The journey to Atlantis

PalmaPlato was the first to speak of the existence of the lost island of Atlantis in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, and he learned of the existence of Atlantis thanks to Critias, and Critias thanks to Solon, and Solon learned of it through priests and accounts and manuscripts of the early Egyptians.

According to Plato, it is a lost island that existed 9,000 years before the legislator Solon, which was geographically located in the Mediterranean, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar, as large as Libya and Asia combined.

In Timaeus, Plato praises the ancestors of the Athenians for being unsurpassed in virtue, wisdom, and justice, and social organization; above all, he highlights their excellence and courage in the art of war, which allowed them to achieve a great triumph against the Atlanteans and thus halt their military expansion towards Europe and Asia. Shortly after this great victory, in the interval of one day and one night, a violent earthquake followed by a persistent flood occurs, which in two days sinks the victors underground, and causes Atlantis and the Atlanteans to disappear under the sea water. Plato warns that the surface occupied by the now submerged island was unnavigable due to the mud residue that reached the surface.

In Critias, he confirms what he has already told us in Timaeus, that a great island civilization existed that threatened Athens, which was defeated by Greek warriors in a distant past. According to legend, the Atlanteans are descendants of the god Poseidon. The first Atlanteans were Evenor and his wife Leucippe, who lived in the center of the island on top of a hill in the middle of a great plain. They had a daughter, named Cleito. Her parents died when the young woman was just of marriageable age. Then, Poseidon desired her and possessed her. From their union were born five generations of twin brothers, among whom he divided the island. He gave the government, the maternal home, and the best lands to the firstborn, Atlas, and named him king of the others. From him derives the name of Atlantis and the Atlantic Ocean.

Division of the island

Poseidon completed the division of the island, which he had previously divided into ten parts, with his brothers and entrusted them with governing their region. They were called Gadir, Anferes, Evemo, Mneseu, Auctocton, Elasip, Mestor, Azaes, and Diaprepes. They adopted hereditary monarchy as their form of government. The oldest king ceded the throne to his firstborn son, and so on, from generation to generation. They came to govern other islands and inland regions. The island provided them with everything they needed; they were self-sufficient, and imports were surpluses that were added to local production. They had mining, extracted precious metals, wood from the forests, cultivated abundant food of all kinds, for themselves and for domestic animals. The rest of the animals found ample food everywhere, even the elephants, which eat the most.

And what was Atlantis like? According to the myth, the city was organized around the acropolis and the royal palace, which occupied the small hill where Clito had lived. The ancient city was like an island within the island, as it was surrounded by a series of concentric rings separated by navigable water channels, which had been created by Poseidon as a natural fortress. The Atlanteans took charge of connecting the different rings with bridges, and since the city was located at a certain distance from the sea, they also had to open a large canal to communicate directly with it. This canal was immense, 300 feet wide, 100 feet deep, and occupied an area of 50 stadia.

Along the canals, they built shipyards, docks, and quays. In addition, each ring of land had its own stone wall, lined with different metals: bronze, tin, and orichalcum. The wall surrounding the citadel was of orichalcum, the most precious metal, which "shone like fire." This configuration was very practical and allowed for the harmonization of residential, commercial, and defensive functions.

Initially, at the top of the hill was the residence of Clito, a small temple dedicated to Clito and Poseidon, and two springs, one of cold water and the other of hot water. On this hill the Atlantean kings built the acropolis, the political and religious center of the island, and their temples and palaces. The Atlanteans delimited the founding site with a gold enclosure and turned it into a sacred precinct, dedicated to Clito and Poseidon, in honor of the founders of the dynasty, with the original springs. This precinct occupied the center of the acropolis. Around it, the descendants went on to build the great temple of Poseidon, the royal palace, the gardens, and the rest of the city's buildings.

According to the myth, the temple of Poseidon was one stadium in length and 300 feet high. The outer walls were covered with silver and the domes with gold; the interior ceiling was ivory, mixed with gold, silver, and orichalcum. The floor, walls, and columns were also of orichalcum. The great interior nave was presided over by a statue of Poseidon standing on a chariot pulled by six winged horses, alongside a hundred Nereids, sea nymphs, riding on dolphins. There were also other statues, votive offerings from individuals. Outside, there was an open-air altar, gold statues of the first ten kings and their families, and votive offerings from kings and individuals, and beyond that, a sacred grove dedicated to Poseidon.

Plato does not spend much time describing the royal palace; he only tells us that its grandeur is matched by that of the temple of Poseidon, that the first kings made their residence next to the sacred precinct, and that successive kings expanded the palace with new dependencies. He probably does this because he wants to give more prominence to Poseidon and his temple. He also mentions the existence of gardens with trees of supernatural heights, public and private baths and fountains, many temples dedicated to many gods, gymnasiums, and an hippodrome.

We know that the population was distributed along the different outer rings and was grouped into districts, and that in case of war, it was regulated that each district should contribute a certain number of armed men, hoplites, archers, slingers, spearmen, cavalry, horses and chariots, and sailors.

The government

What does Plato tell us about the island's government? That the kings followed the laws established by Poseidon, which the first kings had engraved on an orichalcum column in the god's temple. Before issuing any verdict, the kings made a sacrificial offering to him, which consisted of capturing a bull, taking it to the altar, slaughtering it, filling a crater with wine and pouring a clot of the bull's blood into it for each of them, making libations beside the column of laws and drinking from the cups while swearing to keep them. The most important law prohibited attacking each other and obliged them to help each other if attacked. They were forbidden to kill any of their relatives unless they had the majority approval of the ten.

The Atlanteans lived in prosperity as long as they followed divine provisions, acted with prudence and virtue, and cultivated friendship. But when they lost their divine nature, they gave in to human character, avarice, pride, and lust for power, and Zeus wanted to punish them. Just as we are about to learn of the punishment, the dialogue is abruptly interrupted. The most plausible explanation is that Plato was very old and did not have time to finish it. However, we already know the end of the story. Plato had summarized it in the Timaeus, in which we know that the divine punishment was the sinking of Atlantis into the sea.

However, this journey into the past brings us back to the present of the Islands, reminding us that prosperity leads to a false sense of invulnerability, that abundance ends, and that tourist success expels residents. Surely the Islands will not disappear under the waters like Atlantis, but without sinking, they can still collapse and become uninhabitable.