| The tale of lost Atlantis, as told to Solon by the Saite priests in Egypt, is a myth containing a kernel of history, i.e. a mixture of episodes which have been warped in a way typical of mythical tradition and placed outside time and space. It is in fact the explosion of the volcano of Thera circa 1500 BC and the simultaneous disappearance of the Cretans from Egyptian markets which may have sparked the legend of the sunken land; the circumnavigation of Africa by the Phoenicians, which may explain the localisation of the city in the Atlantic Ocean; raids by Italian peoples, which are presented as Atlantean raids; and finally, the reputation for bravery of the Ionian hoplites, who were added to the legend as the invincible Athenian army. |