 | ||||||
| ||||||
A historical golden city or a mythical tale?
The Tale of Atlantis, a lost city of ancient times is a story that has captured the imagination of every person throughout time, since it was first written about in ancient greece. The incredible riches, the superior intelligence and natural beauty of the island weighed against its eventual destruction has struck a chord with the imagination of people all over the world.
A 17th Century depiction of Atlantis. (1)
The primary evidence fo Atlantis is written in Plato's books Critias and Timaeus, written around 355BC. In his works, he describes a wonderful land, full of riches and knowledge. However, Plato's work has a number of critics. Aristotle, for one, believed that Plato had made Atlantis up, and that it therefore had never existed. This view has also been echoed all around the world from people claiming it to be a tale of the Minoan civilisation of Cr
Plato's description of the Atlantean metropolis:
Below is a translation of Plato's descripion of the lost city of Atlantis, taken from his works 'Timaeus' and 'Critias'. The first extract from his work below details the layout of the land in and around this huge city, and gives an impression of the vast wealth and heritage amongst the people themselves.
'At the centre of the island, near the sea, was a plain, said to be the most beautiful and fertile of all plains, and near the middle of this plain about fifty stades inland a hill of no great size... There were two rings of land and three of sea, like cartwheels, with the island at their centre and equidistant from each other... in the centre was a shrine sacred to Poseidon and Cleito, surrounded by a golden wall through which entry was fobidden...
There was a temple to Poseidon himself, a stade in length, three hundred feet wide, and proportionate in height, though somewhat outlandish in appearance. The outside of it was covered all over in silver, except for the figures on the pediment which were covered with gold... Round the temple were statues of all the original ten kings and their wives, and many others dedicated by kings and private persons belonging to the city and its dominions...'
As well as the huge architectual knowledge the Atlanteans seemed to possess, they also seem to be increadibly advanced in terms of social structure and order, as well as having access to some superb natural resources.
'Two springs, hot and cold, provided an unlimited supply of water for appropriate purposes, remarkable for its agreeable quality and excellence; and this they made available by surrounding it with suitable buildings and plantations, leading some of it into basins in the open air and some of it into covered hot baths for winter use.
Here seperate accommodation was provided for royalty and commoners, and, again, for women, for horses, and for other beasts of burden... The outflow they led into the grove of Poseidon, which (because of the goodness of the soil) was full of trees of marvellous beauty and height, and also channelled it to the outer ring-islands by aquaducts at the bridges.
On each of these ring islands they had built many temples for different gods, and many gardens and areas for exercise, some for men and some for horses... Finally, there were dockyards full of triremes and their equipment, all in good shape...'
'Beyond the three outer harbours there was a wall, beginning at the sea and running right round in a circle, at a uniform distance of fifty stades from the largest ring and harbour and returning in on itself at the mouth of the canal to the sea. This wall was densely built up all round with houses and the canal and the large harbour were crowded with vast numbers of merchant ships from all quarters, from which rose a constant din of shouting and noise day and night.' etc.
The Lost City of Atlantis
A large, still book is a piece of quietness, succulent and nourishing in a noisy world, which I approach and imbibe with "a sort of greedy enjoyment," as Marcel Proust said of those rooms of his old home whose air
was "saturated with the bouquet of silence."
~Holbrook Jackson
The popular Fiesta Ware line of dishes sold well in the 1930s, except for the orange-colored sets. The reason? The paint used on the orange Fiesta Ware was known to be radioactive.
