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Authors: Peter Daughtrey
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certainly the Egyptians.
But the most crucial clue indicating the Straits of Gibraltar is the one referring to “Gades.” Plato says, without any scope for misinterpretation, that the extremity of Atlantis reached as far as, or close to, Gades (clue 34). He did not specifically say it was the eastern extremity, but it is obvious that that is what he meant. If Atlantis was in the Atlantic, it had to be the eastern end. Historians unanimously agree that Gades is today’s Cádiz, the large Spanish city sitting at the mouth of the Guadalete River, not far outside the Straits of Gibraltar. It is Plato’s marker beacon for Atlantis and “black box” combined.
It has been flashing away in his narrative for more than two thousand years, directing us straight to the site with all the other critical identifying clues stored in his writings.
In Plato’s time, the city’s position would appear to have been farther south to southwest, as the sea has steadily encroached over the intervening centuries and there is the distinct possibility of land subsidence. Some years ago, archaeologists confirmed this when they discovered other submerged remains just out to sea. Inevitably, familiar cries of “the Atlantis citadel” were heard, but they could hardly be relevant when Plato said the capital was in the center of the kingdom, not in the extreme easterly corner.
When referring to his sons, Plato’s clues 32 and 33 read:
“the eldest who was the first king he named Atlas … and after him the whole island (Atlantis) and the ocean were called Atlantic.”
He was clearly referring to the sea around Atlantis. It is final proof, if any is needed, as it would hardly have been relevant if the kingdom was in the eastern Mediterranean.
To summarize:
• It is irrefutable. If what Plato said is analyzed, he was unambiguously referring to the area starting immediately outside the Straits of Gibraltar—in other words, the Atlantic.
• There was no evidence in his account to support any other location—and this is the only account we have. Those putting forward theories regarding other areas referred to by the Greeks as “Pillars of Hercules” completely ignore some of the other clues he and the Egyptian priest gave.
• The suitability of all of the other sites put forward over the years, such as the North Sea, southwest of Ireland and England, Antarctica, Santorini, Anatolia, or off Cyprus in the Mediterranean—even various sites in the Far East—is a fiction that Plato had no hand in.
After I had finished drafting this chapter, along with the rest of the book, I discovered a superb web site about Atlantis run by American R. Cedric Leonard. 32 I was astonished; it mirrored much of my research, even including that mysterious alphabet. The site is by far the best and most comprehensive source of background information I have found, although he doesn’t agree with my conclusion about the actual Atlantis site. Had he been living in the Algarve rather than operating from America, he probably would have. I said the site mirrored my own research but that is really an understatement. Cedric’s site is far more detailed and scholarly, apart from a few areas where I have the advantage of local knowledge. He has delved exhaustively into every possible area and one section, headed “Pre-Platonic Writings Pertinent to Atlantis,” provides further evidence that Atlantis was definitely in the Atlantic. Cedric has scoured manuscripts from many ancient writers to find several references to Atlantis that predate Plato. Many refer to the Atlantic Ocean or the Western Sea. One example is from the famous Greek Herodotus, known as “the father of history.” Cedric gives his own translation from a portion of Herodotus’s Clio , thought to date from around 450 B.C. It refers to the ocean in which Atlantis sank.
“… but the sea navigated by all the Greeks and the one outside the Pillars called the Atlantis sea and Erythraean are called
But the most crucial clue indicating the Straits of Gibraltar is the one referring to “Gades.” Plato says, without any scope for misinterpretation, that the extremity of Atlantis reached as far as, or close to, Gades (clue 34). He did not specifically say it was the eastern extremity, but it is obvious that that is what he meant. If Atlantis was in the Atlantic, it had to be the eastern end. Historians unanimously agree that Gades is today’s Cádiz, the large Spanish city sitting at the mouth of the Guadalete River, not far outside the Straits of Gibraltar. It is Plato’s marker beacon for Atlantis and “black box” combined.
It has been flashing away in his narrative for more than two thousand years, directing us straight to the site with all the other critical identifying clues stored in his writings.
In Plato’s time, the city’s position would appear to have been farther south to southwest, as the sea has steadily encroached over the intervening centuries and there is the distinct possibility of land subsidence. Some years ago, archaeologists confirmed this when they discovered other submerged remains just out to sea. Inevitably, familiar cries of “the Atlantis citadel” were heard, but they could hardly be relevant when Plato said the capital was in the center of the kingdom, not in the extreme easterly corner.
When referring to his sons, Plato’s clues 32 and 33 read:
“the eldest who was the first king he named Atlas … and after him the whole island (Atlantis) and the ocean were called Atlantic.”
He was clearly referring to the sea around Atlantis. It is final proof, if any is needed, as it would hardly have been relevant if the kingdom was in the eastern Mediterranean.
To summarize:
• It is irrefutable. If what Plato said is analyzed, he was unambiguously referring to the area starting immediately outside the Straits of Gibraltar—in other words, the Atlantic.
• There was no evidence in his account to support any other location—and this is the only account we have. Those putting forward theories regarding other areas referred to by the Greeks as “Pillars of Hercules” completely ignore some of the other clues he and the Egyptian priest gave.
• The suitability of all of the other sites put forward over the years, such as the North Sea, southwest of Ireland and England, Antarctica, Santorini, Anatolia, or off Cyprus in the Mediterranean—even various sites in the Far East—is a fiction that Plato had no hand in.
After I had finished drafting this chapter, along with the rest of the book, I discovered a superb web site about Atlantis run by American R. Cedric Leonard. 32 I was astonished; it mirrored much of my research, even including that mysterious alphabet. The site is by far the best and most comprehensive source of background information I have found, although he doesn’t agree with my conclusion about the actual Atlantis site. Had he been living in the Algarve rather than operating from America, he probably would have. I said the site mirrored my own research but that is really an understatement. Cedric’s site is far more detailed and scholarly, apart from a few areas where I have the advantage of local knowledge. He has delved exhaustively into every possible area and one section, headed “Pre-Platonic Writings Pertinent to Atlantis,” provides further evidence that Atlantis was definitely in the Atlantic. Cedric has scoured manuscripts from many ancient writers to find several references to Atlantis that predate Plato. Many refer to the Atlantic Ocean or the Western Sea. One example is from the famous Greek Herodotus, known as “the father of history.” Cedric gives his own translation from a portion of Herodotus’s Clio , thought to date from around 450 B.C. It refers to the ocean in which Atlantis sank.
“… but the sea navigated by all the Greeks and the one outside the Pillars called the Atlantis sea and Erythraean are called
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