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[ Fiction || Exaggeration || Fact ]

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The prevailing theories about Atlantis are:

• It's Fiction
• It's an exaggeration based on the fall of the Minoan civilization and the destruction of the island Thera
• It was Real

Below you'll find a brief summary of each of the theories as well as key points either for or against the theory. Although many people in each camp consider the case closed there is no definitive proof for any theory. In the case of the "It's Fiction" theory it is essentially impossible to definitively prove that it was fiction.

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Fiction

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This is the easiest answer - Atlantis is fiction. It was made up to suit the purposes of Plato's dialogues.

For

• Nothing to prove. Timaeus and Critias are simply stories.

Against

• It is stated several times within the dialogues that the story is true
• Parts about the impassable sea and the true continent on the other side of Atlantis tend to indicate a more detailed knowledge that a fictional story

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Thera & The Minoan Civilization

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There are some compelling similarites between the destruction of Thera and the destruction of Atlantis.....

For

• The island of Thera, a volcanic island, was destroyed around 1500 BC by an explosion which caused more than half of the island to sink into the sea.
• Artifacts found on the island indicate a sophisticated culture, probably part of the Minoan Civilization.
• There is evidence pointing to trade between the Minoans and Egyptians. The Egyptians would certainly have been aware of the destruction or at least the tremedous damage done to one of their trading partners.
• We'll examine this possibility in more detail in upcoming issues of Enigma.

Against

• Proponents of this theory claim that Plato's date of 9000 years ago should really have been 900 years ago: somewhere along the line either Solon or Plato made a mistake. If the story was 900 years ago it would place Atlantis in the time frame of the Minoan civilization on Crete and Thera. Conveniently overlooked in this thinking is that in Timaeus the priest tells Solon that ancient Athens and Atlantis preceeded Egypt by a thousand years. Egypt however existed and was known to have existed since long before 1500 BC, the time of Crete and Thera. The times just don't add up unless you assume the Egyptian priest was ignorant of his own recorded history.

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It Existed

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For

• Plato says it's a true story.
• We'll examine this possibility in more detail in upcoming issues of Enigma.

Against

• There are no other records of such a civlization existing.
• Current archaeological evidence does not support the premise that such sophisticated civilizations existed around 9000 BC anywhere in the world.

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