HOW THE REAL ATLANTIS SANK

The natural disaster that resulted in the prominent ancient Greek city of Helike being lost for centuries

- EMILY STANIFORTH

In 373 BCE, the Greek city-state of Helike disappeared beneath the waves. Claimed by a great tidal wave, the once-powerful city was confined to a watery grave, burying thousands of years of architecture while also taking the lives of all of the city's inhabitants. Originally founded in the early Bronze Age, somewhere around 3000 BCE, archaeological findings point to early Helike being a prominent and rich city with sophisticated and well-organised infrastructure. The early city-state is most notable, however, for its engagement in the Trojan War of the 12th or 13th century, with Helike described by the renowned Greek poet Homer in The Iliad as having made up part of King Agamemnon's mighty Achaean forces. A later settlement at Helike has been dated by archaeologists to the Mycenaean period of Greek history, and the area is believed to have been continuously inhabited until the Classical period, when the fateful disaster occurred.

Helike and its people were known to be linked with the sea god Poseidon, who was the city’s patron deity. At Helike, the temple of Helikonian Poseidon attracted people from across the Hellenic world who wanted to receive the blessings of the god and, according to some ancient sources, was almost as well known and important as the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. The people of Helike are believed to have been extremely resilient, with evidence showing the city-state was regularly hit by earthquakes and tsunamis, roughly every 300 years.