{"id":2161,"date":"2010-05-30T18:01:01","date_gmt":"2010-05-30T18:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/phaeton\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T08:50:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T08:50:43","slug":"phaeton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/phaeton\/","title":{"rendered":"Pha\u00ebton"},"content":{"rendered":"

P<\/strong>ha\u00ebton<\/strong> in Greek mythology<\/a> was the son of Helios the Greek sun god. Pha\u00ebton was also the name given to a comet that impacted or had a close encounter with the Earth in the 13th century BC. The Egyptians knew this comet as Sekhmet. Ancient inscriptions record that some of the consequences of this dramatic encounter were the drying up of the Nile and the desertification of Libya<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Michel-Alain Combes<\/a> has noted(j<\/span><\/sup>)<\/sup>\u00a0 that Pha\u00ebton has also been associated “with <\/em>Anat<\/em> in Syria, the star of Baal in Canaan (Palestine and Phenicia), Absinthe, The star of the Apocalypse) among the Hebrews, <\/em>Surt<\/em> in the countries of the north.”\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/em>He also suggests that the legends of Typhon<\/a> (Hesiod<\/a>) and Phaeton (Ovid), although usually thought to refer to separate events, are just different versions of the same encounter with a comet in the late 13th century BC.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

G\u00fcnter Bischoff<\/a> has published two lengthy articles(n)(o<\/span><\/sup>)<\/sup> on the Atlantisforschung website which includes a comment that might account for the number of locations where apparent sightings of the comet were reported. “<\/em>Now it is easy to explain why Phaethon should have been sighted over Greece,\u00a0<\/em>Egypt,\u00a0Syria,\u00a0India\u00a0and other countries.\u00a0During its orbits lasting several days, it will have flown over many inhabited areas on its elliptical orbit.\u00a0Some observers may even have seen it several times and from different directions.”<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A 2012 paper by Peter James<\/a> and M.A, van der Sluijs entitled ”Silver’: A Hurrian Phaethon’<\/em> (l)<\/sup> concluded that “t<\/em>here is an attractive pattern of correspondences between the well-known Greek myth of Phaethon and the Hurrian myth of Silver.”<\/em> Silver was a character in Hurrian mythology, also known as Ushu.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Interestingly, Plato records in T<\/em>imaeus<\/em> how Pha\u00ebton caused immense devastation but does not link it directly with the destruction of Atlantis but the context implies an event that was in the distant past, considerably earlier than Solon. Some ancient authorities, such as Eusebius and Isidore of Seville, have associated Pha\u00ebton with the time of Moses.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The poet Goethe considered the story of Pha\u00ebton to have had a real astronomical origin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Franz Xavier Kugler was a Jesuit priest who spent over thirty years studying ancient astronomical texts written in cuneiform. In 1927, he published a paper in which he concluded that a 1500 BC asteroidal impact in the Mediterranean inspired the story of Pha\u00ebton(r)<\/sup>,\u00a0an idea that could support the theories of Fatih Hod\u017eic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Immanuel Velikovsky<\/a> has quoted from several of Kugler\u2019s books in Worlds in Collision<\/em>(t<\/sup>)<\/sup>. In 1975 Malcolm Lowery published a more critical view of Kugler\u2019s theories(u<\/sup>)<\/sup>, concluding with the comment \u201cthus we see in Kugler the triumph of preconceived ideas over objective investigation of all available evidence \u2013 the more surprising as Kugler could accept one interpretation of Plato to back up one aspect of his theory, but was unable to see its obvious similarity to Celsus and Manilius. In the last reckoning, it seems, he was unable to escape the yoke of uniformitarianism<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More recently, Bob Kobres has written several articles on the subject of Pha\u00ebton having a cometary origin(k)<\/sup>.\u00a0 Some of these papers can be found on the Internet(<\/sup>a<\/sup>)<\/sup>. Kobres dates this Pha\u00ebton event to around 1200 BC.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stavros Papamarinopoulos<\/a> from the University of Patras in Greece presented a paper to the 2005 Atlantis Conference<\/a> held on Melos<\/a> in which he linked Plato\u2019s Pha\u00ebton with an encounter between the earth and cometary fragments around 1200 BC.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Emilio Spedicato<\/a> opted for 1447 BC\u00a0as the likely date of the Pha\u00ebton explosion. He describes this as a super-Tunguska event, which exploded over southern Denmark(m)<\/sup>. He further contends that the after-effects assisted the Israelite Exodus<\/a> from Egypt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Spedicato’s identification\u00a0is comparable with J\u00fcrgen Spanuth\u2019s<\/a> idea that Pha\u00ebton was a fragment of Halley\u2019s Comet. Two other followers of Spanuth,\u00a0G\u00fcnter Bischoff<\/a>\u00a0and Walter Stender\u00a0<\/a>have written extensive papers, in German, on a meteorite impact with Northern Europe around 1220 BC, which they identify as Pha\u00ebton(c)<\/sup>. The same interpretation has been applied specifically to Lake Chiemgau in S.E. Bavaria and is expanded on in papers by Barbara Rappengl\u00fcck among many others(d)(f)<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The late Bernhard Beier<\/a> published an article on the Atlantisforschung<\/em> website regarding Spanuth’s Phaeton theory that proposes a North Sea impact around 4.5km south of Helgoland<\/a> with the consequent destruction of Atlantis. Beier concludes his comments with “<\/em>Spanuth’s\u00a0assumption that the Phaethon legend represents a mythical representation of catastrophic events from pre-Hellenic times corresponds exactly to\u00a0Plato’s view of things and can therefore still be regarded as open to discussion.\u00a0<\/em>His chronological assignment of these events to the end of the ‘Bronze Age’ still seems worthy of discussion. On the other hand, the equation of the assumed Phaethon \"\"<\/a>impact with the\u00a0<\/em>Atlantis catastrophe, which he made quite naturally and without further ado, lacks any exegetical basis, even if it may initially appear quite logical in the context of Spanuth ‘s theory.”<\/em>(p) <\/sup>There are aspects of the Pha\u00ebton story that are still debated. Was the Pha\u00ebton of Greek mythology inspired by a close encounter with a comet? Did it destroy Atlantis? Are we dealing with an impact or just a very close encounter? What was the flight path of the comet? One suggested route is shown here, where it was given different names along the way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Holger Kalweit<\/a>, who also follows Spanuth in identifying Heligoland<\/a> as a remnant of Atlantis, claims it was destroyed in 1222 BC by Pha\u00ebton.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Clube & Napier [0290<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0 have proposed a slightly later date of \u00a01369 BC\u00a0for the encounter with Pha\u00ebton.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dale Drinnon<\/a> has argued(g)<\/sup> against any connection between Phaeton and the destruction of Atlantis saying \u201cThere are two different kinds of catastrophes being described and distinguished from one another and <\/i>the Phaethon event is categorically differentiated from the Destruction of Atlantis in the Atlantis dialogues of Plato. There is no good reason to equate the two and certainly no textual justification for doing so<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Allan & Delair<\/a> refer to the central cause of the catastrophe described in their book[<\/sup>014<\/sup><\/a>]<\/sup> as Pha\u00ebton, which they claim was cosmic ejecta from a supernova in the Vela constellation. <\/b>Maurice A. Williams in his review(q)<\/sup> \u00a0of their book noted how the authors deduced that ancient Mesopotamian observers named this cosmic intruder Marduk as it caused great disruption in the Solar System, including the destruction of the planet ‘Tiamat’ creating the Asteroid Belt and capturing Tiamat’s satellite ‘Kingu’, which in turn disintegrated near Earth causing the biblical Deluge. This deadly journey was also seen by the Greeks and called Pha\u00ebton by them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amanda Laoupi<\/a> offers an extensive article on the history of the Pha\u00ebton myth and its interpretation in both ancient and modern times.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pha\u00ebton was also the name given by Johann Gottlieb Radlof (1775-1829) to a planet that he believed disintegrated after a collision with a comet, within human memory, resulting in the asteroid belt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, we have an asteroid called 3200 Phaeton<\/em> which is the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower(s<\/sup>)<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(<\/sup>a<\/sup>)<\/sup> Comet Phaethon’s Ride (defendgaia.org)<\/a> \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(b)<\/sup> https:\/\/www.migration-diffusion.info\/article.php?year=2011&id=259<\/a><\/p>\n

(c) <\/span><\/sup>Wayback Machine (archive.org)<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(d)<\/sup> http:\/\/impact-structures.com\/news\/Stoettham_c.pdf<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(f)<\/sup> https:\/\/guginew.blogspot.ie\/2011\/09\/fall-of-phaethon-greco-roman-geomyth.html<\/a><\/p>\n

(g)<\/sup>\u00a0 http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20191017005623\/https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/archive-3605\/<\/a><\/p>\n

(h) <\/span><\/sup>https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130828191602\/http:\/www.efodon.de:80\/html\/archiv\/vorgeschichte\/stender\/phaeton.htm<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(i)<\/sup><\/span> https:\/\/www.q-mag.org\/amanda-laoupi-the-pelasgians-spiritual-substratum-in-the-ancient-mediterranean-and-circum-pontic-world-5.html<\/a><\/p>\n

(j)<\/sup><\/span> http:\/\/www.astrosurf.com\/macombes\/Article_Sekhmet,_Phaeton,_Surt_et_les_autres.htm<\/a>\u00a0(French)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(k)<\/sup> http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200215123340\/https:\/\/atlantipedia.ie\/samples\/archive-3365-2\/<\/a><\/p>\n

(l) <\/sup>https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/274336666_’Silver’_A_Hurrian_Phaethon<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(m)<\/sup> https:\/\/interval.louisiana.edu\/conferences\/2007_Stenger\/Slides_of_talks\/mose8-6.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

(n)<\/sup> Phaethon’s Fall and the Fall of Atlantis (Part I) \u2013 Atlantisforschung.de (atlantisforschung-de.translate.goog)<\/a><\/p>\n

(o)<\/sup> Pha\u00e9thons Sturz und der Untergang von Atlantis (Teil II) \u2013 Atlantisforschung.de (atlantisforschung-de.translate.goog)<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(p)<\/sup> On the discussion about Spanuth’s Phaethon thesis \u2013 Atlantisforschung.de (atlantisforschung-de.translate.goog)<\/a><\/p>\n

(q)<\/sup> https:\/\/compulsivereader.com\/2005\/01\/19\/cataclysm-compelling-evidence-of-a-cosmic-catastrophe-in-9500-b-c-by-d-s-allan-and-j-b-delair\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(r)<\/sup> Sibyllinischer Sternkampf und Pha\u00ebthon in naturgeschichtlicher Beleuchtung [microform] : Kugler, Franz Xaver, 1862-1929 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(s)<\/sup> https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/goddard\/2023\/sun\/asteroid-s-comet-like-tail-is-not-made-of-dust-solar-observatories-reveal<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(t)<\/sup> Franz Xaver Kugler | The Velikovsky Encyclopedia<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(u)<\/sup> “F. X. KUGLER — ALMOST A CATASTROPHIST”) (defendgaia.org)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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