From Sea Monsters to Paradise: The Legacy of Atlantis

Carthaginian Himilco

For early sea explorers, the Atlantic Ocean was viewed as shallow, stagnant, weed-infested, and home to sea monsters. In 500 BC, the Carthaginian navigator Himilco sailed north from Hanno to Spain, Portugal, and France and noted weeds and dangers lurking in the unnavigable Atlantic, leading credence to the idea that Atlantis was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean.

Diodorus Siculus

In 30 BC, Diodorus Siculus wrote in The History of Diodorus Siculus that the Amazons, Gorgons, and Atlanteans were present in North Africa. He also discussed the Atlanteans’ ideas about the genesis of the gods and recounted the Atlanteans as historical people. The works of Siculus are now dismissed because of inaccuracies and contradictory material.

Isles of Blest, or Fortunate Isles

By the time of Christ, Atlantis was placed beside the mythical Isles of Blest, sometimes called the Fortunate Isles. These were located in the Western Ocean. At the Isles of Blest, the gods received the souls of favored mortals and lived happily in paradise. Belief in the islands persisted, and the Canary Islands, Azores, and Madeira Islands were sometimes identified with them.

Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus (330-395), a Roman historian and author of Roman History, discussed different types of earthquakes and referred to an island larger than Europe being swallowed up by the earth. Unlike Siculus, Marcellinus’ works are regarded as accurate and noted for their details of Roman military life.

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