Many legends have had a factual origin that was embellished over the millenia to become more fiction than fact!
In the case of Atlantis, Plato most likely meant it as a moral or ethical tale and a warning for the Athenians not to get to big for their boots. He most likely loosely based his tale on the 'Minoans' civilization. The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately 2700 to 1450 B.C.
It collapse after the Thera eruption or Santorini eruption, which was a major catastrophic volcanic eruption which occured in the mid second millennium BCE.
The eruption was one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in recorded history. The eruption devastated the island of Thera (also called Santorini), including the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and on the coast of Crete.
This answer was edited by alexadata 57 days ago.
Reason: grammar!
