For example Atlas comes from the root of 'to endure'.
Lapetus the father of Atlas has the meaning 'piercer'.
Noah means 'rest' or 'comfy'.
Basically the tale of Atlantis could in one way correspond with the sea peoples. Therefore I don't think greekk myth should be read in isolation. If for convenience sake we break it down into the two main cults, them being Zeus and Poseidon then we may find parallels elsehwere. They will not fit perfectly but they could help.
I think that the cult of Zeus albeit in a different form was the mainsay of egyptian religion. Therefore we would be unsurprised to find any direct mention of an Atlantis like place. However, if we look at the enemies of Egypt we may start to find things in common with the cult of Poseidon.
Chariots of the Hyksos, possibly the Hittites and hebrews. Ok I better justify that. How's about titan as it may derive from Al Shaitan or Leviathan. Metaphorically it seems like the titans became the figures of chaos, Poseidon being included with them though he was actually an Olympian. The cult of Zeus on the other hand represented order. Thus we find a common parallel eith Set as chaos and Osiris as order. It could also have a close connecion to the tower of Babel. If these are all seen as metaphors for the collapse of one way of life to be replaced by the new and different the Atlantis fits very well. The archetypal tale of destruction but importantly rebirth because though the titans are defeated they are not destroyed and continue to tutor and watch over mankind even though hey have lost control of civilization.
Good link on titans. My head is mangled from trying to see from these different angles and I expect a hefty amount of criticism for this.
I think the word comes from the native name of the mountain which is Douris, maybe PIE related durus=hard and then it relates to Greek endure, so the Greeks called the mountains Atlas, which meant the same as the name in Berber. The mountain itself would be described as hard, enduring and it would then seem the North African natives spoke a form of PIE language...
Edit to add: http://www.etymonlin...php?term=endure
There is alternate writings of Atlas being a King of Mauritania, an expert astrologer.
A euhemerist origin for Atlas was as a legendary Atlas, king of Mauretania, an expert astronomer
Remember in that Sanchuiathon writings it said how real people were given appelations like this, a mountain. Perseus revealed Medusa's head to Atlas turning him to stone according to Ovid, so his telling could be the cross-over from a person to a mountain Titan...
To add more confusion, Atlas is often a doublet for Coeus, we don't hear much of him but he is the actual celestial axis - Polus. The celestial Pole.
He is the father of Leto, mother of Artemis and Apollo and also Asteria, whose is mother of Hecate.
In Greek mythology, Coeus (Ancient Greek: Κοῖος, Koios) was one of the Titans, the giant sons and daughters of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). His equivalent in Latin poetry—though he scarcely makes an appearance in Roman mythology— was Polus, the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve. Like most of the Titans he played no active part in Greek religion—he appears only in lists of Titans— but was primarily important for his descendants. With his sister, "shining" Phoebe, Coeus fathered Leto and Asteria. Leto copulated with Zeus (the son of fellow Titans Cronus and Rhea) and bore Artemis and Apollo.
Along with the other Titans, Coeus was overthrown by Zeus and other Olympians. After the Titan War, he and all his brothers were banished into Tartarus by Zeus
When Coeus was banished to Tartarus, that is the Celestial Axis fell to the Underworld (?), Atlas took his place to keep the chaos from resuming...
Edited by The Puzzler, 30 September 2010 - 03:53 PM.