Posts tagged Atlantis

Visited in antiquity by Strabo, Aelian and Pausanias, the site of Helike which infamously ‘sank’ in 373 BC was thought to be lost to legend, until 2001 when it was rediscovered not underwater as alluded to by ancient literature, but buried inland in a former lagoon. Following an earthquake and resulting tsunami, Helike became completely submerged, and the natural catastrophe was attributed to the revenge of Poseidon, following the city’s refusal to give colonists in Asia their cult statue of him. Sunk in what Eratosthenes described as a “poros”, this was interpreted for years to mean the Gulf of Corinth. However due to the work of Dora Katsonopoulou and Steven Soter, the possibility was introduced that this could in fact have meant an inland lagoon created by an enormous tsunami. No lagoon in this area survives to this day, but careful study of the geography of the region and a magnetometer survey undertaken in the delta area near the Corinthian Gulf coast led to the discovery of building outlines, roughly two miles inland from the coast itself. Dated by coins and pottery, there is still years of work to be carried out at the site to truly understand the extent of the city that had such a significant impact until the 4th century BC. Also rather interestingly, as an article in the Independent in 2005 outlined, the submergence of Helike may have inspired Pluto’s Atlantis tale:

“Near the Gulf of Corinth, the ancient city of Helike fits the Atlantis profile as it was a flourishing city struck down in its prime by an earthquake in 373BC. The city state was the centre of a cult of Poseidon, second only in importance to the Oracle at Delphi. Generations of fishermen in the Gulf have told of snagging their nets on statues of, an apparently wrathful, Poseidon.”

Fascinatingly, before the lagoon silted over the become buried in the earth, Roman visitors were said to have sailed over the site frequently, marvelling at the ruins below. 

The above coin is rare find from the site, with the obverse and reverse very clearly depicting Poseidon. 

More recent coverage of the site is here: http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/december-2011/article/archaeologists-uncovering-legendary-lost-city-of-poseidon

Excavations and research also take place every summer, run by http://www.helikeproject.gr/

In one of well documented attempts to ‘rediscover’ Helike in 1979 in the Corinthian Gulf, a Greek undersea explorer Alexis Papadopoulos discovered a sunken town he believed to be Helike, and made a documentary of his findings which were up to 45 m underwater. According to an article discussing his work in 1983 “Whether or not this town can be identified with Helike is a question to be answered by extensive underwater research. In any case, the discovery of this town can be regarded as an extremely interesting find.”

I also happened to come across one of the most glamorous underwater archaeology photos possibly in existence whilst researching work around the time of Alexis Papadopoulos. This is from the cover of the magazine Underwater World, showing a snapshot of the television series “The Magic of the Deep””