Resumen de Not Exactly Atlantis: Some Lessons from Ancient Mediterranean Myths
This chapter starts by briefly discussing the methodological pitfalls of the “Where is Atlantis” question, including the identification of Tartessos with the fantastic sea empire in Plato’s dialogs. It then examines the myth of Atlantis in its own terms, as a tool in Plato’s philosophical teachings particularly related to the discussion of ideal and corrupt state models, while also highlighting their connection with widely held ideas about maritime or fluvial catastrophes in the ancient Mediterranean. And, lastly, an overview is provided of other Near Eastern and Greek narratives about cataclysms and ends of ages. These narratives doubtless channeled the accumulated experience and fear of “high-energy events”, which entered the mythical imagination as catalysts of the end of ages or of the world. At the same time, they do not necessarily allude to real events or places, but are part and parcel of culture-specific views of the human position in relation to the gods and areof particular relevance today in more than one way.
