We must have heard about the civilization of the ancient city called Altlantis. Yes, the name Atlantis has indeed become a legend of the marine world which is still mysterious to this day.
The continent of Atlantis is touted as a civilization in the past that already had a fairly advanced life and achieved glory. However, then it disappeared because it sank at the bottom of the sea and the mystery has not been revealed until now.
Atlantis is also called Atlantis or Atlantica, which comes from Ancient Greek. This term was first mentioned by Plato (427-347 BC), the famous ancient Greek philosopher, in his two books entitled Timaeus and Critias. Both are thought to have been written around 347 BC (BC). This is the first reference that alludes to the existence of Atlantis which is now a mystery in the marine world.
The Origins of Atlantis
According to Plato in the book of Timaeus, Atlantis was a civilization or a large empire that lived contemporaneously with Athena.
The kingdom of Atlantis, wrote Plato, in the form of a very wide archipelago and is located in the middle of the ocean. Plato also mentions that Atlantis was at the peak of its glory and was planning to attack Athens before the disaster occurred.
A huge earthquake and flood suddenly hit the Atlantis Archipelago. It didn't take long, in just a day and a night, Plato said, the natural disaster destroyed the all-powerful Atlantean civilization.
As a result, the Atlantis Archipelago sank to the bottom of the ocean and did not appear again. “The great nation which surpassed high civilization vanished overnight,” wrote Plato in the Timaeus.
The story of Atlantis is also mentioned in another of Plato's books, namely Critias. This time, the description of the glory of the Atlantean civilization is written quite clearly. Plato tells that Atlantis was a kingdom in the tropics with moderate temperatures. The area is very wide with the shape of an enormous landmass.
The initiator of the founding of the civilization of Atlantis, as narrated by Plato, was Poseidon. Greek mythology believed that Poseidon was the god of the waters, the god who oversaw the seas, rivers, and lakes. Poseidon has a very wide area of power which is then divided among his 10 children from his marriage to Cleito.
Well, Poseidon and Cleito's eldest son, Atlas, got the part which later became the territory of the Atlantis Archipelago.
The name Atlantis is thought to be taken from the name Atlas, the founder and ruler of the Kingdom of Atlantis. Therefore, Atlantis is often known as the Island of Atlas in honor of Atlas, the son of Poseidon.
Under the reign of Atlas, the Kingdom of Atlantis had a very large territory. The extent of the territory of the Kingdom of Atlantis is said to be much larger than Ancient Libya and Asia Minor combined.
Atlantis Competitors Athena
Land in Atlantis is very fertile and beautiful so as to make the country prosperous and wealthy. In addition to having many water sources which are the main keys to life and the various types of flora and fauna that live in them, the territory controlled by Atlantis is also very rich in agricultural products.
Such as gold, precious stones, and other minerals and mining materials which are the main requirements for a so-called advanced civilization.
In addition, said Plato, the civilization of the people who inhabited the territory of the Kingdom of Atlantis was also very advanced. They mastered many aspects needed in building a civilization, such as shipping, trade, mining, irrigation, and others.
In fact, Plato added, the lives of the people of Atlantis also made progress in the fields of culture and art. The people of the Kingdom of Atlantis have a variety of stunning cultural riches, such as dances, theater, music, sports, and so on.
In the Critias it is also discussed that the civilization of Atlantis was the toughest competitor for Athena, even Atlantis was said to be much bigger than Athena. In fact, Athens, which was the capital of Ancient Greece, is often referred to as one of the most advanced civilizations of its time.
Athens became the economic, cultural and political center of Greece. Not only that, Athens is even believed to be the embryo of the advancement of Western civilization because it has a looming and lasting level of progress until now.
Plato in Critias also mentions, the Atlanteans were a very large group of people in terms of numbers and very strong. They managed to control almost all of Europe, and even then succeeded in conquering the nations in the Middle East (Libya) to North Africa (Egypt).
The superiority achieved by the Atlantean Empire seemed to disturb Athens, which was also one of the advanced civilizations in Europe at that time. These two civilizations are also involved in polemics and are getting ready to fight in a big war.
However, this great war never happened because Atlantis was destroyed first after being hit by a terrible earthquake and flood. The great civilization called Atlantis was destroyed and became a legend of the marine world which is still an interesting research object for researchers to this day.
Atlantis, Myth Or Fact?
Many consider the existence of Atlantis to be just a myth and Plato's description of Atlantis in his two works is nothing but the bogus or imagination of the philosopher. However, not a few scientists actually judge that Atlantis really exists and is still stored on the seabed to this day.
When the civilization of the modern world moved, quite a lot of experts were interested in uncovering the mystery of the existence of Atlantis. Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, Edward Herbert Thompson, Augustus Le Plongeon, Ignatius L. Donnelly, Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, Edgar Cayce, J. Manson Valentine, Heinrich Himmler, Julius Evola, Alfred Rosenberg, Arysio Santos , and many more scientists who are interested in investigating Atlantis.
In fact, research on Atlantis is still ongoing today, as was done by a geologist from Brazil, Roberto Ventura Santos, and a researcher from Indonesia, Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, who are also interested in uncovering the mystery of Atlantis.
Danny Hilman Natawidjaja is a researcher from the Geotechnology Research Center of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and a graduate from the California Institute of Technology.
One of the objects of study about Atlantis that researchers are most interested in is uncovering where the actual location of the Atlantean civilization is. With various research results that have been carried out by each researcher in various periods of time, there have appeared quite a number of places that are thought to be the location where Atlantis used to stand, including Indonesia.
Yes, the archipelago in the past was believed by some scientists to be the place where Atlantis was founded. However, apart from Indonesia, it turns out that there are still many places that are "championed" as the location for the founding of Atlantis.
Call it Andalusia (Spain), Crete, Santorini, Turkey, Cyprus, Malta region, Middle East, Sardinia, Troy, Antarctica, Azores Islands, Australia, Black Sea, Bahamas and Caribbean, Ireland, Bolivia, England, Cape Verde, Canary Islands , Denmark, Finland, Isla de la Juventud which is near Cuba, Mexico, the North Sea, Portugal and Sweden.
Although quite a lot of places are believed to be the location of Atlantis, until now there has been no research result that is really strong enough to prove it. Atlantis is still between myth and fact.
However, despite the existing debates and controversies, that Atlantis has become a legend of the marine world that is still mysterious, it has always been an attraction for researchers who want to uncover it.