06-25-2007, 10:06 PM
Apart form Greek Utopian thought, we have the need to ascertain historicity...
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Many ancient philosophers viewed Atlantis as fiction, including (according to Strabo), Aristotle. However, in antiquity, there were also philosophers, geographers, and historians who believed that Atlantis was real.[4] <b>For instance, the philosopher Crantor, a student of Plato's student Xenocrates, tried to find proof of Atlantis' existence.</b> His work, a commentary on Plato's Timaeus, is lost, but another ancient historian, Proclus, reports that<b> Crantor traveled to Egypt and actually found columns with the history of Atlantis written in hieroglyphic characters</b>.[5] However, Plato did not write that Solon saw the Atlantis story on a column but on a source that can be "taken to hand".[6] Proclus' proof appears implausible.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Rudbeck_Atlantis.jpg
A 17th century artwork of researchers and scientists searching for Atlantis' location<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Many ancient philosophers viewed Atlantis as fiction, including (according to Strabo), Aristotle. However, in antiquity, there were also philosophers, geographers, and historians who believed that Atlantis was real.[4] <b>For instance, the philosopher Crantor, a student of Plato's student Xenocrates, tried to find proof of Atlantis' existence.</b> His work, a commentary on Plato's Timaeus, is lost, but another ancient historian, Proclus, reports that<b> Crantor traveled to Egypt and actually found columns with the history of Atlantis written in hieroglyphic characters</b>.[5] However, Plato did not write that Solon saw the Atlantis story on a column but on a source that can be "taken to hand".[6] Proclus' proof appears implausible.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Rudbeck_Atlantis.jpg
A 17th century artwork of researchers and scientists searching for Atlantis' location<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

