
According to Greek legend, Atlantis was a large island located somewhere amidst the Atlantic Ocean. Its exact location has always been very vague and thus the mountain of existing theories. It was thought to be west of the Pillars of Hercules and destroyed by a great earthquake which caused it to sink into the ocean several thousand years ago. Its first mention appeared in two of Plato’s works around 350BC, Critias and Timaes.
Leading scholars currently have many fantastic theories regarding its actual location, but the prevailing one suggests it was perhaps destroyed by the volcanic eruption on Thira (Santorini) in the Aegean Sea. The only problem with this is that Greece is nowhere near the Pillars of Hercules as suggested by Plato. Occurring around 1470 BC, these volcanic eruptions and the resultant tidal waves destroyed most of the Minoan civilization which flourished on both Thira and Crete.