Under the Microscope: Most people have heard of the exotic island kingdom of Atlantis, proposed to have existed over 11,000 years ago and populated by a powerful, noble people. The people possessed great wealth thanks to the island's rich natural resources. They lived virtuous and simple lives for many generations, but slowly greed and power corrupted them. This angered the gods who caused violent earthquakes and floods to submerge the island under the sea 10,000 years ago, writes Prof William Reville.
This is the story told by Plato about 360 BC in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias. Ever since, many people, including scientists, have poured over Plato's account searching for clues as to whether Atlantis really existed and, if so, where it was and how it disappeared. This July, a French expedition led by Jacques Collina-Girard set out hoping to find evidence of the fabulous submerged civilisation just west of the Straits of Gibraltar.
Plato used a series of dialogues, arguments and debates between various characters to express his ideas. According to the dialogues, Poseidon, the God of the Sea, established a powerful empire on Atlantis. The capital city of Atlantis was a triumph of architecture, engineering and opulence. The city contained a concentric series of walls and canals. The buildings had walls covered with gold and the roofs sparkled with gems. The people were beautiful, tall, athletic and rich beyond compare. On top of a hill at the centre of the city stood a temple to Poseidon containing a gold statue of the god showing him driving six winged horses. Plato said that his story came from the 200-year-old records of the Greek ruler Solon who learned of Atlantis from an Egyptian priest.
The French expedition, named Deep Med One, is aimed for Spartel Island, a submerged mud shoal just west of the Straits of Gibraltar. They hope to find ruined buildings and prehistoric artefacts between 50 and 200 metres below the water surface. Deep Med One will use two-man submersibles equipped with lights, cameras and robot arms.
There have been many theories about the location of Atlantis. A popular theory has been that Atlantis was probably the Aegean Island of Thera, about 120km north of Crete, which was destroyed by volcanic eruptions in 1,470 BC. However, Collina-Girard points out that Plato located Atlantis near the Pillars of Hercules, which corresponds to the Straits of Gibraltar. Crete was home to the Minoan Civilisation, a great and peaceful culture that reigned as long ago as 2,200 BC. The volcanic eruption in 1,470 was estimated to have been greater than Krakatoa. The resulting earthquakes and tsunamis devastated the Minoan civilisation and Greek forces easily conquered the remains.
Collina-Girard draws heavily on scientific evidence of global climate change. When the last Ice Age ended about 11,000 years ago, meltwater flowed into the sea whose level rose by 130 metres, flooding many islands and mainland coastal regions. Contour maps reveal seven submerged islands in the Straits of Gibraltar and the largest of these, Spartel Island, matches the writings of Plato in 360 BC. The only jarring note is that Plato said Atlantis was "bigger than Libya and Asia together", whereas Spartel Island is only 14km by 5km. Also, I don't think Collina-Girard has read the book Atlantis - From a Geographer's Perspective, by Ulf Erlingsson (Lindorm Publishing 2004) which argues that Plato based the geographic description of Atlantis on Ireland!
Of course there is no shortage of exotic, bizarre explanations of the Atlantis story. The American psychic Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) claimed to be in communication with long-dead spirits. He identified many people, including himself, as reincarnated Atlanteans. He claimed Atlantis was located near the Bermuda island of Bimini. He said the Atlanteans possessed remarkable technologies, including powerful "fire-crystals", which they harnessed for energy. An accident in which the fire-crystals went out of control caused Atlantis to sink.
Cayce believed that the damaged fire-crystals are still active in the ocean depths, sending out energy fields that interfere with passing aircraft and ships. This explains the strange happenings in the Bermuda Triangle. Sounds reasonable to me!
In 1882, US Congressman Ignatius Donnelly wrote a popular book - Atlantis, The Antedeluvian World that inspired a widespread search for a mystical Atlantis. He thought that stories of ancient gods were muddled memories of real kings and queens of Atlantis. He believed that survivors of the Atlantis flood retained memories that later became the story of Noah's Ark and the flood.
It may well be that the story of Atlantis is fiction and was simply made up by Plato to suit his dialogues. However, it is stated several times within the dialogues that the story is true. On the other hand, there are currently no archaeological records that such a civilisation existed and little evidence that such sophisticated civilisations existed around 9,000 BC anywhere in the world.
Nevertheless, the story of the utopian society that thrived in Atlantis continues to fascinate, to underpin a publishing industry and to inspire archaeological expeditions.
William Reville is associate professor of
biochemistry and director of microscopy at University College Cork