Plato's Atlantis

Overview

Τhe area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, has a rich tradition of visits by prominent figures of the Ancient Greek Literature:

Cronus and Heracles, according Plutarch
Odysseus, according to Homer
the Argonauts, according to Homer
the Greek Army against Troy according to Homer

Where does the ancient Greeks' exceptional preference for this region come from?

A first answer probably has to do with its geographical location, which provided access to the areas of the North American Archaic Copper Culture (shown in yellow), as well as providing easy access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Thus, the area probably developed into a hub for the trade of metals from the American to the European Continent, as the descriptions in the Odyssey clearly imply.

But the reasons for the special attention that this area enjoyed should probably be sought deeper, with Calypso's mythological profile as a starting point:

Calypso was the daughter of the Titan god Atlas or, rather, a priestess of Atlas.
From the etymology of her name, “καλύπτω”, which in Greek means “I cover, I hide”, Calypso is “covering or hiding” something indefinable.
She lived in Ogygia , a name that suggests something primitive, archetypal, and ancient.

Could the area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence be related to the location of the “archetypal” Atlantis?

The Atlantic war

In his dialogue Critias , Plato sets the chronological and spatial reference for the war between the people of Atlantis and the people of the Mediterranean:

“Now first of all we must recall the fact that 9000 is the sum of years since the war occurred, as is recorded, between the dwellers beyond the pillars of Heracles and all that dwelt within them; which war we have now to relate in detail. It was stated that this city of ours [Athens] was in command of the one side and fought through the whole of the war, and in command of the other side were the kings of the island of Atlantis, which we said was an island larger than Libya and Asia once upon a time” [ Critias 108e ]

The pillars of Hercales, considered to refer to today's Giblartar , are used as the key landmark to separate the people dwelling “beyond them”, that is, in the Atlantic Ocean , and the people dwelling “within them”, that is, within the Mediterranean .

The geography of Atlantis

The estimated geomorphology of the Gulf of St. Lawrence at around 9000 BC , indicates a circular island at the center of the Gulf, as the areas shaded with green were covered by land at the time.

We consider that this island was Atlantis, and we test this hypothesis against further information provided by Plato.

The geography of Atlantis

The sequel to the story of the ancient war is continued in the Timaeus dialogue:

“...it is related in our records how once upon a time your State [Athens] stayed the course of a mighty host, which, starting from a distant point in the Atlantic ocean, was insolently advancing to attack the whole of Europe, and Asia to boot. For the ocean there was at that time navigable” [ Timaeus 24e ]

The translation at this point fails to reflect the geography that is implied in the ancient Greek text. Specifically, the original text defines the location of the “mighty host” as “ἔξωθεν ὁρμηθεῖσαν ἐκ τοῦ Ἀτλαντικοῦ πελάγους”. The use of “ἔξωθεν” (which means “outside”) places the source of the enemy “outside”, presumably of the Pillars of Heracles, while the phrase “Ἀτλαντικοῦ πελάγους”, refers to a sea, called Atlantic, not to the Atlantic ocean (“πέλαγος” is a “sea”, but not “ωκεανός”, the ocean).

In view of this, the so-called “Atlantic Sea” is most likely the Gulf of St. Lawrence , an interpretation that is compatible with the placement of the “Atlantic sea outside of the pillars of Heracles”. Interestingly, the same Gulf is called Cronian sea by Plutarch as is analysed in this story.

And the text continues:

“...for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the pillars of Heracles', there lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together” [ Timaeus 24e ]

The mouth mentioned in the text which “Greeks call the pillars of Heracles”, in front of which lays the island of Atlantis, is presumably the south entrance of the Gulf of St. Laurence where a strait is formed between points A and B, creating a geographic formation similar to the entrance of the strait of Giblartar , and it this formation that is probably meant in the text that Greeks call “the pillars of Heracles”, not the specific geographic location of Giblartar.

“...for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the pillars of Heracles', there lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together; and it was possible for the travellers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent over against them which encompasses that veritable ocean” [ Timaeus 24e 25a ]

So, Atlantis was the first island visible to anyone entering the Gulf from the ocean, and it was a “bridge” to the other islands of the Gulf and eventually to the great continent itself.

The statement that Atlantis was larger than Asia and Libya (Africa) together, probably means that Atlantis was the “first step” towards the continent that laid behind it (North America); otherwise Atlantis would not have been called an island, but a continent.

Once again, the translation of “πόντος” (sea) in the original text as “ocean” fails to reflect the geography that is implied in the ancient Greek text. The statement that the continent encompasses the great “sea” (the Atlantic sea) within which lies Atlantis, is perfectly aligned with the geography of the Gulf of St. Lawrence which is indeed surrounded by the continent of North America.

And the text continues:

“For all that we have here, lying within the mouth of which we speak, is evidently a haven having a narrow entrance; but that yonder is a real ocean, and the land surrounding it may most rightly be called, in the fullest and truest sense, a continent” [ Timaeus 25a ]

Once again, the translation of “πέλαγος” (sea) in the original text as “ocean” is misleading. The statement that the “sea” (the Atlantic sea) within the “mouth” created between points A and B, is surrounded by a continent, is perfectly aligned with the geography of the Gulf of St. Lawrence which is indeed surrounded by the continent of North America.

And Plato continues:

“Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvellous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent” [ Timaeus 25a ]

Prominent features of Atlantis

Among the features of the island, in his dialogues Critias, Plato describes:

“the island itself furnished most of the requirements of daily life, –metals, to begin with, both the hard kind and the fusible kind, which are extracted by mining, and also that kind which is now known only by name but was more than a name then, there being mines of it in many places of the island, –I mean ‘orichalcum’, which was the most precious of the metals then known, except gold” [Critias 114e ]

Today, the broader area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are still rich in copper, gold and zinc mines.

Another perhaps weird at first reading feature of the island, is the existence of elephants:

“Moreover, it contained a very large stock of elephants; for there was an ample food-supply not only for all the other animals which haunt the marshes and lakes and rivers, or the mountains or the plains, but likewise also for this animal, which of its nature is the largest and most voracious” [Critias 115a ]

Most likely, the reference is to the Wooly Mammoths, which existed in the region up to about 7000 BC .

The findings of spearheads north of Lake Erie , dating from 11000–8000 BC which were most likely related to the hunting of mammoths, support this hypothesis.

The destruction of Atlantis

At some point, the island is destroyed by natural forces:

“But at a later time there occurred portentous earthquakes and floods, and one grievous day and night befell them, when the whole body of your warriors was swallowed up by the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner was swallowed up by the sea and vanished; wherefore also the ocean at that spot has now become impassable and unsearchable, being blocked up by the shoal mud which the island created as it settled down” [Timaeus 25c ]

The Atlantic Sea, therefore, after the collapse of Atlantis, became muddy and difficult to cross, according to Plato. This description correlates perfectly with that of Plutarch , who states that in order to reach the great mainland from Ogygia, ships must cross the sea by rowing rather than sailing. This sea was none other than the Atlantic Sea, apparently known as the Cronian Sea in the era described by Plutarch.

In Critias, the description of the destruction of Atlantis is described as follows:

“but now lies sunk by earthquakes and has created a barrier of impassable mud which prevents those who are sailing out from here to the ocean beyond from proceeding further” [Critias 108e 109a ]

So, the mud which filled the Atlantic Sea prevented those who wanted to travel from the interior (of the Gulf) to the ocean (the “πᾶν πέλαγος”).

The paleogeographic data confirm the disappearance of a large part of the Atlantis landmass, from around 4000 BC and onwards, as shown on the map.

Atlantis today

Today, in the presumed position of Atlantis, there are its remnants: The Magdalen Islands cluster, where was the Homeric Thrinacia , the island which as it seems had the reputation of being a sacred place throughout ancient times. Its presumed correlation with Atlantis may explain that specific attribution since Atlantis was also described as “hallowed island, as it lay then beneath the sun” [Critias 115b ], a legend that was preserved as it seems by the descendants who knew the glorious past of the area.

As for Ogygia, it was probably the southern part of Atlantis, and its name was perhaps given to honor the memory of the ancient, “archetypal” land of Atlantis.