An attempt to track down the mythical city of Atlantis – the perennial debate – will be made during a talk on Saturday that should attract the believers and the sceptics alike.
Delivered by medical historian Charles Savona-Ventura, Malta: Echoes Of Plato’s Island Atlantis is a review of the story of the destroyed city state and attempts to narrow down its location, correlating the Classical Atlantis texts to the archaeological, biogeographical and geological features of the Maltese-pelagic archipelago during the Copper Age period.
In his paper, Prof. Savona-Ventura maintains that “all the evidence seems to support the fact that some historical reality lies behind Plato’s story”, which traced the catastrophic event that affected the Mediterranean world.
The possible locality for Atlantis has been hotly debated and Prof. Savona-Venture says the problem lies with interpreting Plato’s description about “an island situated in front of the straits which are... called the Pillars of Hercules”. Today, many assume that these refer to the Straits of Gibraltar but Classical writers confirm their presence in the Gulf of Sidra, off the Northern coast of Africa, placing Plato’s island right in the middle of the Mediterranean, straddling two seas.
In his talk, the author points out that the ideal candidates for the remnants of Atlantis are the Maltese and Pelagian islands. He presents his research to prove the point, including geological and biogeographical evidence that suggests the central Mediterranean region south of Sicily was once composed of a large landmass.
Prof. Savona-Ventura explains how this landmass was broken up and submerged by a series of massive volcanic eruptions and tectonic movements, probably in the late centuries of the third millennium BC, leaving only fragments in the form of the Maltese archipelago and the Pelagian islands.
“A strong case can be further made to culturally associate these islands with Plato’s Atlantikos,” he says. In fact, his talk highlights that many features of Malta’s megalithic culture have close parallels to the culture attributed by Plato to “the Atlantoi of Atlantikos”.
The talk is being organised to raise funds to purchase a defibrillator for the Special Rescue Group’s ambulance. It will be held at the Dolmen Hotel in Buġibba at 7.30 p.m.
More information is available from info@srgmalta.org.