ECHOES
OF ATLANTIS
Myths and Traditions of Antiquity
by R. Cedric Leonard
The traditions and mythologies which will be brought forward here are not
intrinsically a part of Plato's account. They are separate in themselves, but will be
compared to Plato's story of Atlantis to illustrate the similarities. Plato did not create a
mythology when he wrote of Atlantis; rather, he repeated a tradition which had been
handed down to him as "historical".
Here we will be dealing in supposition and interpretation rather than solid scientific
facts. The story as related to us by Plato has seemingly mythological elements in it, just
as the Hebrew Bible contains similar elements even though it is usually thought of as
basically historical. At least one of these "mythological elements" will be mentioned
below, since it is found in both the Platonic and traditional accounts.
Again, the whole purpose of this website is to acquaint the inquirer with information
that is not widely known. Therefore, be ready for some real surprises. The thrust here
is specifically to compare Plato's quasihistorical account of Atlantis (including both
its rise and demise) to mythologies and traditions which were in existence long before
Plato, and to show how they relate to Plato's story of Atlantis.
I believe very strongly that real events gave rise to these traditions—even though they
do not mention Atlantis by name—and it is the events which are important, not
formalities which would satisfy scholars. The traditions and myths I am about to
describe correspond so closely to details given in Plato's Atlantis narratives that mere
coincidence is simply out of the question.
Egyptian Traditions
The ancient Egyptian records give us several kinds of information relating to the era
of Atlantis. First of all, there is what is called the First Time, Zep Tepi, or the Golden
Age, when the gods ruled. This is the time when mankind was given the elements of
civilization, when the primordial darkness was banished. During Zep Tepi there were
intermediaries between the gods and men, a time of the Neteru, the "Watchers", who
lived on the earth as the guardians and guides of mankind.
Not only do we have the kinglists bequeathed to us in Greek translation by Manetho
(250 B.C.), we also have direct Egyptian sources, such as the kinglist given on the
Palermo Stone (25652420 B.C.) and in the Turin Papyrus (circa. 1300 B.C.). One of
the important aspects of Manetho's kinglist is that since he writes in Greek, he gives
us the Greek equivalent of each Egyptian king mentioned in the lists.
After telling us that the total number of years covered by all the kinglists equals
36,525 (which, incidentally, agrees nicely with the era of CroMagnon Man), he
continues: "the first series of princes was that of the Auritae (or the Aletae according
to Sanchuniathon)." Then he lists the kings who ruled during this "reign of the gods".
Here is Manetho's kinglist, including the names from the Turin Papyrus on the left
(there are two separate kings named "Horus"):
The Turin Papyrus Manetho's Kinglist
Ptah Hephaestus
Ra Helios
Su Agathodaemon
Seb Cronos
Osiris Osiris
Set Typhon
Horus . . .
Thoth . . .
Ma . . .
Horus Horus
According to Manetho the "rule of the demigods" immediately follows the reign of
the gods (Cory, 1832). And Manetho's kinglists have been confirmed by the Egyptian
sources mentioned above. (For an explanation of the omission of three kings, click on
Manetho's kinglist.) The important thing is that whenever the "reign of the gods" is
included, Cronos (Seb) is always listed in one form or another.
Manetho is careful to point out that these first kings ruled not in Egypt itself, but
rather in a foreign country. King Cronos and his connection with this Golden Age is
very important in connecting up these traditions.
The Oldest Egyptian name for Cronos (Saturn) was Seb, or Keb. A later form appears
as early as the ancient Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (the LXX) as Raiphan
(Amos 5:26), which became Repha among the Coptics. Modern translations of the
Christian Bible use Rephan where the Amos passage is quoted (e.g., Acts 7:43). There
is no doubt among modern scholars (Tyndale, 1962) that King CronosSaturn is the
referens in both these cases.
This is in itself interesting, since the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt for hundreds of
years and acquired many loanwords during that period. So it appears that Repha is
an Egyptian loanword, and the Hebrews' use of Rephaim (plural of Repha, usually
translated "giants") is most likely a reference to the gigantic sons of Cronos—the
Titans.
One of the godkings listed in the Turin Papyrus which is omitted in our copies of
Manetho's king list is the god Thoth. King Thoth is important for several different
reasons. First, he is credited as being the inventor of writing; secondly, he wrote a
large number of religiomystical works known as the Books of Thoth; and thirdly, he
ruled on an island located in the west (Budge, 1960). The wellknown Egyptian Book of
the Dead allegedly contains some of the writings of Thoth.
Libyan Traditions
Both Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus described certain "Atlantean" tribes who lived
in Libya. Herodotus describes them as living in the vicinity of Mt. Atlas (History, Book
IV), and Diodorus (Lib. Hist., Book III) says they lived "in the regions which lie close
to the shore of the ocean." Both descriptions fit the modern North African country of
Morocco. But most importantly, these very people retained traditions of a time when
they were ruled by the gods Ouranos, Cronos and others, whose origin (they say) was
in the Atlantic Ocean!
According to Diodorus, King Ouranos married Titaea and their sons were called
Titans—the most prominent among them were Cronos and Atlas. Atlas was given the
regions near the shore of the ocean to rule. Cronos eventually deposed King Ouranos,
becoming the next king (Lib. Hist., Book III). Nothing is said in these accounts that any
of the Titans themselves ever became individual rulers. Possibly certain details have
dropped out over the millennia.
The kings mentioned more closely resemble the "gods" of Homer and Hesiod than the
Atlantean kings of Plato's account, which reveals that Diodorus did not use Plato's
Atlantis narratives as a source. (Critias explains that the original kingnames had first
been translated into Egyptian using the meanings of the names, which the priests in
turn translated into the Greek for Solon.)
Diodorus' "Atlanteans" were without doubt the survivors of the cataclysm and,
finding themselves in North Africa, evidently retained memories of being ruled by the
Atlantic gods. It is more than interesting that Herodotus had already called these
people "Atlanteans" (Book IV), and the ocean to the west of them the "Atlantis Sea"
(Book I) nearly a hundred years before Plato. And it is also curious that a people
calling themselves "Atlanteans" happened to be living precisely in an area expected of
survivors of such a catastrophe!
The standard word for "west" in the Tamacheq language of the Tuareg people is
ataram. Since the /r/ and /l/ are controvertible over time in the North African language
group—likewise the /m/ and /n/—it is possible the Tuareg word for "west" was
originally atalan [Atalan]. (The word "Attala" is prominent among the Rifians of West
Africa; Berlitz, 1969)
According to several modern investigators, the present day Tuaregs of North Africa
have tribal legends of a lost homeland named Atlantis, and when questioned they point
to the west as the direction from whence they came (Krippenes, 1981, et al.).
Considering their proximity to the Atlas mountains and the historical relationship
with ancient Atlantean tribes, we should not be surprised at the use of the very word
"Atlantis" by these individuals when orally expressing their tribal legends.
While recognizing "modern contamination" (modern travelers and media) as a
possible influence, one's judgment should be tempered with the certain knowledge that
such things as tribal origins are usually very sacred, especially to nomadic peoples.
Moreover, the Tuaregs are a "fiercely independent" people, unlikely to accept outside
influences into their tribal traditions.
Greek Mythology
Diodorus got much of his information from an earlier Greek historian, Euhemeros of
Messene (ca. 300 B.C.), who lists the order of the first kings as Ouranos, Cronos, then
Zeus. Euhemeros tells us that once Zeus became king (which would have been after
winning the war with the Titans), he travelled to all the different regions of the world,
arriving ultimately at an island called Panchaea, "which lies in the Ocean" [viz., the
Atlantic]. On that island he set up a shrine to the first king Ouranos: a shrine to King
Ouranos in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean—that should tell us something!
It appears that Plato might not have invented the golden tablets forming an important
part of his Atlantis narrative. Describing the shrine mentioned, Euhemeros writes:
"There is also on the island, situated on an exceedingly high hill, a sancuary of Zeus,
which was established by him . . . And in the temple there is a stele of gold on which is
inscribed in summary, in the writing employed by the Panchaeans, the deeds of
Ouranos and Kronos and Zeus." (Hiera anagraphe, or "Sacred Register," ca. 300
B.C.)
Prehistoric traditions involving a Western island known as White Island (also called
"Elysian Fields") existed among the Greeks (Warren, 1885; Burkert, 1985, et al.), as
well as in the Sanskrit epics of India. As in India, with the passage of time the White
Isle became associated with the final destination of certain dead heroes. According to
Apollodorus (Epitome 5.5), it was the final destination of the soul of Achilles. Several
accounts on the White Isle belong to Leonymus, king of Crotona.
According to the ancient Greeks, the White Isle was a paradise located in the far
western streams of the river Oceanos, and ruled over by King Cronos. Some modern
authorities associate it with certain of the Canary Islands, just off the West African
coast (Burkert, 1985); but it seems to me quite likely that originally it was an ancient
name for one of the larger islands of the Atlantis archipelago, if not of Atlantis itself.
However, given the evidence from all available sources, some connection between the
White Island and Plato's lost paradise seems imperative.
I believe it significant that the names of Cronos, Poseidon, Atlas, even Atlantis itself,
have no etymology in the IndoEuropean languages (Zeus is the one exception, coming
as it does via the Sanskrit Dyaus). Although several later Greek deities seem to
originate from the north or east, this particular group was evidently introduced into
Greek culture from the West, i.e., from the direction of Morocco and the Canary
Islands. According to Homer's Iliad (Book XIV), Atlas dwelt, not in Libya, but far out
in the Ocean stream which was believed at that time to encircle the earth—which is to
say, he had an Atlantic origin.
As we have seen, it is virtually impossible to separate
King Cronos from Atlantis. The war waged by the
Atlanteans against the nations within the Mediterranean
area and the mythological War of the Titans and
Olympian gods have many important parallels. In both
cases it happened just before the end of the invaders'
homeland. In both accounts it was Zeus who was
responsible for the demise of the opposing army. Both
wars ended in the violent destruction of a western
oceanic island. (ref., Plutarch's "Saturnian Continent";
Baldwin, 1869.)
Statue of the GodKing Cronos
In the Atlanteans' case it was earthquakes, cataclysmic floods, and finally subsidence.
In the case of the "Saturnian Continent," it was a huge ball of fire cast down upon the
Titans out of the hands of the angry god Zeus, which "set the forested land on fire, and
made the ocean boil". The hills and valleys heaved and shook in the throes of chthonic
destruction. The Titans were ultimately imprisoned in Tartaros, which the ancient
poets Orpheus and Homer placed beneath the waves of "Oceanos," which was the
ancient equivalent of the Atlantic Ocean of today.
In Plato's unfinished Critias, Zeus had just decided to convene a council of the gods to
determine the fate of the Atlanteans; but his Timaeus had already informed us of the
result of that council: i.e., after suffering tremendous earthquakes and floods, the
island of Atlantis, with all her warlike inhabitants, was destroyed, disappearing
beneath the unforgiving waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Atlanteans were described by Plato as being in the beginning a most noble race;
but slowly the godly element of their nature became diluted by the baser human side.
They eventually became greedy, materialistic, and warlike. In Hesiod's Theogeny,
King Cronos ruled during a Golden Age, introduced agriculture, established cities and
civil order. The Golden Age was one of abundance and peace. The first age is followed
by increasingly deteriorating ages: the Silver, Bronze, Hero, and finally the pitifully
wicked Iron Age.
Hesiod correlates his Ages with the races of man in his Works and Days, (lines 109
201). Here he portrays mankind in a series of five "races," beginning with a Golden
Race, going through the Silver and Bronze Race, which eventually degenerates into an
Iron Race. The original Golden Race, of course, "lived in the time of Cronos" during
the Golden Age. (Hesiod, 735 B.C.)
Ovid's Metamorphoses (lines 85151), has basically the same scheme, but omits
Hesiod's Race of Heroes. Since these are oral traditions carried down by the ancient
Greeks, mostly in ballads and epic poems, no time frame is given; but the sequence as
given is certainly indicative of the gradual deterioration of mankind parallel to Plato's
description of the fate of the Atlantean people.
King Cronos ruled a western kingdom, was said to have invented agriculture, and
instructed men how to live in a civilized manner. But to prevent rivals to his throne he
began to kill all his own sons. Zeus (who was destined to depose him), was hid by his
mother on the isle of Crete, where he grew up finally to defeat his father and rule as
king of the gods (Hesiod, 750 B.C.).
The manner in which Zeus finally defeats Cronos and his Titans (the sons of Heaven)
is reminiscent of the account found in the Mahabharata. After the war had continued
unabated for ten years, Zeus was finally presented with "weapons" which resembled
lightning, and the earth began to quake as fiery bolts flew from his hands. The vast
forests were set on fire and the waters of the ocean itself "boiled and seethed" (Hesiod,
750 B.C.).
Cronos and the Titans are finally imprisoned in Tartaros, located deep beneath the
ocean waves. In this passage from the Iliad (Book XIV), the queenly Hera proposes "to
visit Oceanus at the far end of the earth, from whom the gods are sprung," where Zeus
"had also thrust great Cronos down beneath earth and the restless sea." (Homer, 850
B.C.) Once the Titans are sealed in their infernal prison, Atlas himself is left guarding
the gates, preventing a future escape (Rose, 1969). A lot of Atlantean connections here!
During the yearly festival known as the Cronia—similar to the Roman Saturnalia
festival—the bound statue of Cronos was brought forth and loosed, but only for the
duration of the festival. At the same time all slaves were temporarily freed, gifts
exchanged, and a sevendaylong party ensued during which there was drinking and
merry making. Slaves were allowed to order their masters around (although the
severity of such orders was tempered by the knowledge that in a few days they would
again be ruled by these same masters). This was all, of course, to honor Cronos, the
first great king and civilizer of mankind; but also to commemorate the defeat, binding,
and imprisonment of Cronos at the end of the 10yearlong war.
Just how did Plato's Atlanteans obtain their "godly" nature
to begin with? According to Plato's Critias, the god Poseidon
fell in love with an earthborn girl named Cleito. He had
intercourse with her (the "mythological element" of the
Atlantis story), and built her a palace in Atlantis on a hill.
They eventually had five sets of twins (ten princes), the
eldest of which was named Atlas, for which the entire island,
and the sea surrounding it, was named Atlantis.
This "admixture" of divine and earthborn would, of course,
make each of their offspring onehalf divine and onehalf
human. The natural result of this generation mating with
other earthborn women would result in only a "quarter" of
the divine element, etc., etc., until eventually the divine
element would become so diffused that the baser, human
characteristics would finally dominate. Now let's compare
this scenerio with another prominant body of legends.
Statue of the god Poseidon
Hebrew Records
The traditions recorded by the Hebrews parallel the above account closely. A strange,
often puzzling, passage appears early in the Hebrew Bible which bears looking into at
this point. In the book of Genesis one finds the following:
"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth,
and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the
daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all
which they chose. . . .
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the
sons of God came in unto the daughter of men, and they bare children to
them, the same became mighty men (heroes) which were of old, men of
renown." (Genesis 6:12,4)
Now this is basically how Plato says the Atlanteans came to be. (Remember also that
Hesiod calls the Titans "sons of Heaven".) The Hebrew account even contains a
reference to a "dilution" of the divine element with the human: "And the Lord said,
My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh" (verse 3), after
which man grows more wicked until he is eventually destroyed by a tremendous flood.
The account in the Book of Enoch (Laurence, 1883) even mentions a tilting of the
planetary axis!
In those days Noah saw that the earth became inclined, and that destruction
approached. Then he lifted up his feet, and went to the ends of the earth, to
the dwelling of his greatgrandfather Enoch. And Noah cried with a bitter
voice, Hear me; hear me; hear me: three times. And he said, Tell me what
is transacting upon earth; for the earth labours, and is violently shaken.
Surely I shall perish with it." (I Enoch LXIV. 13; italics added, R.C.L.)
This account (no doubt a reflection of extremely ancient traditions) depicts a Noah
who is not quite so confident that he has been chosen to be saved from the impending
cataclysm. And, unless it really happened, how would this ancient author have even
known of an "axis" which might become "inclined"—unless the true shape of our
planet was known even at that time?
The more
familiar account
found in the
sixth chapter of
Genesis depicts
a less violent
picture of the
cataclysm (see
Hebrew scroll at
left) in which
forty days of
rain (including,
perhaps, a
tsunami
originating in
the "great
deep"), and a
hero which seems much more confident. The Flood account depicted on the left is from
a scroll written in northeastern Europe several centuries ago. It reads in part: "And
God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with
violence through them [humans]; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."
(Gen. 6:13)
Two of the most surprising, and mistranslated, verses in the Hebrew Bible may
actually concern Atlantis. The passage found in the Book of Job, as translated in the
King James Version of 1611, reads like this:
"Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants
thereof. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering." (Job
26:56)
An innocuous enough sounding passage: no clue here to the famous sunken land. But
in reality, these verses deserve a second look. The very first word in the above passage
is the Hebrew word Rephaim (Heb. plural of Repha), a reference to the descendants of
Repha! In other words, this is a direct reference to the sons of King Cronos—the
famed Titans of Greek mythology. And the Hebrew verb translated "formed" above,
would translate more accurately as "tremble," "shake" or "writhe" (see any modern
translation). What a change this makes! A rather literal, yet informed, translation
would read:
"The Rephaim writhe [or tremble] in agony beneath the waters, and those
dwelling therein. Their prison lies naked before him, and destruction has
no covering." (Job 26:56)
Dr. James Moffett (1922) of Oxford University is almost poetic in his expressive
rendering of the verses in question. Undoubtably he has caught the meaning of what
this passage is all about.
"Before him the primaeval giants writhe, under the ocean in their prison;
the underworld lies open to his eyes, the nether regions are unveiled." (Job
26:56)
If this is not a reference to the fateful destiny of the Titans, I don't know what it is! It
was the god Zeus who had won the battle (leading the Olympian gods against Cronos
and the Titans), and had imprisoned them at the bottom of the ocean (Oceanos, which
we now call the Atlantic). Yahweh, the Hebrew equivalent of Zeus, is said to be able to
see right through the "covering" (the waters) and view "destruction" as if it were
lying naked before him. Tartaros is the Greek name for this underwater prison
(translated "hell" in II Peter 2:4 of the New Testament), but this term is not used in
the Hebrew texts—it is not a Hebrew word. However, if there ever was a place where
the Hebrews could have used a Greek loanword in place of sheol, this would be it.
The only scholarly reference I've ever seen acknowledging this ancient Hebrew
concept of a special "prison" or "hell" located beneath the sea is that of Dr. Alexander
Heidel, Assyriologist and Member of the Research Staff of the Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago. He states unequivocally that: "The Hebrew Bible localizes the
realm of the dead, or, rather, the realm of certain disembodied human spirits, within
the innermost parts of the earth, below the sea." (Heidel, 1946; italics added, R.C.L.) In
support of this, he quotes the very passage from the Book of Job which we have been
analyzing.
The above reference to the Rephaim (giants), the descendants of Repha (Cronos), the
agony of their imprisonment beneath the ocean, and the obvious reference to
"destruction" covered by water is about as close as the Bible comes to mentioning the
demise of Atlantis and the fate of its inhabitants. It is without doubt a reference to the
war with the Titans, but whether or not this is actually a reference to Atlantis remains
a matter of interpretation.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baldwin, John. D., "PreHistoric Nations," Harper and Brothers, New York, 1869.
Burkert, Walter, "Greek Religion," Harvard University Press, Boston, 1985.
Berlitz, Charles, "The Mystery of Atlantis," Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1969.
Bible, King James translation of 1611. The Greek LXX Version, Zondervan Publ. House,
Grand Rapids, 1970.
Budge, E. A. Wallis (translator), "The Book of the Dead," University Books, Inc., New
Hyde Park, 1960.
Champollion, Francois (translator), Turin Papyrus, 1300 B.C.
Cory, Isaac P., "Ancient Fragments" (citing Manetho and Sanchuniathon), Reeves &
Turner, London, 1832.
Diodorus Siculus (translated by C. H. Oldfather), Library of History, 8 B.C.
Heidel, Alexander, "The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels," University of
Chicago Press, Chicago, 1946.
Herodotus, "History": Book IV, Melpomene (Rawlinson's translation), 450 B.C.
Hesiod, "Theogony," 750 B.C. (Based on A. Rzach's translation), Teubner, Leipzig, 1913.
Hesiod, "Works and Days," 735 B.C. (Also Rzach's translation.), Teubner, Leipzig, 1913.
Homer, Iliad 850 B.C., (translated directly from the Greek text: cf., the Latinized version of
Samuel Butler)
Krippene, Ken, "The Secret of the Blue Men," Elks Magazine, Vol. 59, No. 6, December
January issue, 1981.
Laurence, Richard (translator), "The Book of Enoch the Prophet," Kegan Paul, Trench &
Co., London, 1883.
Moffett, James, "A New Translation of The Bible," Harper & Brothers Publishers,
London, 1922.
Plato, Critias 360 B.C. (Benjamin Jowett's translation), Random House, New York, 1937.
Plato, Timaeus 360 B.C., (Also Jowett's translation) Random House, New York, 1937.
Plutarch, De Facie Orbe Lunae, XXVI (Latin text), 100 A.D.
Rose H. J., "Gods and Heroes of the Greeks," The World Publishing Co., New York, 1969.
Sanchuniathon, History of the Phoenicians, 1193 B.C. (Eusebius Praep. Evang., l. c. 10.)
Tyndale House Publ., The New Bible Dictionary, InterVarsity Press, Leicester, England,
1962.
Warren, William Fairfield, "Paradise Found," Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston,
1885.
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