We all have heard thousands of fables passed on from generations. Many fables have morals, good virtues, and societal values; many leave us puzzled, flabbergasted. One such fable is about a place called Atlantis.
Atlantis – the lost island is quite a deliberating topic thousands of YouTube videos, magazines, tabloids, articles have been written about questioning its existence.
Earth is approximately 4.543 billion years old. We have discovered the existence of prehistoric civilizations like the dinosaurs, ancient extinct animals, ice-age, or recent Mohen Jo Daro. But Atlantis is one of the few mysteries of the world which is yet to be solved.
The story was first mentioned by Plato in his works of “Timaeus’’ and ‘’Critias.’’ Plato mentions that Atlantis existed 9,000 years ago and the founders of the land were half-god and half-human. The island was a utopian society consisting of honest citizens. It was a major financial hub as it contained gold, silver, and other precious metals. Along with finance, the land was technologically well equipped, almost ahead of its time. But soon, it turned into an unscrupulous town with corruption, greediness spiraling over people. As they gained more and more wealth, they forgot the gods and went on the path of dishonesty. This angered the gods, so one night, they punished Atlantis with earthquakes and fire, and the island got sunk into the sea.
The Fable has left people confused, and many such questions arise in their minds:
Was there a real Atlantis?
Was it actually cursed by gods?
Did it get swept under the sea?
Why is there no evidence about it?
As per the legend, Atlantis is still beneath the sea. We have discovered space more than we have the ocean, and we have no picture of what lives deep down the ocean, whether it’s a monster or an actual island. No one knows. But scientists and professors have done their suitable research on Atlantis.
Professor Ken Feder mentions in his book Encyclopaedia of Dubious Archaeology, “Atlantis is not a place to be honored or emulated at all. Atlantis is not the perfect society…Quite the contrary, Atlantis is the embodiment of a materially wealthy, technologically advanced and militarily powerful nation that has become corrupted by its wealth, sophistication, and might.”
Many people believe that Atlantis was a hoax as there are no records of it and disprove the argument. Many “Atlantis Hunters” believe that truth is hiding behind the curtain of myths and have tried to locate Atlantis on the map by multiple attempts, but no definite place has been found. Yet people place Atlantis on places like – Atlantic Ocean, Antarctica, Bolivia, Turkey, Germany, Malta, Mediterranean, Caribbean, and some have even gone as far as placing it on the Bermuda Triangle. This spree had begun because Plato had teased the place of Atlantis in one of his writing, “For the ocean, there was at that time navigable, for in the front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, the pillars of Hercules’ there lay an island which was longer than Libya and Asia together.
Robert Ballard, an ocean explorer, noted that there are ‘no Nobel laureates’ which confirm that Atlantis existed but, he also mentions that it is logical since cataclysmic floods and volcanic eruptions have happened throughout history.
He mentioned that it was a high chance that Plato created the story to convey a message of his philosophical theories. His ideas for much of his writings include human nature, ideal society, morals, etc. Many believe that Plato invented Atlantis to illustrate the dangers of imperialism. One very likely chance of the theory includes that it is entirely made up to convey the message to the masses and generations that greediness and obsession with money and materialistic things will lead to the destruction of self and society.
Now the question is how many people believe in this tale. A survey conducted in 2018 of paranormal beliefs by Chapman University found out that 56.9% of Americans agree that “Ancient Civilization like Atlantis existed.’’
The crazy theories will not click a pause until the Lost is Found.
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