A Huge Atlantic Island

Plato, the greek philosopher, was our first information source on Atlantis. Here is a summary of what he said in The Timee:

"We could sail on Atlantic Ocean in those times; because, facing the strait that you Greeks call  'the Herakles' columns',Greek name of Staights of Gibraltar; Hercule's Columns in latin. streched an island more huge than  LibyaAfrica and AsiaMiddle-East together; from there, travellers could reach the other islands, and then the whole continent that surrounds the ocean on the other side.Undoubtedly America. See Ainsi périt l'Atlantide There strechted a real ocean, and the land surrounding it can really be called continent." Doesn't it look like an island close to America? Should we suppose that European sailors have always known this continent?

"Besides, on Atlantis Island, was a confederacy of kings, enormous and  wonderful power,See La science atlante that had a great importance on the island and on many others, as on some parts of the continent; moreover, from the lands inside the strait, they reigned over Lybia and until Egypt, and over Europe until Toscane." (source)Platon, le Timée. Voir la citation complète en cliquant ici In a few books, Plato spoke about Atlantis, whose name came from the Titan Atlas,To see Atlas' Achievement, click on + below son of the Sky and the Earth, and brother of the Time.See The Reign of Cronos

In The Timee, Plato related how Athenians had challenged Atlantis' troops. And in another book, The Critias, he described the huge Atlantis, its port, its palace and its laws. Fascinating story. Unfortunately, the book's end is missing. Nobody knows if Plato let the book unfinished, or if its end has been lost afterwards. Hellenists are certain that Plato invented Atlantis, but philosophers doubt it: it was not Plato's habit.

 … Called Atlantis or Amenta

Besides, he is not the only one speaking of Atlantis: this lost continent haunted the ancient egyptians' memory, who called it AmentaQuoted by Albert Slosman. See La grande hypothèse and located it far to the west. For some authors, Plato is more precise. This island, as large as a continent, took up the whole central area of Atlantic Ocean. Its emerged summits must be Madere, the Canaries, the Açores and the Bermudes.See Bermudas Triangle Other authors make it smaller, and nearer to American coast. In the former place of Atlantis, the Sargasso Sea probably formed after the island's engulfment. 

Bermuda Islands are a better possible location. As if a continent had existed in the middle of Atlantic Ocean, situe,As showed on the upper map sea beds would have kept a mark of it. But the centre of this ocean is taken by an oceanic ridge,Click on + below a submarine range whose emerging summits are the Açores, and other isles like Island. Coming from volcanoes, the ridges are a key part of tectonic plates. These forming mountains cover the bottom of every ocean. Geologically, it is impossible for any oceanic ridge to half-open.

So it was impossible for the Atlantic Ridge to open enough to swallow a whole continent. So where is Atlantis?Eager to know? See L'Atlantide retrouvée 

 The Most Unlikely Theories

Instead of doubting Plato's words,See Ainsi périt l'Atlantide shall we understand the point - or points - where our interpretations leave his text. Either we consider all he said as the truth, in this case must we follow all his indications; or we consider this description as a fable, and it stops here. But many authors thought Plato was right. This great philosopher has a firm reputation of rigour and honesty. Anyway, on the topic of the lost continent's location, the most unlikely theories have been proposed for centuries.

The very last one located the engulfed continent very close to Gibraltar strait, what Plato called Herakles' columns. It is the thesis of the french geologist, Jacques Collina-Girard, who discovered a high sea bed, off Calais, just at the mouth of Gibraltar strait. To him, this high sea bed was uncovered before the waters' rise, at the end of the last ice age. It would have formed an island, 10 miles long and 3 miles wide. Too small! And too close to Herakles' columns. Nice try! But we need another try.

No problem. From Dogger Bank in North Sea to China Sea, from Mexico's gulf to Easter Island, every location was proposed for Atlantis. Pierre Benoit imagined it engulfed under the sands of Sahara. René Barjavel located it under ices of South Pole.See Quatre pas dans l'avenir Jules Verne and Edgar P. Jacobs saw it in the sea beds, inside a huge subterranean cave.That evokes the mysterious undergroud kigdom of Agartha Everyone wants to propose his own location, because the myth of a glorious civilizationLisez Mondes disparus is so strong.

Atlantis is not lost,See L'Atlantide revient it is lying somewhere in our collective unconsciousSee Les annales akashiques where it seems to reign for ever. Maybe because it happened more than once? What would explain the spread remains we found under the seas, the ices and the sands: Santorin, Dogger Bank, Atlas, Antarctic,See Quatre pas dans l'avenir Yoruba Country,See L'empire en miettes Takla-Makan,See Cristal de Taks Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean…Voir Mystérieuse Mù We can't say that Atlantis cannot be found. It's the opposite: it is present in the bottom of every ocean. Might it be a part of a worldwide civilization?