What is the story of Atlantis? The Inspiration for the Atlantean Treasures slot

The slot game Atlantean Treasures Mega Moolah is more than just one of the latest slot games to offer a shot at the fabled Mega Moolah progressive jackpot. The theme of the slot, which is the lost city of Atlantis is one that has resonated throughout the ages and still does so today.

The game Atlantean Treasures Mega Moolah has just has recently seen one player from Sweden land an incredible top prize of over €14 million, read more.

In the 1970s and early 80s, Patrick Duffy, perhaps best known for his role as Bobby Ewing in the tv series Dallas, took on the titular role in the TV series "The Man from Atlantis" and in more recent times, movie heartthrob Jason Momoa has taken on the role of Aquaman in the DC Universe initially in the Justice League series of films and more lately in the standalone movie Aquaman. There has even been a BBC TV series simply called Atlantis.

However, the story of Atlantis has been a recurrent theme throughout history, but where does the original tale come from? Is it based on any fact and why does it still hold so much interest for us, being repeatedly used by slot companies as the basis for their slot games, as well as continually appearing over the years throughout popular culture.

To discover the truth of Atlantis, we decided to dig a little deeper to find out more about the story and to try and sort the truth from the myth.

Timaeus and Critias

To discover the story of the legend of Atlantis you have to venture back in time over 2300 years to the time of the famous Greek philosopher and writer, Plato. Along with his teacher Socrates and his most famous student Aristotle, Plato is often believed to be one of the key founders of western religion and spirituality.

Plato was the first to talk about the "island of Atlas" in his work Timaeus and Critias, where the story was meant as an allegory; an early form of social comment on the misfortune that could befall a nation that had ideas above its station.

The original story saw the people of Atlantis, as the state was known, try to attack Athens, but the Athenians managed to repel that attack. Over time, Atlantis fell out of favour with the Greek Gods and as punishment, the world was submerged somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, between Africa and the Americas.

Plato speculated that the story of Atlantis took place 'beyond the pillars of Hercules" which places it in the Atlantic Ocean and that the story he told occurred around 9,000 years before his time.

While critics and historians agree that the story of Atlantis should not be taken in a literal sense or as a historical documentation of actual events, there are some interesting stories about how Plato came up with the idea of an advanced civilisation so besotted with its own intelligence and advancement, that its hubris sees it fall foul of the Gods and be plunged to the bottom of the ocean.

And it is intriguing that some of these very legends may well have been based on actual events that Plato may have witnessed, or at least heart historical recounts of.

The Minoan volcanic eruption

One leading theory about how Plato got his inspiration for the story of Atlantis stems from the fact that there is evidence of a great flood occurring in Greece at around the time of Plato. Indeed, one of the most popular Greek islands, Santorini, is actually comprised of parts of a submerged volcano, with the tip of the volcano caldera poking out of the water, being what the islands are comprised of today.

Indeed, the shape of Santorini today was caused by the eruption that many feel is the inspiration behind the Atlantean tale. Now known as the Minoan Eruption, this massive seismic event took place somewhere between 1642 and 1540 BC. A huge volcanic eruption of what was then called the island of Thera not only blew the island apart, creating the shape that Santorini is today, but also destroyed the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as many different settlements on the island of Crete.

Still regarded as one of the largest volcanic events in earth's history, it is thought that the combination of rock and ash being hurled into the atmosphere, together with the giant tsunami's that wrought so much havoc across Greece.

To put the size of this eruption into some perspective, the most modern equivalent eruption we have reliable date on was the Krakatoa eruption of 1883, which caused crops to fail all over the world and caused the 'year without summer'. The Thera eruption is believed to have been four times larger than the Krakatoa blast.

It is easy to see therefore, why such a cataclysmic event would have been remembered so vividly among ancient Greeks and why it would have been tempting to explain away these events as an act of the Gods. In his story of Atlantis, Plato could have been trying to explain why the Santorini eruption occurred and in doing so, created a legend that has endured throughout time.

Finding Atlantis

Despite many experts agreeing that the story of Atlantis is indeed simply a myth, that has not stopped many people from laying claim to knowing where the buried city actually existed. Over the years, a number of different places have been proposed as being the site of a real lost city of Atlantis.

Indeed, there are almost as many different possible locations for the lost city of Atlantis as there are mentions of it throughout modern literature and pop culture. These range from places in the Mediterranean region, the Black Sea, around Gibraltar, by Northwest Africa, in the Atlantic Ocean, close to the UK and Ireland, Denmark and Norway and even out in the North Sea.

Other studies have placed it close to the Americas and even at either the north or south poles.

Evidence offered for these locations is varied and often entirely circumstantial, there's certainly no lost civilisation of human hybrids imbued with superhero strength living in any of these locations, but it remains interesting for those with an interest in Atlantis to speculate exactly where it was found and while that remains the case, Atlantis will remain firmly at the forefront of popular culture.

The story of Atlantis has inspired more than just Atlantean Treasures and a handful of films and TV shows. It's enduring legend still inspires many learned people today to discover more about what its story was really about and it is this inspiration to others to learn and discover that is perhaps Atlantis' greatest legacy.

Though for the humble slot gamer, it would definitely be the case that winning the Mega Moolah progressive jackpot on Atlantean Treasures would be a greater legacy, at least for that lucky player!