H is for Helike, A Lost City Found?

is for the Lost City of Helike.



Helike was a city in Greece, off the Gulf of Corinth. During the heyday of Greece, when they were at their highest point, a massive earthquake and resulting tsunami destroyed the city, burying it under the sea. Or so it was thought. In 373 B.C., Helike disappeared, along with the people, and their cultural riches and architecture.

Helike possessed a temple to the god Poseidon, who ruled over both the sea and earthquakes. Did they anger him? They were also one of the twelve cities of the Achaean League, and was in fact claimed to be the capital of these twelve cities.

Rescue attempts were made, but by the time people from neighboring villages arrived, the city was submerged, the people dead.

Helike Coin. Moneda d'Hèlike,
imatge editada de la
"revista d'arqueologia" {{PD}};
user Jolla; Wikimedia Commons 

The city was written about for ages, parts of it still visible in the sea until the silt overcame it, and the shifting earth took it from sight. Aelian claimed that the people watched creatures flee the land for four days before the earthquake hit, as if they'd known it was coming. Stravo and Ovid spoke of it, and Homer said they were represented under Agamemnon. These are but a few examples.

Tales of it were passed along for so long that it has been hypothesized that Helike is actually the lost city of Atlantis. A place of riches and happiness. A thriving city on the coast. Important in government and trade. In short, quite like descriptions of Atlantis.

Long a place that has lived in the imagination of Gulf locals, many have tried to find it, searching in the sea for any sign of the lost city. It wasn't until 1988 that two people took it on as a determined mission and had a breakthrough that would lead them to not only Helike, but another, older, city as well. Dora Katsonopoulou, a local, and Steven Soter began their search, determined that they would be the ones to close this mystery.

In studying the earth in this seismically active region (there is, in fact, a fault line now called the Helike Fault), it was discovered that beach-side houses had now moved inland. In addition, it was hypothesized that instead of sinking into the sea, the city may actually have been buried under an inland lagoon, created by ground liquefaction during the quake, as well as the influx of sea water from the tsunami. They began searching inland, rather than below the water's surface.

In 2001, these theories paid off. They discovered walls of buildings, cobbled roads, gold coins, pottery (some of which actually had organic remains in them of the produce that had been stored there), idols, and more. As rarely happens with ruins, they found a well-preserved example of life from this time. These ruins had been instantly buried, so they were never looted, as so many historical places have been. The archaeologists can actually study exactly how things were. The only other example I'm aware of that has such well-preserved remains is Pompeii, as it was buried under ash, then built over repeatedly in coming years.

The excavation of Helike. By Drekis (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Before they found Helike, they also found a far more ancient city, as well as a Roman city built nearby which was made in honor of Helike years later. Thanks to the seismic activity in the area, and the influx of waters, three different time periods are available for study.

The mystery here is not what happened to this city, as that question has now been answered (though it WAS a mystery for centuries). No, the question that remains to be answers is whether this city was, in fact, the inspiration for tales of Atlantis. If so, two mysteries have now been solved, and there is much to learn from these discoveries.

As far as Atlantis, Plato first spoke of it in 360 B.C., thirteen years after Helike sunk into the earth. He claimed it was an island and a military power (which Helike certainly was, but it was not an island). At this time, Helike's remains lie between two rivers. Is it possible it was similarly arranged, therefore appearing like an island, of sorts? One thing that contradicts Helike being Atlantis is that Plato claimed it existed in 9600 B.C., or thereabouts. However, he was the only one to take its existence seriously during his lifetime, while Helike was a known entity. Many made fun of him. Could he have misheard or twisted the tale of Helike?

Do you think this city may have been Atlantis, or do you feel there is still another city out there, yet to be discovered?

May you find your Muse.

Letter H courtesy of Dan, clker.com.