Greece Hotels Travel - Voyage to Atlantis: The Discovery of a Legendary Land

Since the time of Plato, the fabled land of Atlantis has fired the imagination of those who sought to discover if this "lost continent" belonged to myth or history. Did it exist and, if so, where? What was the cause of its disappearance? Here is the full, first-hand account by the man that led the scientific expedition that found Atlantis and revealed the cause of its destruction--the greatest single natural disaster witnessed and recorded by humankind, a cataclysm so great that it left its indelible impact on the myths and legends of numerous cultures.

Mavor's expeditions, drawing on ancient records and myth, verify Plato's recounting of lost Atlantis as well as the controversial theory of Greek seismologist Dr. Angelos Galanopoulus that the Minoan culture on the volcanic Aegean island of Thera was actually the Atlantis of ancient times. Mavor's discovery of Atlantis inspired still ongoing research into catastrophic events such as volcanic eruptions and floods. In his epilogue Mavor considers this research and the light it can shed on natural disasters and their possible origins in the wake of comets and asteroids passing the earth.

Demystifying the legend of Atlantis, Mavor deftly brings into the realm of objective analysis a phenomenon that has for centuries been a parable for the evolution of human consciousness.

Like most rational people I have avoided Atlantis as a subject only fit for airheads and crackpots. But I wanted to know where all this Atlantis nonsense was coming from. Luckily when I went searching for real information I found "Voyage to Atlantis". Mayor is a real archaeologist and oceanographer.

In this book he tells us the source of the Atlantis myth (Plato in "Timaeus" and "Critias") and quotes Plato at length for reference. Plato was in turn quoting a story that Solon had read in Egypt. Mavor's thesis hinges on Solon making a error in translation such that every measurement that should read in the hundreds instead reads in the thousands, while smaller numbers are not changed. This holds true for dates as well as distances and population counts. If the measurements in the thousands in Plato's account are changed to hundreds his Atlantis accurately describes the Minoan civilization of Crete and the Island of Thera (also known as Santorini) in size, population, military strength, and time period (900 years before Solon rather than 9000).

With a valid theory to start with Mavor then did the real archeology necessary to back up his claims, using the latest technology in underwater research.

If you want a good scientific look at the legend of Atlantis read this book.