VOLCANIC ERUPTION OF 1500 B.C.

The story of the lost continent of Atlantis moves between the spheres of mythos and reality. Mythology and reality are inseparably tied together. Their separation will solve a mystery which has occupied researchers and authors since the time of Plato. It will deprive, though, all the rest of us, who are neither researchers nor authors, of the beloved and charming magic en-gendered by this well-known myth.

Archaeologists, historians, and researchers of every kind may someday have the satisfaction of separating myth from history, of solving the mystery of the continent with the wondrous civilization which was lost under the waves because the unbounded egoism of its people caused the anger and the punishment of the gods.The charming myth of Atlantis passes from the sphere of fantasy to the sphere of reality in the Dialogues of Plato, "Timaeus" and "Critias". It was a large and marvelous country, sovereign of islands and parts of the main-land. The state of Atlantis was a kingdom of two islands, Meizon (Greater) and Elasson (Lesser) island. The superiority of the state as cultural rather than military. The kingdom was composed by ten cities. Plato, in "Critias", describes two of these cities. Metropolis and Vasiliki Politeia (King's City). From Plato's description of the islands we draw the conclusion that Metropolis was the island Strongyli, which today is Santorini, and that Vasiliki Politeia was Crete . The research of the archaeologists Spyros Marinates and Nikos Platon assured both scientists that the mythical Atlantis was Santorini, according to Marinates, while Platon identified it with Minoan Crete. Both accept that Atlantis was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of 1500 B.C.

Also, the geologist Professor Angelos Galanopoulos writes: "For those who know, even if superficially, the great civilizations of the Bronze Age, Platonic Atlantis is projected as a civilization of that era". Afterwards he mentions the earthquake and the great eruption of the volcano on 1500 B.C., comparing it to the eruption of Krakatoa. In the Krakatoa eruption, 2/3 of the island collapsed, specifically 33,52 kilometers to a depth of 200-300 meters. In Santorini, 83,52km. were submerged to a depth of 300-400 m. The sudden movement of so great masses of water (837,5 trillion cubic meters of water at Krakatoa, 41875 trillion c.m. of water at Strongyli/Santorini) caused great tidal waves. The initial height of the "Tsunami" wave at Krakatoa was 100 meters. At Strongyli, the initial height of the Tsunami was 210 meters (TSUNAMI is the scientific name for the tidal wave caused by a volcanic eruption), and when it reached Crete its height exceeded 70 meters.