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As a young boy I decided to discover Atlantis. I deduced that it must be under water but not too deep. So I just searched for the shallowest place of the Medite

As a young boy I decided to discover Atlantis. I deduced that it must be under water but not too deep. So I just searched for the shallowest place of the Mediterranean and declared it Atlantis. Despite this early breakthrough no further discoveries have been made.

Amezarak 3y ago
Interestingly, Plato claims that the waters beyond the Pillars of Heracles are very shallow and full of mud shoals because of the sinking of Atlantis. I’ve always thought this a puzzling detail, since a) it certainly isn’t shallow now and b) it would have been well-known at the time whether it was shallow or not, since the Greeks were well-established in that area, so Plato could have been easily refuted in his own time…unless it really was shallow, and that’s changed in the time since due to some geological process we’re unaware of.
- rsynnott 3y ago
  > since the Greeks were well-established in that area Wait, were they? I thought they never really made it much past the southeastern coast of Spain, the west being full of Phoenicians.
  - Amezarak 3y ago
    “Well-established” may be too strong wording, but Greek sailors and traders were certainly familiar, and people generally were familiar with Gades and other settlements. I am not sure if there really was a Greek colony as well at the time of Plato in the Portus Menestheus, although the Greeks believed they had founded one there after the Trojan War. There’s also Greek stories and lesser familiarity as well at some point with Tartessos (another possible Atlantis.)
  - jcranmer 3y ago
    I'm not sure of the chronology of ancient Greek writers, but Greek geography was largely aware of the Atlantic coast from roughly the English Channel to around Guinea.
  - ffgjgf1 3y ago
    Pytheas, born about 2 years before Plato’s death did sail to Northern Europe and possibly even reached the arctic circle. It’s not at all inconceivable that other Greeks might have reached Britain before him.
- johngladtj 3y ago
  There are places that could classify as shallow ie: cape bojador
- tremon 3y ago
  Such very shallow waters and mud shoals do exist on the north side of Europe, following the flooding of Doggerland (around 6000 BC). Those waters are "beyond" the Pillars of Heracles if you circumnavigate the entire Iberian coastline. It's likely that tales of this region could have made it to Greece, but I don't think many Greeks had seen it themselves.
- ffgjgf1 3y ago
  > it would have been well-known at the time whether it was shallow or not, since the Greeks were well-established in that area I’m not sure that’s true. Or rather the Greek civilization was so widely dispersed that whatever Plato heard might have been second or third hand information. His audience probably wouldn’t be bothered that much by it either, I don’t think there is any evidence that Athen merchant ships commonly sailed there.

Amezarak 3y ago

Interestingly, Plato claims that the waters beyond the Pillars of Heracles are very shallow and full of mud shoals because of the sinking of Atlantis. I’ve always thought this a puzzling detail, since a) it certainly isn’t shallow now and b) it would have been well-known at the time whether it was shallow or not, since the Greeks were well-established in that area, so Plato could have been easily refuted in his own time…unless it really was shallow, and that’s changed in the time since due to some geological process we’re unaware of.

rsynnott 3y ago
> since the Greeks were well-established in that area Wait, were they? I thought they never really made it much past the southeastern coast of Spain, the west being full of Phoenicians.
- Amezarak 3y ago
  “Well-established” may be too strong wording, but Greek sailors and traders were certainly familiar, and people generally were familiar with Gades and other settlements. I am not sure if there really was a Greek colony as well at the time of Plato in the Portus Menestheus, although the Greeks believed they had founded one there after the Trojan War. There’s also Greek stories and lesser familiarity as well at some point with Tartessos (another possible Atlantis.)
- jcranmer 3y ago
  I'm not sure of the chronology of ancient Greek writers, but Greek geography was largely aware of the Atlantic coast from roughly the English Channel to around Guinea.
- ffgjgf1 3y ago
  Pytheas, born about 2 years before Plato’s death did sail to Northern Europe and possibly even reached the arctic circle. It’s not at all inconceivable that other Greeks might have reached Britain before him.
johngladtj 3y ago
There are places that could classify as shallow ie: cape bojador
tremon 3y ago
Such very shallow waters and mud shoals do exist on the north side of Europe, following the flooding of Doggerland (around 6000 BC). Those waters are "beyond" the Pillars of Heracles if you circumnavigate the entire Iberian coastline. It's likely that tales of this region could have made it to Greece, but I don't think many Greeks had seen it themselves.
ffgjgf1 3y ago
> it would have been well-known at the time whether it was shallow or not, since the Greeks were well-established in that area I’m not sure that’s true. Or rather the Greek civilization was so widely dispersed that whatever Plato heard might have been second or third hand information. His audience probably wouldn’t be bothered that much by it either, I don’t think there is any evidence that Athen merchant ships commonly sailed there.