 What were the origins of Plato's account of the lost civilisation of Atlantis and was Atlantis destroyed by a great environmental catastrophe around 12,000 years ago? Firstly, what is the story of Atlantis and how do we know about this story? It was first described by the Athenian philosopher Plato in his book Timaeus, published around 360 BC. Plato describes a great power whose base was an island in the Atlantic Ocean, opposite the strait the Greeks called the Pillars of Heracles, ruled by a powerful and remarkable dynasty of kings. This great power of Atlantis then tried to enslave the surrounding territories, but they were defeated by an alliance led by the Athenians, a Greek alliance that then destroyed this great power of Atlantis. There was then earthquakes and floods of extraordinary violence, and in a single dreadful day and night all of the Greeks fighting men were swallowed up by the sea. An island of Atlantis was similarly swallowed up by the sea and vanished. Stick about until the end of the video where I go through line by line, as to what exactly Plato said in his book Timaeus. Although Plato himself was a Greek philosopher who lived in ancient Athens, he notes that the story itself is an ancient story that was passed down through generations and it was initially told to Solon, a relation of Plato by an Egyptian source, as the story of Atlantis was detailed by ancient Egyptians in their records. In the Timaeus dialogue, Plato notes that although this story is a strange one, it was once vouched for by Solon. The wisest of the seven wise men as Plato writes, an Athenian statesman who lived from 630 to 560 BC. Solon himself was told the story by an ancient Egyptian priest when he was travelling in Egypt visiting a district at the head of the delta where the Nile divides. So in the setup of the story of Atlantis as told by Plato, Solon is told by the ancient Egyptian priest that you Greeks are ever children, young and mined. He then goes on to detail how there have been numerous catastrophes that have destroyed ancient civilizations, as the priest tells Solon. There have been and will be many different calamities to destroy mankind, the greatest of them by fire and water. The priest then continues to describe how fire and water destroy civilizations and how delugees can cause parts of the world that live near the ocean to be swept into the sea by the rivers. The priest then adds that there have been numerous delugees down through history and not just one and that in Egypt they can keep records of such events. Atlantis was one such event. So the story of Atlantis raises many important questions. The scholars have debated and fought over for centuries and probably millennia but one important question asked by all is are you wearing a Christmas jumper? And the answer of course is yes. Can you see these reindeer's in Christmas trees? Anyway, back to the story of Atlantis. In all seriousness, the story of Atlantis is obviously sparked debate. Was it a metaphorical tool used by Plato to describe a civilization that was too power hungry and too full of riches that kind of destroyed itself? A kind of parable or an allegory relating to civilizations, cities and power bases in general that if you're too greedy, want too much, you can sometimes metaphorically be swallowed by the sea. Or was Plato literally passing on a story of an ancient civilization that did exist and was in fact swallowed by the sea? Knowing precisely what happened is obviously difficult but there are numerous intriguing and interesting points that we're going to delve more into in this video. One critical interesting detail of Plato's account of Atlantis is that a date is put on when Atlantis was swallowed up by the sea. Solon, who again lived from around 570 to 630 BC, is told by the ancient Egyptian priest that the story of Atlantis took place 9,000 years ago from the point that Solon was told the story. So if we do some basic maths, and don't worry you don't need to get a calculator out here, essentially if Solon was told this story somewhere around 600 BC, and the story of Atlantis was said to take place around 9,000 years prior to that, then the story of Atlantis took place around 9,600 BC. Around 11,600 years ago from today, roughly speaking. What is so intriguing about this date, around 11,500 years ago, is this is the precise date of the end of a period in the geophysical history of the planet known as the Younger Dryest Period, which lasted from around 12,900 to 11,700 years ago. The Younger Dryest Period was a return to glacial conditions which temporarily reversed the gradual climate warming after the last glacial maximum, which lasted for around 7,000 years, from around 27,000 to 20,000 years ago. During the last ice age, following the Younger Dryest Period, global temperatures rapidly warmed to similar levels to today, with Greenland ice core samples suggesting that local temperatures increased by up to 10 degrees Celsius or 18 degrees Fahrenheit in just a few decades. During this period of rapid warming, ice is thought to have melted and sea levels are thought to have risen, as Vivian Gornitz wrote in an article featured on NASA's website titled Sea Level Rise after the ice melted and today. The rate of sea level rise slowed between 14,000 and 12,000 years ago during the Younger Dryest Cold Period and was succeeded by another surge, Meltwater Pulse 1B, 11,500 to 11,000 years ago, when sea level may have jumped by 28 meters according to Fairbanks, although subsequent studies indicate it may have been much less. Once again, what is so fascinating about the date that Plato gave the story of Atlantis to take place just happens to be a day the scientists today believe was a period of rapid warming and sea levels rising following the Younger Dryest Period. Is this just coincidental? Did Plato happen to pick a period where a civilization or an island could have been swallowed by the sea? Or was Plato simply reciting a story that had been passed down through generations for centuries in millennia and the Egyptians happened to record it in their records? Yet what caused the Younger Dryest Period? Well the Younger Dryest Impact Hypothesis is one theory about the cause of the episode. The Younger Dryest Impact Hypothesis states that the Younger Dryest Period was caused by giant fragments of a comet or asteroid striking parts of North America, Europe, South America and Western Asia resulting in climate catastrophe. Although this hypothesis is challenged by others, it is certainly possible that there was a cosmic impact around 12,000 years ago and this caused global climate change. Others argue that the Younger Dryest Period was caused by large amounts of fresh water being discharged into the North Atlantic around 12,800 years ago. For the purposes of this video, it doesn't really matter why the Younger Dryest Period occurred. The only point that matters is that it did occur. The point is that Plato places the story of Atlantis and dates the story of Atlantis, as told by the ancient Egyptian priest. At a time just following, a great environmental change. And just at the point where the Younger Dryest Period ended and there was a rapid period of warming, which potentially and probably resulted in ice melting and sea levels rising. Plato places the story of an island, a great civilisation of Atlantis, based on this island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean that was then swallowed up by the sea. Again, this may just be coincidental and it is circumstantial evidence, but it is truly fascinating and of all the dates that Plato could have picked, he picks a date and a time period that makes a lot of sense if you look at the geophysical history of the world. What is the ancient Egyptian priest telling a story that had been passed down for millennia? A story that grandparents told their children round the fire, for thousands and thousands of years. That the Egyptians then recorded, the ancient priest then told so on. And Plato himself then passed this story on to us today, 2,000 years after he wrote it into Mayas. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Did Plato purely invent this story as a metaphorical, allegorical way to criticise greed and power and such things? Or was Plato simply reciting a story of a great civilisation that was truly swallowed up by the sea? Like I say, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below, in any references further reading or articles of interest. Really good to get your opinion on this story. But now, what did Plato actually say? Let's go through line by line Plato's story of Atlantis. As told, if we can get my book sorted here, into Mayas. Which is definitely worth picking up. The actual story of Atlantis is not really that long. If you're not even a big reader, hopefully the camera refocuses on that. I'm using a Canon camera and the facial recognition is incredible but if it tracks my face as opposed to necessarily what I'm wanting it to track in this instance, anyway, it's not a focus at the moment. Yes, in general, the story of Atlantis is not really too long. So I would definitely suggest picking it up. It's not really too expensive because ultimately there's lots of nonsense on the internet about Atlantis, about aliens etc, which may or may not be true. But obviously you need to stick to the facts to some degree. And this is a primary source by potentially the most famous philosopher in history, Plato. Athenian philosopher, very well respected, wrote the Republic, one of the most famous documents in history. Some say the first totalitarian document ever written. But regardless of that, this story definitely worth reading. But let's go through line by line to see exactly what he said. Because like say, there's lots of nonsense out there and it's good just to see and lots of people, you know, paraphrasing, paraphrasing Plato. So it's good to actually see, you know, from the horse's mouth exactly what he said. And in the pages before, he goes through, like what I was talking about, the Egyptian priests and so on. That's just in the couple pages before the actual significant, you know, story of Atlantis. You know, because he's talking about Solon, he's talking about when he was in Egypt and, you know, the detail on priests, you know, Solon, Solon, you Greeks are our children. There is no such thing as an old Greek. What do you mean by that, in quiet Solon? You're all young and mined, came the reply. You have in your minds no belief rooted in old tradition. And the reason is this, there have been and will be many different calamities to destroy mankind, the greatest of them by fire and water, lesser ones by countless other causes. Our records tell how your city checked a great power, which arrogantly advanced from its base in the Atlantic Ocean to attack the cities of Europe and Asia. For in those days, the Atlantic was navigable. There was an island opposite the Strait, which you call, so you say, the Pillars of Heracles. An island larger than Libya and Asia combined. From its travellers, could in those days reach the other islands. And from them, the whole opposite continent, which surrounds what can truly be called the ocean. For the sea within the Strait we are talking about is like a lake with a narrow entrance. The other ocean is the real ocean and the land which entirely surrounds it is probably termed continent. On this island of Atlantis, had there isn't a powerful and remarkable dynasty of kings, which ruled the whole island and many other islands as well and parts of the continent. In addition it controlled within the Strait, Libya up to the borders of Egypt and Europe as far as Terania. This dynasty, gathering its whole power together, attempted to enslave at a single stroke, your country and ours, and all the territory within the Strait. It was then so long that the power of your city became clear for all men to see and its excellence in might. Her bravery and military skill were outstanding. She led an alliance of the Greeks and then when they deserted her and she was forced to fight alone. After running into Derris Perrill, she overcame the invaders and celebrated a victory. She rescued those not yet enslaved from the slavery threatening them and she generously freed all others living within the pillars of Heracles. At a later time there were earthquakes and floods of extraordinary violence and in a single dreadful day and night, all of your fighting men were swallowed up by the earth. An island of Atlantis was similarly swallowed up by the sea and vanished. This is why the sea in that area is to this day impassable to navigation, which is hindered by mud just below the surface, the remains of the sunken island. There you go, that is the story of Atlantis as told by Plato. 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