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==The story of Atlantis==

In the dialogue Critias, a well-known Athenian politician relates that the Olympian Gods divided the earth between them. The sea-god Poseidon was allocated the great island of Atlantis. This was located beyond the Straits of Gibraltar and was therefore situated in the Atlantic Ocean. It was believed to be very large and was approximately 500 miles long <ref>Plato. Critias. 32 b</ref>It was very fertile and rich, but it was very prone to earthquakes. According to Egyptian sources, the island was hilly and in the center was a great plain. Critias in the Platonic dialogue states that Poseidon had five pairs of twins with a nymph. The firstborn son was named Atlas and he later became monarch of the island. The Atlantic Ocean is named after this fabled king. The other sons of Poseidon were also given extensive territories to rule in and around Atlantis. According to the Platonic dialogue, Poseidon created a palace for the mother of Atlas. Near here, the Atlanteans build a canal and tunnels that linked this palace to the rest of the island<ref>Plato. Critias. 32 b</ref>. They also built a great city that was surrounded by mighty walls, that were multi-colored and covered with precious metals. Plato has Critias state that Atlantis was a veritable paradise on earth for many centuries. It was a well-ordered land, that was justly ruled, and its kings were wise. In the Platonic dialogue, the island is portrayed as the perfect society and a Utopia. However, over time, the Atlanteans became decadent and lost their old virtue and become increasingly rapacious and war-like ref>, Plato. Critias. 32 b</ref>. Some 9000 years ago there was a great war, between the Atlanteans and the rest of the inhabited world. The Atlanteans had subjugated most of Europe, as far as Italy. Athens led a coalition against the new Atlantean Empire. Even though the Athenians were betrayed by their allies, they still managed to defeat the Atlanteans<ref>, Plato. Critias. 32 b</ref>. Soon after the defeat of Atlantis, a series of floods and earthquakes shook the island and this led it to subside and eventually to sink into the sea<ref>Forsyth, p. 18</ref>. All traces of it apart from some records have vanished according to the Dialogue. We do not know if Plato invented the fable or if there was an actual myth about the great island, in the Classical era. In Ancient times, opinion was divided on the historicity of the island, some such as Strabo believed it to be true, while others saw it as a fiction. The tale of Atlantis inspired Francis Bacon in his great work the New Atlantis and St Thomas More in his work Utopia. In 1882, the Minnesotan politician Ignatius L. Donnelly wrote the pseudo-historical work Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. Donnelly took Plato literally and he contended that there had once been a huge island in the mid-Atlantic and that the Atlanteans once had a superior civilization. This work revived interest in Plato’s philosophical narrative and from then on there are those who have been committed to finding the lost island or continent.

==The Minoans==

Many believe that the origin of the Atlantis myth was the civilization of the Minoans, which was centered on the island of Crete. The Minoan civilization flourished between 2700 and 1500 BC. It is particularly famous for its great palaces and artworks. The most famous site in the Minoan culture is that of Knossos. This society dominated the eastern Mediterranean for many centuries and they traded with many other cultures including the Egyptians <ref> Castleden, Rodney. Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete (New York, Routledge, 1993), p 13-30</ref>. They also established many colonies throughout the Aegean such as that on the modern island of Santorini, which was known as the island of Thera in the Classical World. We do not know the name that the Minoans called themselves. The archaeologist who rediscovered the civilization called it after the legendary King Minos. There is a great deal of evidence that the Minoans were literate, but experts are still not able to decipher their writings. This civilization began a slow period of decline around 1700 BC. This was greatly exacerbated by the so-called Minoan Eruption. In the mid-1500 BC, there was a massive volcanic eruption on the Aegean island of Santorini (Thera). This is one of the largest known volcanic eruptions in all of human history. It was so large that it caused havoc as far away as China. Based on the amount of material that is released into the atmosphere it was the fifth-largest ever recorded. The volcano’s eruption caused much of the island of Thera to collapse into the sea. At the time of the eruption, there was a large Minoan town on the island and this is known, today as Akrotiri. At one point in time, Akrotiri was a major center in the copper trade but the population probably fled before the disaster. However, Akrotiri was completely buried, just like Pompeii. The eruption at Thera devasted the entire region. It appears that the volcano caused a tsunami that caused devastation on Crete <ref> Castleden, p. 113</ref>. The ash from the eruption also caused temporary climate change and led to crop-failures and ultimately famine. Many believed that the eruption on the island led to the demise of the Minoans. However, the great palaces were rebuilt and the Minoan civilizations recovered, after the date of the volcanic eruption. Many believe that the story of Atlantis was inspired by the disaster that overtook the Minoan World in the mid-2nd century BC<ref> Castleden, p. 117</ref>. There are certainly some similarities, the Minoans and the Atlanteans were undoubtedly superior cultures and were island-based societies. Then they both suffered from flooding and a cataclysm. In particular, the destruction of the rich and cultured city of Akhritori was the historical model for Atlantis. However, it should be noted that the idea that the Minoans could be equated with the Atlanteans is modern.