Sunken Greek city may have inspired Atlantis myth

Monday, 26 October 2009 , Posted by Ed Allen at 10:22

A lost city, sunk off the coast of southern Greece, may have formed the inspiration for the enduring and popular myth of Atlantis. A recent exploration of the site, known as Pavlopetri, by a team of British and Greek marine geologists and archeologists has revealed a great deal about the mysterious location.

The sunken city dates back 5,000 years to the time of the poet Homer’s heroes – long before the ascendancy of classical Greece – and according to experts is wholly unprecedented in terms of size and wealth of detail. Significantly, it is the first sunken city to be found in Greece that predates Plato’s tale of Atlantis and may have formed the inspiration for the poet’s most famous work.

With artifacts and ruins dating from 2,800 to 1,200 BC, Pavlopetri is the world’s oldest submerged city and is said to offer greater potential insight into Mycenaean Greece than any other archeological site.

It is as yet unknown why the city might have sunk but current theories include changes in the sea level, ground subsidence as the result of earthquakes, or a tsunami.