
Atlantis-style myths that turned out to be true - Perados
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160118-the-atlantis-style-myths-of-sunken-lands-that-are-really-true
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pgtruesdell
Randall Carlson and Graham Hancock have been on the Joe Rogan Experience a few
times over the years, together and separately, and have explained their well
documented theory about Atlantis.

The short of it would be, before the Younger Dryas period when the massive ice
sheets over North America melted, the ocean levels were approximately 300 ft
lower than they are today. When you look at the mid-atlantic ridge, the lower
sea levels would expose an area now called the Azores Plateau. This would be a
large habitable island off the coast of Europe. This becomes especially
interesting when you take into account the timeline of Plato's account which
exactly lines up with the beginning of the Younger Dryas meltdown.

I apologize if my interpretation of their discussions is inaccurate in any
way, I am now just digging into this theory and it's truly fascinating.

The most recent episode with both Randall and Graham was especially
intriguing, since they both brought their unique studies together into a more
unified theory.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDejwCGdUV8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDejwCGdUV8)

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Avshalom
That's interesting and all but-- I admit I haven't read the source-- I was
under the impression that the actual text was fairly clear about Atlantis
being a fictional political allegory.

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camelNotation
In the ancient world, there was little distinction between the concepts of
fiction and non-fiction with regard to story-telling, given that they viewed
their own existence as part of a larger (what we might call fantasy) narrative
about the universe itself. For them, a story was fiction (not true to life) if
it taught lessons and ideas that were not true. A story was non-fiction (true
to life) if it taught lessons and ideas that were true. So a simple story like
"a citizen robbed a merchant and was rewarded by the town for his good deed"
may or may not be factual (by our standards), but to them would be a fiction.
On the other hand, the story of Icarus would be regarded as non-fiction, not
because it actually happened in the sense that we understand historical
events, but because it taught a moral truth. Whatever did or did not happen in
the mundane world of day-to-day life wasn't as important as the lens through
which that world was interpreted.

With that in mind, they would not have placed a high priority on clearly
stating what was totally real and what was totally unreal. Atlantis could have
been a real city in accordance with the theory described by OP, but Plato
might have adopted that truth for the purpose of crafting a political allegory
that would be, in his eyes, even MORE true than some mundane fact like
"Atlantis actually exists." So don't be too quick to dismiss it as false just
because Plato meant it as a political allegory. The ancient Greeks didn't care
as much about the distinctions we cling to in the modern world.

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Dragonai
Absolutely fascinating, thank you for sharing! Do you have any resources you
could share to learn more?

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rwmj
They don't mention Doggerland, a huge piece of land between the UK and Europe
that sank into the sea some 8000 years ago.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland)

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arethuza
Are there myths of a land where the North Sea is now?

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reitanqild
I think that is considered fact.

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arethuza
What I meant is that are there any records of any myths in the countries round
the North Sea of lost lands that might actually turn out to have some basis in
geological fact.

NB I'm in Scotland and fascinated by ancient history and geology (which are
almost the same thing....).

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legulere
Kind of reminds me of Pytheas that was not believed what he told about lands
where the sea freezes and other stuff:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pytheas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pytheas)

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ajarmst
For some values of "true".

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desireco42
I guess they arenot myths then ?! :)

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mordocai
Per definition of myth, something doesn't have to be false to be a myth. Since
there are multiple definitions, depends on which you use: [http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/myth](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth)

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dalke
Further,
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth)
distinguishes between:

> Use of [myth] by scholars implies neither the truth nor the falseness of the
> narrative.

and

> In popular use, a myth can also be a collectively held belief that has no
> basis in fact according to the speaker. This usage, which is often
> pejorative,[5] arose from labeling the religious myths and beliefs of other
> cultures as being incorrect, but it has spread to cover non-religious
> beliefs as well.

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desireco42
Thank you for explaining. I was going for popular use, but you pointed out
correctly that it might not be always so.

Both of you.

