The Lost Labyrinth

Chapter 1 - A Strange Message

"While many still believe that the lost city of Atlantis is just a legend, many theories suggest that the fable is based on real events."

Amelia studies her students' faces to ensure they have not strayed from the lesson. She changes the photo on the projector and continues.

"Ocean explorers find logic in the story of Atlantis because it has similarities to the massive volcanic eruption that took place on the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea near Greece. There is no firm evidence of how many people died because of this volcanic eruption, but the entire Minoan population who lived on the island was wiped out. The ash and toxic gases not only destroyed all plant life on the island but also caused climate changes in Egypt and China. This led to struggling crop yields, colder winters, torrential downpours, and so on. The tsunami that followed had waves of 35 to 150 meters high. The earthquake measured 7.5 on the Richter scale."

She walks to the front of the class, "Are there any questions, before we continue?"
A student in the third row raises his hand, "How long ago did this volcanic eruption occur?"
"It took place around 1642 and 1540 years before Christ. Keep the timeline in mind as we go along. Are there any other questions?"

The faces before her share the same stark expression. She changes the picture on the projector.
"But to better understand Atlantis, you have to look at where the story comes from." she explains further, "The island of Atlantis is mentioned in this man, Plato's, book called Timaeus and Critias."

Amelia points to the photo on the projector. The sketch is of an older man with a grey beard and a bald spot on his head. It is easy to imagine that this man could have been a fanatical philosopher in his day. He was one of the philosophers she had to study when she was still in University. She loved to hear and learn about his work. 

"Plato, born in Athens between 428 and 423 BC, wrote the story that took place hundreds of years before his birth. Therefore, it is hard for people to believe that his stories have any truth behind them. I will read you a few passages from Plato's writings to give more clarity."

Amelia walks over to her laptop and searches for the right photo to show on the projector - a picture with a section of Plato's writing.
"The original versions were written in Greek, so the translations might be a bit different." Amelia smiles and begins to read, "From the book Timaeus I quote.  For the ocean there was at that time navigable; for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the pillars of Heracles,' there lay an island larger than Libya and Asia together. But that yonder is a real ocean, and the land surrounding it may most rightly be called, in the fullest and truest sense, a continent. Now, in this island of Atlantis, there existed a confederation of kings, of marvellous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent."

Amelia stops for a moment. She hopes that what she has read will have the same effect on her students as it has on her. All her life she believed that Atlantis existed, watched every documentary, read all the books and listened to many podcasts and lectures. Plato wrote in black and white about this strong nation on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. What more proof does one need?

"Then there is another section to read, this time from Plato's other book, Critias. If you pay attention, you will hear the similarity between the volcanic eruption of Santorini. It goes like this. But afterwards, there occurred violent earthquakes and floods, and in a single day and night of misfortune, all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis, in like manner, disappeared in the depths of the sea. For this reason, the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable because there is a shoal of mud in the way, and the island's subsidence caused this."