Dive Into Absurdity: Atlantis

Fact Or Fiction?

C. N. Vujanovic

WE ALL KNOW IT SOMEHOW. Whether it be through Aqua Man, Doctor Who or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea we all know the legend of Atlantis.

That grand civilisation that supposedly flourished thousands of years before the great pyramids. Yet it was wiped out in a great catastrophe. 

But how do we know about Atlantis?

Well we could go ask an atlantologists, or we could go to atlantipedia.com. Point being, there are an endless supply of theories as to where, what, and why Atlantis was.

But our only source we have for Atlantis comes from Plato, an ancient philosopher who, if you give me long enough, I will happily rattle on about for hours. 

Now the thing about Plato is that throughout his stories he includes imaginative stories used to help convey a message or theme. They are clearly made up, in fact the use of allegory or parable was commonplace to convey philosophical ideas. He realised that if you want to be famous, having the best argument is not enough. You need stories. They go viral.

So Atlantis was a made up story to convey a philosophical idea? Nope. 

Of all of his allegories he insists that Atlantis existed. Moreover, it is the only allegory that appears in more than one of his works.

He explains it like this: that his great, great, great, great, great uncle Solon (the famous lawgiver of Athens) was told it by the Egyptians and it was passed down through the generations.

Unfortunately, this is where we are left at a dead end. No more evidence. Not even hints as to where it was.

Most serious historians today deny its existence claiming it is just a fable. 

So did Atlantis exist? We will probably never know, but the answer is most probably no.