Atlantis Destroyed (Hardcover)

His basic argument is that Plato took a number of what he calls "pieces of identifiable proto-history" and wove them together into a contemporary commentary on the world. Castleden suggests that the basis of this is a faint memory of Minoan civilization. He points out what is often forgotten by those who take the Atlantis story literally, that for Plato it is Athens that is written about as a utopia, not Atlantis, Athens that is the "excellent land with well-tempered seasons."

He illuminates several puzzles that have misled many people, eg. Plato's comments about the Pillars of Hercules. This is often assumed to refer to the modern day features by that name, but in ancient Greece the term could have other meanings, eg it could refer to the two southward-pointing headlands on each side of the Gulf of Laconia. Thus the large island outside the pillars of Heracles would be Crete.

Castleden follows this with a very detailed discussion of the archaeology and geography of Minoan Crete and Thera and how that compares with Plato's tale. He goes into detail about how the story might have been transmitted to Plato and Plato's possible motives in writing the two essays. (He also mentions that there was a century older text by Hellanicus, of which only a small fragment survives, called 'Atlantis'!).

He suggests that the size of 'Atlantis' was distorted by a misreading of either Linear A or B numerals or hieratic or demotic copies made by Egyptian scribes sometime since the fifteenth century, multiplying dimensions by ten so that the Plain of Mesara, which would fit into Crete, became the size of the southern Aegean and Atlantis thus became too large to be in the Mediterranean. A similar problem changed the 900 years between the eruption of Thera and Solon's visit to Egypt to 9000 years. If this is the case it becomes much easier to reconcile the relatively accurate description Plato gives of bronze age Athens with the story of Atlantis (something usually ignored by those who take the Atlantis part of Plato's story literally).

What he is not arguing is that either Minoan Crete or Cyladic Thera was Atlantis. He is suggesting that instead Plato drew his story of Atlantis from proto-historical elements about both civilizations. He also suggests that Plato draws from Syracuse (eg the fortifications of Syracuse) and Sparta for both physical descriptions and some of his political commentary, writing circumspectly so as to avoid Socrates fate.

He provides a wealth of archaeological evidence and the book is generously sprinkled with sketches and photographs. He even goes into detailed points such as the fact that Santorini (destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption) has red, white and black rocks matching Plato's description of the building materials used in Atlantis.

Atlantis Destroyed is a must read for anyone interested in the possible historical background to the Atlantis story.

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