推荐文章
推荐文章 热门文章今日阅读——走进消失文明亚特兰蒂斯（The Lost Atlantis）——20080728
2008-07-28 [日常][英文漫画] 浏览:341人次
The story of the lost island of Atlantis is recorded by Plato over two thousand years ago. But even in his time it was already an ancient legend going back over nine thousand years. If he is right, the island disappeared about 11-12,000 years ago. These are the facts that Plato has to say about Atlantis:
When the Greek gods divided the earth among themselves, Poseidon, the god of the ocean and waters received the island called Atlantis and settled it with his children from a human woman. The first son of Poseidon was Atlas who was the first king on the island and after whom the island came to be called Atlantis and the ocean surrounding it Atlantic.
The island of Atlantis was a little paradise, the soil was fertile, there was a rich supply of water and food, including all kinds of luxurious fruits and desserts. The people, bearing the blessing of their divine protector, built wonderful temples and palaces, cultivated the earth and raised livestock. The port of Atlantis was always densely crowded with vessels and merchants from all over the world, whose voices could be heard day and night.
At the heart of Atlantis stood the temple of Poseidon. In the middle of the temple stood a pillar of orichalcum with the laws of Poseidon inscribed by the first kings. Beside the text of the law, the pillar also recorded an oath invoking severe curses on the disobedient. The kings of the various regions of the island would gather around this pillar and pledge to obey and uphold the law by performing sacrifices.
This idyllically perfect state lasted for many generations until the kings and their people obeyed the laws of Poseidon. They were respectful and affectionate towards the gods and had great spirits in every respect. They possessed virtue and wisdom and valued the true things in life, such as friendship and knowledge. They did not put much weight on gold and property and, although they had wealth and luxury, they did not get neither attached to it, nor intoxicated by it.
But as the divine nature of Poseidon was getting more and more diluted in them, they began loosing their pure spirit and engaged in pursuing wealth and power. This invoked the wrath of Zeus, the king of all Greek gods who decided to punish the unrighteous people of Atlantis.
Here the story ends, either because it got lost or because it was never finished. All we know is that the island and its whole culture disappeared under the ocean and has been lost eversince.
When the Greek gods divided the earth among themselves, Poseidon, the god of the ocean and waters received the island called Atlantis and settled it with his children from a human woman. The first son of Poseidon was Atlas who was the first king on the island and after whom the island came to be called Atlantis and the ocean surrounding it Atlantic.
The island of Atlantis was a little paradise, the soil was fertile, there was a rich supply of water and food, including all kinds of luxurious fruits and desserts. The people, bearing the blessing of their divine protector, built wonderful temples and palaces, cultivated the earth and raised livestock. The port of Atlantis was always densely crowded with vessels and merchants from all over the world, whose voices could be heard day and night.
At the heart of Atlantis stood the temple of Poseidon. In the middle of the temple stood a pillar of orichalcum with the laws of Poseidon inscribed by the first kings. Beside the text of the law, the pillar also recorded an oath invoking severe curses on the disobedient. The kings of the various regions of the island would gather around this pillar and pledge to obey and uphold the law by performing sacrifices.
This idyllically perfect state lasted for many generations until the kings and their people obeyed the laws of Poseidon. They were respectful and affectionate towards the gods and had great spirits in every respect. They possessed virtue and wisdom and valued the true things in life, such as friendship and knowledge. They did not put much weight on gold and property and, although they had wealth and luxury, they did not get neither attached to it, nor intoxicated by it.
But as the divine nature of Poseidon was getting more and more diluted in them, they began loosing their pure spirit and engaged in pursuing wealth and power. This invoked the wrath of Zeus, the king of all Greek gods who decided to punish the unrighteous people of Atlantis.
Here the story ends, either because it got lost or because it was never finished. All we know is that the island and its whole culture disappeared under the ocean and has been lost eversince.
