Message #54979

[Bianca]

Desiree

Member
Member # 2991

Member Rated:
   posted 05-11-2006 12:54 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Pillars of Hercules are often thought of as Gates; one set lies at the mouth of the Mediterranean, while the location of the other set is lost to history. The Gate of Horns is depicted as two simple columns on Mesopotamian cylinder seals; "pillars" and "gates" are therefore about the same. The Muddy Sea mentioned by Aristotle was a shallow, submerged plateau to the southwest of the Pillars of Hercules. The Carthaginian admiral Himilco, sent to explore the area in 509 B.C., reported "Many seaweeds grow in the troughs between the waves, which slow the ship like bushes . . . Here the beasts of the sea move slowly hither and thither, and great monsters swim languidly among the sluggishly creeping ships" [Rufus Festus Avienus, Description of the World]. In other words, this area greatly resembles the Sargasso Sea of Atlantic lore.

http://www.geocities.com/laxaria/gates02.html

Anyway, to sum up, both the Greeks and the Egyptians knew (from the Phoenicians & Himilco) about the Sargasso Sea before the time of Plato. Maybe the Olmecs came from some Phoenician colony on the coast of Africa. This would also mean there is no mistaking Plato's outer continent: it would have to be America! Plato's geography is just like it seems.

I'm going to do some more checking into the Sargasso Sea, it might have some more interesting answers.