My Atlantis, My Eden

When civilization was just beginning, I was there. The Ice Age had purged the world of those less strong and able to survive. It was I that taught this to Nature, herself; survival of the fittest. Only the strong can, and will, survive throughout eternity. Although mankind tries to keep the weak alive and coddles the infirmed, they all pass from this life into the next to try again. While they are here, though, the drain on the resources of this planet we call home is extreme. Only the strong need survive. The weak need to be disposed of so as to feed the strong. But, that is not what this is about.

When the ice receded and filled the oceans, streams and lakes, the world was clean and new. New life sprung up in every nook and cranny. Even humans developed with a fervor never before experienced. No longer would they wander aimlessly, following what game they could find to feed themselves. Planting and harvesting made the nomadic life unnecessary. Civilization started to flourish. And I was there.

The entire face of this world was changed, now there were seven continents instead of the two that had been before. Sumeria, Mesopotamia, Crete, Atlantis, all thrived in this new world. Across the ocean the ones called Mayan were growing. I was there for it all. I taught them all. They were nothing but children in my eyes. I have been, and always will be. I have been called many things: God, Ra, Zeus, Cronus, Odin, the Creator, the Devourer, Lucifer, and the Destroyer of Life. I have been all these, and more. I have been a teacher, a mentor, an architect and an engineer.

The Roman aqueducts, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon all were mine. The great City State of Atlantis, now long lost to this world, was my home and my sanctuary. In all her splendor she shone like a candle in the night, outshone by none. I was there. I rose the mountains from plains and lay waste the deserts, planted the fields and orchards across the land. Atlantis was my pride. It was her pride that led to her destruction.

Many great things were done in “The Lost City.” It was there that all was begun. There would be no Pyramids, Hanging Gardens nor aqueducts if it were not for Atlantis, and me. The great civilizations of the world began inside her glistening gates. The roads, paved with gold, silver and diamonds shone brightly in the sunlight, guiding all who entered to the palace in the center of that great city. My home. To me they all came to learn. I taught.  Philosophy, music, literature, art, architecture, engineering, sciences and all else that mankind has known down through the millennia, it was I that taught it.

White stone walls, forty feet in height, surrounded my Eden, protecting her from all that would harm her. The gates were unbreachable, made from the strongest metals, allowed only the invited into the wondrous world of Atlantis to learn what they could and then to return to their own lands. Those gates prevented entry by anyone, or anything that would attempt to destroy all that lived and thrived inside those walls.

Inside those walls lived a people so beautiful that all who laid eyes on them longed for them for the rest of their days. Bronze skin covered perpetually youthful, lithe bodies; faces that would make Venus envious topped by long, white hair. No mark would ever scar their beauty. But their true beauty lie within their hearts. Kind, giving people were they. Knowing no stranger, welcoming all as lost friends. With intelligence beyond human comprehension these were my chosen ones. They would be the salvation of humanity. And I loved them.

This is how it was for almost eight thousand years. My people grew and prospered and shared what they had with all that asked. Selflessness instilled within them genetically. Thinking not of themselves but only of others needs and giving without thought of repayment. Balance was kept within the circle of life. Atlantis was a true Camelot, the first Camelot and I was the first Arthur.

When Rome came into power with its greed and corruption, gluttonous and hedonistic ways and the quest for power, Atlantis opened its’ gates with welcoming arms. We taught the Romans how to chisel stone into beautiful statues, build magnificent structures and the engineering behind the aqueducts. It was Atlantis that built Rome, not Caesar. But the greed of Caesar was our downfall. Leaving soldiers within our gates with the pretense of learning our trades he had his Trojan Horse.

The soldiers that stayed behind were not soldiers, per se. They were spies and antagonists bent on usurping my rule and corrupting my chosen ones. Little by little they spun their lies into truths that no unweaving could change. Disharmony, deceit, mistrust and a loathing of all that was good replaced the selflessness that was so ingrained into my people’s beings. Power and physical pleasure was all they desired once the Romans had cast their evil spell. Atlantis was no longer an Eden, it was now a den of inequity. Sodom and Gomorrah were less evil than my Eden in those days. I knew that no longer would the Atlanteans be the salvation of mankind, but its’ eventual downfall.

It was in that time that Judea was rife with rumors of a child to be born. This child was to be the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the salvation of man from sin. He was to be the Christ child, the son of God, born of a virgin. I knew that the chosen one of this God would be better suited to the task than my people. Atlantis should perish to protect mankind. With power beyond all else my people would destroy the world, lay waste all that existed. Technology and power are things not to be played with, but to be used for the good of man. My chosen people would use that power against all that came against them. I loved them but, they could not do what I foresaw.

The gates were closed at twilight as had been done for over eight millennia and by the midnight hour the city was slumbering. It was then that I chose to rain down my wrath upon the Eden that I had built. Thunder crashed as lightning lit the sky. Waves, crashing against the outer walls, threatened to crush the very stones they were built of but, no, that was not to be. I had other plans for this great city. I would bury my Eden beneath the waters of the sea. They would be lost to humanity forever, nothing but a legend lost in history.

Atlantean and Roman alike screamed as the water washed over the high outer walls, filling first the streets and then the buildings with salty sea water. As the water rose, the people climbed ever higher in their homes until, perched on the rooftops, they were washed into the swirling waters around them. I watched from my palace, high on a hill in the middle of the city. As the city disappeared beneath the waves I rose into the sky on silvered wings, floating above the chaos below. Finally, as the entire city sunk to the bottom of the sea, I let out a sigh of relief and grief. I had lost my beloved people, my beloved Eden. But I would no longer be plagued by the knowledge of their corruption and greed. No longer would my people be the bane to humanity. No longer would I suffer the regret of allowing unworthy guests into my world to take and vulgarize it.

As I look back on those days of two thousand years ago I realize that Atlantis was not the bane to the world that I believed it to be. Rome was just a stepping stone for the evil that would envelope this world. Humankind is bent on destroying itself. Greed, corruption, gluttony and vanity rule this world without intervention from anyone. Humanity, itself, is the great evil in this world. As mankind learns more and more, advances further technologically and ventures farther into the depths of the sea and out into space, it becomes more and more greedy and corrupted. This race called homo-sapiens is the scourge of the Earth, regulated to care for what I created by a god that man created to control the masses. It is I, and only I, that can contain the parasitic infestation that plagues the world but I refuse. I have tired of the endless war on tyranny and destruction of a perfect world.

I have loved my Eden and loved my people then destroyed them because of lies and betrayal. I still grieve because of what I had to do to protect the rest of the world and mankind just to be proven wrong about the ones I tried to keep from destruction. The primordial ooze that I brought mankind out of should have stayed just that, ooze to be used as fodder for nature to feast upon. It is fast coming to the end of an age when man will learn that the evil ways they have embraced will be their undoing. I will, once again, build my Eden. I will raise Atlantis from the sea and rebuild that magnificent city to its former glory. I will rule from a golden throne with a kindness and fairness that mankind has never known.

Homo sapiens will no longer exist because of the pride and corruption that is so inherent in their minds and hearts. The beasts of the forest will become the new stewards of this wonderful planet. Survival of the fittest will be the norm of life, not the exception. This world will be an Eden once again without the plague of humanity to destroy it. Humanity will destroy itself without any interference from nature. The Earth will repair itself of the destruction that man has done to it and perfection will return. A thousand million years from now, when Eden has finally become more than what is was, then, and only then, I may allow mankind to return. I will allow man to only evolve into Neanderthal and no more. Once mankind has achieved intellect and technology it will return to the corrupted state it has become today. This I cannot allow. Atlantis, my Eden, will reign supreme in a land beyond perfection. The gates will remain open to all the beasts of land, sea and air. Harmony will once again be restored.