Helike, Ancient Greece, 372BC
Helike, Ancient Greece, 372BC
The modern coastline has receded in the time since Helike was destroyed. This map represents the ancient coastline of 372BC, after the tsunami took the land away.
From Wikipedia…
"Helike was founded in the Bronze Age, becoming the principal city of Achaea. The poet Homer states that the city of Helike participated in the Trojan War as a part of Agamemnon’s forces. Later, following its fall to the Achaeans, Helike led the Achaean League, an association that joined twelve neighboring cities. Helike became a cultural and religious center with its own coinage.
The city was destroyed in 373 BC during a winter night. Several events were construed in retrospect as having warned of the disaster: some "immense columns of flame" appeared, and five days previously, all animals and vermin fled the city, going toward Keryneia. The city and a space of 12 stadia below it sank into the earth and were covered over by the sea. All the inhabitants perished without a trace, and the city was obscured from view except for a few building fragments projecting from the sea. Ten Spartan ships anchored in the harbour were dragged down with it. An attempt involving 2,000 men to recover bodies was unsuccessful.
About 150 years after the disaster, the philosopher Eratosthenes visited the site and reported that a standing bronze statue of Poseidon was submerged and posed a hazard to those who fished with nets. For centuries after, the city’s submerged ruins could still be seen. Roman tourists frequently sailed over the site, admiring the city’s statuary. Later the site silted over and the location was lost to memory before being rediscovered in 1821.
Due to its tragic history, many have proposed Helike to be a possible site that eventually became the legend of Atlantis."
