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NEWS October 2024
OCTOBER 2024 The recent cyber attack on the Internet Archive is deplorable and can be reasonably compared with the repeated burning of the Great Library of Alexandria. I have used the Wayback Machine extensively, but, until the full extent of the permanent damage is clear, I am unable to assess its effect on Atlantipedia. At […]Read More »
Joining The Dots
I have now published my new book, Joining The Dots, which offers a fresh look at the Atlantis mystery. I have addressed the critical questions of when, where and who, using Plato’s own words, tempered with some critical thinking and a modicum of common sense.Read More »
Theodore Spyropoulos
Lacedaemon
Lacedaemon and Laconia were the ancient names for a city state centred on Sparta, whose name eventually superseded theirs. Lacedaemon is the 
preferred location of Atlantis of Dr Theodore Spyropoulos, a Greek archaeologist, who is author of a three-volume work entitled Lacedaemon.
He was one of the archaeologists who discovered the ruins of Akrotiri on Santorini in 1967. In 2007, he was took part in the excavations at Pellana(c), now a village 27 km north of Sparta. Spyropoulos believes that Pellana was the Mycenaean capital of Lyconia mentioned by Homer.
In June 2014 he published two short papers(a)(b) on the Ancient Origins website arguing for Lacedaemon as the location of Plato’s Atlantis. In his own words;
“There is a vast bibliography about Atlantis, but the modern scholarship concluded that to locate Atlantis and to prove the validity of its identification, four points of agreement must be met and generally accepted. (See E. Bloedow. ‘Fire and Flood from Heaven: Was Atlantis at Troy?’ La Parola del Passato 48, 1993, pp.109-160
Atlantis was an island.
It lay beyond the ‘Pillars of Hercules’.
It was larger than Asia and Libya together.
Its destruction (sinking) produced a barrier of impassable mud.
These four prerequisites are completely fulfilled in the case of Lacedaemon.”
His contention is that in ancient times Lacedaemon had been a large lake or lagoon containing a number islands, both natural and artificial, one of which was the island of Atlantis.
His explanation for Atlantis being greater than Asia and Libya combined is that they were local names for two of the other islands in Lake Lacedaemon! He alone has identified the ‘Pillars of Heracles’ with Columns on Mt. Thornax, 2 km from the Lagoon of Lacedaemon! For example, Atlantis attacked Athens and Egypt from their base in the west (Tim.25b & Crit.114c), not something that could be attributed to Lacedaemon.
I would have expected something more convincing from such an experienced academic, considering the range of other details on offer in Plato’s narrative.