idhtftc

idhtftc t1_ivrvf7w wrote

Right, and I think we both agree Mordor is not real. I guess I misunderstood the sense of "first time it was heard", I thought it meant something like, "just because Plato is the only written source, it does not mean there weren't oral traditions about it", which might as well be true but cannot really be proven anyway.

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idhtftc t1_ivqi184 wrote

Except there's literally zero evidence for any such multiple-continent-spanning civilization, and it only appears in the books. I mean, it works with your example, since Star Wars is also fantasy, but that's not what you were saying above, it would be like saying that Star Wars actually happened because we found the fan fiction.

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idhtftc t1_ivpyjmh wrote

Then we would have a contemporary or post-Plato account of an empire that attacked "the whole of Europe and Asia", not just one solitary source for a civilization that controlled parts of Africa and Italy. It's obvious if one just reads the texts that it's an allegory.

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idhtftc t1_ivp7zpg wrote

This makes no sense. If they found that one fanfic, they would also look for corroborating evidence, other scripts, other references, etc. The fact that there is only one place where that name comes up is not definitive evidence, obviously, but it's pretty damning.

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