Atlantis

Atlantis. So much of our current fiction is based upon this mythology from books to TV shows. The basis of this mythology begins with a conversation portrayed in two dialogues written by Plato. The dialogues are called Timaeus and Critias. In these pieces Plato describes how Atlantis came to be and it’s downfall.

According to myth Atlantis was around 11,000 years before Plato. It was an island nation located in the middle of the Atlantic. It was rich with natural resources. The people pretty much lived a dream life. They were noble, powerful and wealthy. They were also technologically advanced. They boasted being able to have two harvests per year as opposed to the measly one harvest per year that everyone else had.

Atlantis was considered the domain of Poseidon. According to the myth he had fallen in love with a mortal woman and they had 5 sets of twin boys (that poor, poor woman). The eldest of these children became Atlantis’ first King. His name was Atlas.

Though with every great civilization this one too had to fall. According to the myth the people became so corrupted by their power that they angered the Gods (primarily Zeus). So the Gods of Olympus decided to teach them a pretty big lesson, they wiped out the city in a “surge”. Speculations of this surge are an earthquake, volcano or more popular a tsunami or a combination of all of the above.

There is a lot of debate over the reality of this myth. People have spent millions of dollars and staked their reputations on trying to find the “truth” behind the myth. Whether it is true or not there is one major lesson that we can learn from the people of Atlantis. In the words of Lord Acton:

“Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The people of Atlantis became powerful and were corrupted by this power to the point that it made them bad. Whether this is history or myth it doesn’t matter. It is a common thread of humanity. If a society is not destructed by the direct wrath of the heavens they implode. Look at the Roman Empire. They became full of themselves they became large and they thought that they were unbeatable then they fell apart. Hitler’s Regime, the Soviet Union and the list could go on. All of these political structures came apart because those in power became too corrupt, the people lost sight of what was important. According to some predictions America is next, though us Americans don’t really like to think about that. Whether you believe in the myth or just think it’s a story there is a very important moral to this…do not allow yourself to become corrupted by what is around you otherwise tragedy will ensue.