Do you believe Atlantis was real, or do you think it was just a story that was made up and passed down throught the ages?

A myth, of course. Just like Bigfoot and God.

Some myths are more successful than others.

It was real…man.

I believe there is truth to it, i highly doubt the fact that it was called Atlantis. I believe there are a lot of records of different peoples throughout the lifetime of the Earth that we do not have records of. There very well could have been. And there is no way to say ya or nay. Because without records its all speculation.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

I’m swayed by the Thera/Minoan hypothesis, that the Atlantis story is a stylized version of the downfall of Minoan society at the hands of the massive volcanic eruption at Thera (modern day Santorini). The eruption created a tsunami that decimated coastal settlements and caused a crisis in Minoan areas and weakened their power in the Mediterranean. Once weakened, the once dominant power was easily conquered by Mycenaean Greeks (who were the Greeks of Homer’s tales).

The Atlantis story arose to explain what happened to the powerful and advanced society that wasn’t quite reflected in the Minoans that the Greeks conquered. They were the same people, of course, but the sea that gave them their advantage swallowed up that advantage as well.

I’m with PupnTaco, except for the God issue…

I’m in the middle of reading this book which says it was real along with another “lost city” called Mu or Lemuria (which existed in the Pacific—Atlantis -> Atlantic). Anyway, the author posits that Atlantis and Mu/Lemuria were destroyed by cataclysmic events including the flood that is referenced in Genesis (Noah and the Ark—that flood).

The way this makes sense is to view the biblical story of the flood (as well as other bible stories) as merely codified versions of much older stories. He does some comparative anthropology in his book and notes that many major/ancient civilizations have a story of a “golden age” followed by a cataclysm and a great flood, which he believes ties it all to an actual flood that occurred sometime prior to 13,000 BC, after which the waters subsided and civilizations began to (re)appear. According to the author, there is also geologic evidence to support the timing of this cataclysm (formation of the Azores, the Himalayas, etc.)

There’s a lot more to the book than just whether Atlantis existed, and it’s basically an exercise in decoding the bulk of human history through the lens of global conspiracy (think The Da Vinci Code), but the dynamics he describes are certainly plausible. He cites the technology required to build the world’s many ancient wonders (transferred from a lost civilization to civilizations on historical record) as one bit of evidence supporting the idea that an advanced civilization existed prior to what we commonly know as the earliest civilizations.

To address your point about having found it already with our modern equipment, the author would probably point to the “interdimensional” nature of existence and the idea that Atlantis and its constituents existed on a higher “astral” frequency than modern day humanity and perhaps were “brought down to earth” and human form following the flood. This would be incredibly far fetched, except for his laying down an earlier premise that what humans can perceive through the senses (i.e. the visible spectrum) represents only the tiniest sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum, which itself is only .005% of what is believed to exist in the universe. (The majority would be dark matter and light matter.)

o.k. kevbo now makes me wonder, time to find substantial info about it…

I also think that the dig at Akrotiri is the most likely candidate for the Atlantis myth.

I think that most mythes have some truth to them that gets blown way out of proportion, or over exaggerated. Their might have been a place that was kinda like Atlantis, but I doubt it was completely like some people describe it. Especially with the idea that they were so technologically advanced, but they could find a way to save themselves from “sinking”. Who knows, maybe one day we might find out.

I’m sure Wikipedia has all the answers!

changing sea levels, erosion, and shifting land masses have wiped out once great cities that are now under water. instances such as these are the root of the atlantis myth. in 3000 years future flutherites will be debating the existence of the legendary city of Miami.

And the great New Orleans. I wonder if it will be there in 200 years.

I guess it doesn’t not exist

Atlantis was a fable invented by Plato to teach men of his time certain lessons. Aristotle, Plato’s most notable pupil. testified in his writings that Plato invented it. It is impossible geologically and historically, as Plato described it. He claimed that Egyptian priests told Solon about it, but there is no confirmation of it in any Egyptian literature or accounts of Solon. he evidently was inspired by the true story of the Minoan civilization on Crete that was destroyed by a tsunami caused by a volcanic eruption at Thera. he exaggerated details for dramatic effect, e.g. an island in the Mediterranean Sea became a continent in the Atlantic Ocean, the time was moved back maybe 900 to 9000 years earlier, an advanced society for its time became even more advanced, etc. How could Athens beat such a super continent in war? It simply could not. There are some people who badly want to believe such fiction as this. some of them will surely answer this question.