The Destruction of Atlantis

My own version of Atlantis's fall. The beginning is really similar to that of The Child of Athena. I'm trying to show how much the gods and goddesses argued over things and how they were imperfect, explaining why we still don't have a perfect world.

Athena sat on her pale golden throne, glaring at the other quarreling Olympians. She, as the goddess of wisdom, knew that their fighting would lead them nowhere. She was infuriated, because they themselves admitted that she was wisest of all and yet they would still not listen to her reasoning. The gods fought over the fate of the civilization of Atlantis. Poseidon, god of the sea, Hera, goddess of mothers, Hephaestus, god of smiths, Apollo and Artemis, god of light and music and goddess of hunting, and Demeter, goddess of the harvest wanted the Atlanteans to survive. Zeus, father of the gods, Ares, god of war, Aphrodite, goddess of love, Hermes, herald of the gods, Dionysus, god of wine, and Athena herself wanted the people exterminated.

          “This is an outrage,” yelled Poseidon. “The Atlanteans have been giving us sacrifices daily!” At this Athena replied coldly, “Maybe to you. My altar has been empty of sacrifices for quite some time.” Dionysus and Hermes yelled agreements. Athena continued, “The Atlanteans are becoming arrogant. They are starting to think that they don’t need us. Pretty soon, you will find your alter bare as well, Poseidon.”

          Their arguments continued this way for hours, with MountOlympus shaking under the gods’ rage. Finally, Zeus ordered, “Silence! Hephaestus, Athena, and I will go to Atlantis in the shape of a citizen to see what they experience. We will ask questions to determine the fate of their people.” All the gods agreed on this so the goddesses of the seasons rolled back the clouds blocking the peak of Olympus and the earth back and the three immortals descended.

          The capitol of Atlantis was also named Atlantis. It was filled with great statues and mighty citadels. There were three walls protecting the city; the first was made of solid tin, the second was made of silver, and the third was made of gold. Each wall was about ten feet thick. The Atlanteans themselves had great knowledge in most areas. They could heal the sick, create great building in small amounts of time, and reigned with peace and prosperity. However, over time they had become arrogant and believed themselves equal to the gods.

          Zeus, Athena, and Hephaestus floated down to Earth. They decided that they should look at their temples first. Athena and Hephaestus’ temples had weeds growing nearby and grass was beginning to cover the floor. A thin layer of dust coated everything and spider webs were in the corners. Zeus’ temple was fine with a large shining statue of him in the back. They then looked at the other temples. Poseidon’s temple was clean and gleaming. The exterior was made of polished white stone. The inside had a freshly slaughtered cow on his alter and all kinds of incense perfumed the room. Hera’s was the same with sacrifices on her alter and the outside almost glowing.

          Athena’s face turned red with rage, but she said nothing.

          “I think that we should continue on,” said Hephaestus. “We can’t judge these people completely on the way they treat our temples.” Zeus agreed so they moved on.

          Eventually they reached a marketplace. It was filled with stalls of food, oils, precious gems, cloth, and other expensive items. Tons of people bustled around and salesmen yelled out the expense of wares to people passing by. Every once in a while they would meet a beggar asking for food or money.

          “I have an idea,” said hardworking Hephaestus. His form changed swiftly from an average citizen to a dirty beggar. “I’ll ask for food from ten people. If I get food from more of them it will give Atlantis a better chance of surviving. If not, Atlantis will be closer to destruction.” Zeus and Athena agreed so Hephaestus sat down and held out his hands, asking for food. Four of the people he asked gave them food. The others only laughed mockingly.

          “It’s to close to tell,” said wise Athena.

          “I agree,” said Zeus. They gave the food they had gotten to real beggars and Hephaestus changed back. Then, they walked through the busy streets, past learning centers, hospitals, houses, and statues all the way to the city center.

          The city center was a large, extravagant, circular, shallow pool of water with a statue of Poseidon in the middle and tons of smaller statues of nymphs and minor sea gods. All of the statues also acted as fountains with Poseidon’s shooting water from his triton and the others out of their hands. The edges of the pool were inlaid with intricate designs made of gold and silver. Sapphires and diamonds decorated all of the statues and all the eyes were made with amethyst that looked so real the statues seemed alive.

          “This is unacceptable,” said Athena to her father, Zeus. “They are abandoning us. Pretty soon Poseidon will be the only one with a temple here. It is my opinion that we stay with the decision to destroy Atlantis.” Zeus and Hephaestus also voted for the destruction of the city. They disappeared and floated back up to Olympus.

          When they got to Olympus they told the other gods their decision. They all agreed to the idea (some with reluctance), so they got ready.

          The Cyclopes brought Zeus more thunderbolts and Ares sharpened his sword. Apollo and Artemis sharpened their arrows, Apollo’s bringing a harsh death, and Artemis’ bringing painless death. Hephaestus had his Cyclopes built a forge in Atlantis’ mountain so that lava and sparks would fly forth. Poseidon, under the orders of Zeus, got ready his trident so that he could create waves to crush the buildings and earthquakes to shatter the roads.

          When all the immortals were ready, the goddesses of the seasons pushed back the clouds and all the gods floated downward. Zeus shouted, “Get ready!” All the gods raised their weapons. Zeus gave a hand signal and Iris, the messenger of the gods, glided down the rainbow in a dress of raindrops. She landed in Hephaestus’ new forge and told him to start making thunderbolts. The other gods saw the mountain top explode and fire and lave rain down. The all rushed at the great city. Zeus hurled his thunderbolts down and destroyed tons of buildings. Poseidon stabbed his trident into the ground and the earth shook. Great cracks came from his triton as well and split entire citadels. Athena raised her hands and the city became completely filled with mist so dense that the Atlanteans could not find the way off the island. She also filled the hearts of all the people with happy thoughts before they died. That was the extent of her kindness. To confuse them further, Helios did not ride his flaming chariot across the sky as he normally did so that the world was covered in darkness. Apollo and Artemis both shot arrows into random citizens so that the whole area was like a graveyard. Once most of the people were dead, Poseidon raised a great wave out of the sea and sent it crashing against the island, to extinguish any light Hephaestus’ fires created while also destroying the outside walls. After a while, all that was left of the great city was a pile a stone and dirt. Hephaestus turned the gold and silver of the city into a liquid and made it float into his forge. He also needed to extract the gems so that he could use them later.

          Zeus nodded to Poseidon and he raised his trident once again. A wave the size of a mountain formed and completely sank the once great island of Atlantis.

          Nothing was left but mud, and rain, and blood.

 

Author's Note

As always, I'm open to suggestions...

Reviews

[Jordan Novak]

this is a very good interpratation of the fall off atlantis