The idea of ​​founding a Museum of Atlantis was an original, strange but also bold thought for the 80's and I still think it remains the same today. I admit that it was an idea that its realization and support brought us a lot of storms and concerns. What objects would a museum with the name of a mythical country contain ??? And how was it better to be called? Museum;; or was it better to become the "Library of Atlantis"? - which would be easier to manage because everyone knows that there is a rich bibliography around the world about her case, ancient and modern, that could be compiled! The collection of many of these books alone can not justify the title Museum.

Is it possible that there are ancient finds or relics of a disputed country? Such archaeological finds, of undetermined origin, are scattered in DIFFERENT countries. In the USA and in Russia there are objects, plates, crystals, etc., that have emerged from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. In Great Britain, Spain, Mexico, Guatemala and Peru, there are various objects of undetermined origin that are still being examined. The same in Greece (eg Phaistos disk, plates with Linear A 'and hieroglyphics, etc.).

But these are inaccessible, even to atlantologists, except for the narrow circle of expert scientists of secret investigations .... These objects are surrounded by a veil of mystery. So there would be no obsolete finds in a Museum of Atlantis. But, what would we expose besides the relevant unlimited bibliography (books, articles, studies, magazines, newspapers, etc.)? The solution to the problem was given by the immortal books of the ancient Greek and Latin authors.

In Homer's Odyssey there is information about the world of the ocean, outside the Pillars of Hercules (modern-day Gibraltar). Hesiod describes the genealogy of the Gods and the Titans-Atlanteans, coming from the Atlantic. Solon reveals the telling of a strange story, by the priests of Sais of Egypt, about the Atlanteans, who invaded Attica. Plato in his books Critias and Timaeus deals with the Atlantic speech, which presents Atlantis in all its glory. In Apollodorus we found the completion of the generation of the Atlanteans and other information about their emblems, etc.

In the Argonauts of Apollonius Rhodes there are associations of traditions and heroes of the generation of the Atlanteans, and the later tribes, leaders and heroes. Aristarchus, Crantoras, Plutarch, Proclus, Poseidoios, Ovidios, Horatios, Pliny, etc. confirm the facts about the Titans-Atlantes, the islands of Hesperides and the Calypso of the daughter of Atlas, the myths for Atlas and Hercules, the 7 daughters of Atlas who became leaders of various tribes.

These innumerable elements described in ancient sources, for some mythologies - for us myths-stories, which show the relations of prehistoric Greece with even a tribe of Atlanteans, did not leave indifferent the artists of all times until today and the ordinary folk artists. They depicted, thus, the descriptions, the emblems, the heroes, etc. with vivid images on complex and simple utensils, on murals and paintings, on marble and clay slabs, on statues and busts. Many of these synthetic works of folk tradition confirm the traditional and historical facts about the people who played a role (leadership, heroic, etc.) in the old days and about events that took place.

Based on all the above data, the word "Museum" was chosen by Mr. V. Paschos and the kinds (categories) of exhibits that the strange "Museum" will contain was agreed by the "Society for Promotion of Atlantis Museum".

In the museum were placed as exhibits, all objects-artifacts reminiscent of the lost Atlantis, the Atlanteans and Titans and its other heroes and emblems and generally their impact on every aspect of human life.

That is, every kind of thing (material or intangible), which originates, was born, was invented and made by the influence of the legend or history of Atlantis, the Titans-Atlanteans and their descendants, its heroes, its symbols, etc. in the whole range of human life (in tradition, art, science, philology, geography (eg geographical atlantes), in astronomy, archeology and research as well as in trade, shipping, industry, etc.). After this general diagram for the items that would have a place in the museum, a list of museum objects that we will collect and exhibit was compiled and approved by the "Society...." , which was included in the operating regulations of the Atlantis Museum and is shown in Figure 1. Also defined that the Museum will also keep a Book of registration of all objects, with registration serial number, description of object, date of acquisition, origin and type (category) of object.

 At the end of 1984 in the Museum there were 1400 museum objects besides its equipment (showcases, closets, offices, chairs, lighting) and it was housed in a room that we rented in Heraklion, Attica. By the end of 1986 it had been enriched with other exhibits. They reached the number 1830, recorded in the Registration Book. The room was full and the exhibits were cramped. We started looking for another, bigger space, to solve the housing problem.

In June 1988, a new period began for the Museum and the "Society ...". To accommodate all its exhibits and equipment, it was relocated to a new room of 106 sq.m. in the New Cosmo, much larger than the previous one, bought by the founder of the Museum.

Aeschylus's Prometheus Desmotes with his torch lit our way.

See some exhibits of Atlantis Museum

 
copyright © Θεόδωρος Πάσχος, Ελλάδα, Αύγουστος 2000