AtlantisFact or Fiction?

Robbie Kollar

The Wrath of Poseidon

What exactly was Atlantis?

History of AtlantisAtlantis was a city that

is said to have been engulfed by the ocean as the result of an earthquake.

The first accounts of Atlantis appear in Timaeus and Critias, two books by Plato.

Plato

History of AtlantisAtlantis was explained to be in the shape of a bullseye. Alternating rings of land were separated by water.

Where exactly was Atlantis?

Background of AtlantisAtlantis was said to have been in the Atlantic Ocean.

Background of AtlantisIf you look at a map, you will see that the continents fit together like a puzzle - with the exception of the USA (in North America) and Western Europe.  Could Atlantis be the missing piece? 

Background of Atlantis

Atlantis was also said to have been in the Atlantic Ocean by the Bermuda triangle.

More Background of Atlantis

Some claim that Atlantis was found in the Aegean Sea and was part of the historical destruction of Thera and the Minoan empire.

Santorini

More Background of Atlantis

Finally, Atlantis could have been near the Azores Islands which are just west of the Straight of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar

Theories about Atlantis

Science Fiction Theories

In April of 1939, Edgar Cayce was thought to have fallen into a trance and spoke about Atlantis.

Atlantis was thought to have been in the Atlas Mountains of modern Morocco and Tunisia.

Atlantis is said to have been the true “Garden of Eden”.

Atlantis is said to have been located around the tips of the Canary Islands.

Edgar Cayce

Scientific Explanation• The Canary Islands have a legend

involving Atalaya.• The Basques of Northern Spain have

Atlaintica.  • The Vikings told the tale of Atli.• Northern Africans called their legends

Attala.• The Aztecs have Aztlán• North American Indians called their

legend Azatlán.

Scientific Explanation

Atlantis has many possibilities of where it could be located. However, there is no scientific evidence strong enough to prove that Atlantis has existed.

Pillars were found on the ocean floors, but are these pillars natural or man-made? Is it possible that they could be part of Atlantis?

Could Atlantis have been sunk by a great ice age?

Your Reasoned Judgment

Atlantis could not have existed. There is absolutely no evidence that proves that Atlantis existed.

Although there is no concrete evidence that says Atlantis could not have existed, there are several reasons as to why Atlantis could not have existed.

Reasoned Judgment cont. First of all, there are many stories

about Atlantis that place it at many different locations around the globe, taking credibility from the myth.

Usually in stories about legendary places, even through different cultures, all the stories put the legendary places in roughly the same location.

Most natural disasters have been recorded. If something happened to Atlantis, it would have been recorded or someone would have at least kept track.

Reasoned Judgment cont. It would be very hard for a whole

continent to sink into the ocean or to just disappear. If a continent as small as Australia can’t sink, I think it would be very hard for something as big as Atlantis to sink. If something like

Hawaii hasn’t sunk, why would something as big as Atlantis sink so quickly?

Going even smaller, if Haiti didn’t sink with all the earthquakes, why would something as big as Atlantis sink with the same amount of earthquakes?

Reasoned Judgment cont. The answer is simple: islands are

only mountain-tops surrounded by water. An island might crumble into the ocean, but not “sink” into it. If it did disappear due to an earthquake, the base of the island/mountain would still be under the surface of the water.

Works-Cited“Atlantis: The Wrath of Poseidon” Beyond Entertainment, 1998. March 2011.

http://search.discoveryeducation.com/.

“Bermuda Triangle” Destination 360, 2011. March 2011. http://www.destination360.com/caribbean/bermuda/bermuda-triangle.

“Cyclades” Wikipedia, 2011. March 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclades.

“Edgar Cayce” Wikipedia, 2011. March 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce.

“Plato” Wikipedia, 2011. February, 1011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato.

“Volcanic History of Hawaii” Pacific Disaster Center, 20011. March 2011. http://www.pdc.org/iweb/volcano_history.jsp.