Martin, Thomas-Henri

Thomas-Henri Martin (1813-1884) was a French scholar who wrote a commentary on Timaeus, Études sur le Timée de Platon^[471], in which he concluded that the entire story was fictitious.*His intention was to eradicate what he described as ‘Atlantomania’.*

In the 19^th century it was generally believed that Atlantis had been a continental sized island in the Atlantic. Martin ‘reasoned’ that the cataclysmic disappearance of such a large landmass would have left geological evidence on Europe and Africa and since no such corroboration had been found, therefore Atlantis never existed. The basis of his argument is seriously undermined if the extent of Atlantis is accepted as having been more modest as is the view among the majority of atlantologists today. This would permit a credible Mediterranean location for Plato’s island to be offered for consideration.

Both volumes of Martin’s commentary are now available as ebooks^(a)(b).

^(a)  https://books.google.ie/books/about/%C3%89tudes_sur_le_Tim%C3%A9e_de_Platon.html?id=BQbjYGCDcBAC&redir_esc=y  (French)

^(b) https://books.google.ie/books?id=7EgTAAAAQAAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions  (French)