in terms of actual or fictional
events. Today, we tend to see only this last aspect, but for
Plato it was surely the least important one. This makes it even
more difficult to judge whether Plato was telling pure fiction,
pure reality or a mixture of both. Most likely, the latter is
true. The story is rich in details, some of which seem invented
and some appear surprisingly real. It is very improbable, in
fact, that he based his story on nothing, and it is also
unlikely, that he had such a detailed report (the translation of
the old Egyptian report). Even if he had, it is natural to
assume, that he modified it according to the purposes of his
tale, which as has been said, certainly were not the telling of
facts.
So, it is fair to assume, that there is a historic core of
Plato's legend. Until this point, most people agree. But then...
The name
Most people think that the name 'Atlantis' is
derived from the Atlantic Ocean (and therefore put it
automatically somewhere into the Atlantic Ocean), but this
reflects just our modern geographic view-point. Both the ocean's
and the island's name are derived from the mythical giant Atlas,
who held the sky upon his shoulders. Later, as Greek geographical
knowledge grew, it gave also name to the high Moroccean mountain
range. To locate Atlantis by using its name is not
possible.
Could Santorini
have been Atlantis?
Many serious investigators think that the source of the legend is
actually the Minoan eruption of Santorini.
Why? There are some fairly convincing arguments:
1. Plato tells about a circular island with concentric
structures. Santorini today does have an impressive concentric
geographic setting and had it also before the Minoan eruption.
This has come out as a result of detailed geologic studies during
the past 20 years, see the chapter of the reconstruction of the
ring-shaped pre-Minoan island with a
central shield. Furthermore Heiken and McCoy (1990) indicated
that the famous picture in the West House from the Akrotiri
excavations most likely represents a relatively naturalistic
portrait of Thera. It shows an inhabited and flowering island
landscape and the departing Therean fleet, and actually some
concentric water-land ring structures are visible, too.
2. Plato writes that Atlantis was situated in the ocean,
beyond the "Pillars of Hercules". The "Pillars of
Hercules" were at Platon's time the Straigts of Gibraltar
and this would put Atlantis into the Atlantic Ocean. Further,
Plato tells that Atlantis was bigger than Libya and Asia
together. If one believes Plato literally, Atlantis was then
outside of the Mediterranean region. But it is also possible that
Solon or Plato either were misinterpreting their old sources or
that Plato put it willingly far beyond the Greek-influenced
world..
- The first possibility could be explained by the fact that the
original text was much older and the Pillars of Hercules had not
necessarily always been associated with the Straigts of
Gibraltar; it could very well have meant a place within the
Aegean Sea. The association of pillars could even be an allusion
to the giant eruption cloud from the Minoan eruption (almost 40
km high) that undoubtedly was visible in the whole Eastern
Mediterranean and virtually reached the sky. How could such a
sight be forgotten? Then, there is the connection to the mythical
titan Atlas who held the sky upon the shoulders. The idea is
temptating.
- Putting Atlantis and its civilisation far away from the ancient
world would also suit Plato's intention of providing a antitheses
to the Greek society and its values that he defends. This is
clearly Plato's major purpose in his account. - The same is
true for Plato's words, "bigger than Libya and Asia
together". Also it has been interpreted that Plato or
someone before him in the chain of the oral or written tradition
of the report accidentially changed the very similar Greek words
for "bigger than" ("meson") and
"between" ("mezon"). If this was the case,
Atlantis could be identical with Santorin (Luce,
1969). Besides, it is geologically not possible that a large
continent could disappear in a dramatic event, i.e. in a very
short time span. There is nowhere on earth such evidence.
3. Galanopoulos and Bacon (1969) argue
that the date for the destruction of Atlantis Plato gives as 9000
years before his time should be read as 900
years and that there was an erroneous translation by Solon from
the old Egyptian number system. Plato lived ca. 300 BC and
Solon's journey to Egypt had taken place about 300 years earlier.
Adding the figures, the Atlantis event should have taken place
around 1500 BC, in good agreement to the recent datings of the
Minoa eruption 1640BC. It is also imaginable, that 900 years
looked not far enough in time for Platon (or Solon etc.). Putting
it far into the past adds weight to the historic self-conception
of the Athenians. Also, as far as Archeologists know (and they
know a lot about the past of Athens...), there is no trace of a
highly advanced Athenian culture at around 9000BC. From our
knowledge's point of view, 9000 years must be wrong, or invented.
Almost certainly.
4. The exiting archaeological findings on Thera (near
Akrotiri) clearly demonstrate that before the Minoan eruption there was a
developed, rich, and probably oligarchic marine community whose
flourishing economy was provided by intensive trade, shipping,
and probably vine, too, - like at present (Doumas, 1983). We
do not know what happened to these people. So far, no human body
has been found killed by the eruption. It seems that they had
been warned in time to evacuate the island. That means even if
Platos completely invented the story, it is still true. Something
like he describes has happened on Santorini 1640BC.
An event of that size must have had enormous impressions on the
people living at that time. It is difficult to imagine that the
eruption, which was much bigger than the 79 AD Vesuvius eruption,
was completely forgotten in history. But strangely, no
unambiguous sources seem to refer directly to the event. On the
other hand, there are several ancient myths and hints that could
allude to it including the plagues reported in the bible, but the
most evident one, the one that fits best to the event is Plato's
Atlantis legend.
5. Probably, there were no close eyewitnesses of the eruption
that could survive and give a direct report. What the ancient
people experienced, must have been terrifying. If one compares
the Minoan with the much smaller 79AD Vesuvius and the 1883
Krakatau eruptions one gets an idea of the circumstances of the
eruption. The 30-40 km high eruption cloud was seen from hundreds
of km and the thundering noise from the explosions must have been
heard in almost the whole known world. Ash and pumice was falling
throughout the Easter Mediterranean and lasted for several days
or weeks (see Figure). East of
Santorini, the sky could have been completely dark for hours or
days. Probably, tsunamis were generated (like in the Krakatau
eruption) and likely devastated the coasts of Crete and other
surrounding islands. On a global scale, even the climate might
have changed for some years, causing colder weather and failed
crops.
It is a matter of speculation how long it took until the first
curious visitors arrived again by ship and visited Thera.
Considering the possible destructive effects of the eruption and
the fact that the sea due to rafting pumice must have been
innavigatable for months (as was the case for the much
smaller historic 726AD eruption of Palea Kameni), at least some
time (years, decades ?) could have passed before a human being
first saw the changed island. Was among these people somebody who
knew the island before the eruption? Would he or she have
recognised it? Probably not. When Vesuvius erupted in 1631,
some villages were completely buried beneath ash, and people
could not find their houses and fields any more. Santorini
erupted 3000 years earlier and 100 times stronger.
Thera itself would have presented to these people a picture of
complete destruction and profound change and there would have
been visible no trace at all of what existed before, everything
being covered with white and unstable masses of ash subject to
frequent landslides and other forms of erosion. Furthermore, the
shape of the island was largely changed. Some steep slopes had
been smoothed and new coastal plains created by the ash flows,
the isolated rock of Monolithos, previously a small island, had
been integrated. Most striking of all, parts of the former
ring-shaped island had subsided and disappeared during caldera
collapse. Probably it was not a very pleasant and inviting sight.
That explains that no traces of resettlement occur on the island
for many hundreds years after the eruption.
Probably the first people who repopulated the island centuries
later were the Phoenicians. A new part of history began then;
antique legends refer to Thera, then also called 'Callisti' (gr.
= the most beautiful one) as a present by the God Triton to the
the Argonauts, as for example reported by Pindar (4th Pyth. Ode,
Verse 10).
6. Some details of Platon's story are clearly describing
volcanic phenomena. Such are the colours Platos describes of
being typical of the rocks of Atlantis: black (lava), white
(pumice and ash) and red (lava). These are the colours of
Santorini. The warm and cold springs are typical of volcanic
places and still found on Santorini today. Most obvious, the way
the gods, i.e. nature for us, destroyed Atlantis: by earthquake,
fire and lightning. Lightning is always accomanying huge eruption
columns and probably the most impressive sign of a terrible event
if observed from far. From close rage, nobody could have
survived. Another hint is the mentioned mud that remained at the
site of Atlantis. It is enough to translate mud with the enormous
masses of pumice and ash from the eruption that floated on the
sea.
Conclusion:
Is Atlantis identical with Santorini? Maybe that
is the wrong question. Probably at no time there was a place
whose name was written ''Atlantis'' on some map...But the theory
that the volcanic desaster of Santorini is the source behind
Plato's story of Atlantis is quite supported, in my opinion more
than any other theory. Details will remain unclear. For example,
some people associate Crete with Atlantis rather than Santorini.
This is not opposite to the Santorini theory. Santorini and Crete
shared a culture, that dissappeared on Crete about 100 years
later than the eruption. Likely, the impacts of the eruption were
enormous for the whole region and might have weakened the power
of the Minoans on Crete, so that they could not survive for more
than 100 years longer. Also, Crete would fit better to some
aspects of Atlantis as described by Plato. Actually it is not
very clear from Plato's writings, whether the descibed Metropolis
and the larger mainlad of Atlantis are the same geographic place.
So, maybe, the mainland was Crete and the Metropolis with its
concentric structure of land and sea could have been Santorini.
But going further this point, we are stepping into fiction
ourselves.
REFERENCES:
- Friedrich, W.L.
(1994) Feuer im Meer. Spektrum
Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin Oxford, 256 p.
- Galanopoulos, A:G: and Bacon, E.
(1969) "Atlantis. The Truth behind the
Legend." Nelson, London
- Luce, J.V. (1969) "The
End of Atlantis - New Light on an Old Legend." Thames
and Hudson, London, 224 p.
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