Howells, Caleb

Caleb Howells is a British teacher of English with a passion for ancient history. He has already published a book about King Arthur ^[2077] and next year will offer a new look at the story of Brutus the Trojan king of Britain ^[2076] in The Trojan Kings of Britain.

Among other publications Howells is also a content writer for the Greek Reporter website, where he has recently endeavoured to revive the ailing Minoan Hypothesis ^(a)(b).

Plato came from Athens, a city frequently damaged by earthquakes, he also spent time in Sicily where he must have been made aware of the continually active volcano, Mount Etna. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that Plato could distinguish between an earthquake and a volcano, so when he wrote that Thera had been destroyed by an earthquake, that is what he intended to say. Furthermore, his description of the submergence of Atlantis as a result of the ‘quake sound very much like liquefaction frequently associated with such events. The Minoan Hypothesis does not match Plato’s account.

Although I disagree with Howells identification of Atlantis as Minoan, I was pleasantly surprised that in a December 2023 article^(c)  he tackled the question of the Pillars of Herakles which included many of the points already published in Atlantipedia. He notes the use of the phrase as a metaphor, particularly by Pindar who used it “as an expression denoting the outermost limit of something. His use of the phrase ‘beyond that the wise cannot set foot’ indicates that he was not merely talking about athletic limits, but limits in general.” Howells also points out the multiplicity of locations designated as ‘Pillars’ and that more than one location were so called at the same time. Nevertheless, he cannot let go of a Minoan connection and so proposed the Gulf of Laconia where the Capes Matapan (Tainaron) and Maleas in the Peloponnese are the two most southerly points of mainland Greece. They have been proposed over forty years ago by Galanopoulos & Bacon ^[0263] as the Pillars of Heracles when the early Greeks were initially confined to the Aegean Sea and the two promontories were the western limits of their maritime knowledge at that time. Overall, Howells’ article is interesting but unoriginal.

A few days later (12/12/23) he cast doubts on the Capes Matapan and Maleas as the location of the Pillars of Herakles^(d). Howells is like a dog with a bone where the Minoan Hypothesis is concerned and and by now should be realising the true complexity of the Atlantis story.

Atlantis was destroyed by submergence following an earthquake, not a volcanic eruption. The Minoans were traders not invaders, so if Crete was Atlantis where is there mention of a war between Athens and the Minoans? Atlantis was a confederation of some sort, so who were its constituents? Why did Plato not simply name the not-too-distant Cretans as the attackers of Athens and laud the victory of the Athenians?

>In late January 2024 Howells expanded his efforts to bolster the Minoan Hypothesis. This time, using some rather convoluted reasoning, he identifies ancient Crete as the Caphtor referred to in the Bible.

This is another contentious issue among historians. The matter is discussed more fully in the Caphtor-Keftiu entry here, where you will find a number of locations identified as Caphtor, including Cyprus, Crete, Cilicia and the Nile Delta. Although currently the most popular would appear to be Crete, Wikipedia seems to favour the Egyptian region of Pelusium^(e)!

Cyprus had previously been the most favoured location, about whom Immanuel Velikovsky noted^(f) “if Caphtor is not Cyprus, then the Old Tesrament completely omits referenceto this large island close to the Syrian coast.” The Cypriot identification has been endorse by a number of commentators such as John Strange, author of Caphtor/Keftiu: A new Investigation^[1052]. I think that with so much controversy surrounding the indentity of the Caphtorim that its possible value as support for the equally controversial Minoan Hypothesis is substantially weakened.

Furthermore, I note that in 2022, Phil Butler published a paper that also suggested identifying the Keftiu as Atlantean^(g).<

A number of commentators have supported the idea of Atlantis in the Aegean region. The most convincing, in my opinion, have come from Peter James ^[047], Eberhard Zangger ^[483] and more recently Nicholas Costa ^[2072] , all of whom designated an Anatolian location for Atlantis. They all have their shortcomings but have built stronger cases than Howells for their chosen locations.

^(a) Was Atlantis’ Temple of Poseidon the Palace of Knossos in Crete? (greekreporter.com)

^(b) Was Atlantis a Minoan Civilization on Santorini Island? (greekreporter.com)

^(c) https://greekreporter.com/2023/12/07/pillars-hercules-greek-mythology/

^(d) https://greekreporter.com/2023/12/12/mythical-atlantis-located/

^(e) Caphtor – Wikipedia *

^(f) Ages in Chaos p.210 n.79  *

^(g) The Keftiu: Were They Absorbed and Erased from History? (argophilia.com) *