Eliki, the inspiration of Plato's eternal myth

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Eliki, the ancient Greek City of Achaea founded on the coast of the Gulf of Corinth was situated between the rivers Selinounda and Kerinitis. A violent earthquake resulted in its disappearance in the winter of 373 BC.
Eliki was founded and built by IONAS in 1400 BC and the City took its name from his beautiful wife. Homer refers to the city under the name of Eurea and includes it in the kingdom of Agamemnon. Homer also states that the City of Eliki participated in the Trojan War with one ship. Later on Eliki became the Capital of the Achaean Alliance following its fall to the Achaeans. The Achaean alliance joined 12 Cities that neighbored an area where today lies the town of Aegeion. Eliki was also known as Dodekapolis (from the greek words, dodeka meaning twelve and polis meaning city) and became a cultural and religious center with its own coin. (Finds from ancient Eliki are limited to two copper coins, housed in the STAATLICHES MUSEUM, BERLIN. On the obverse Poseidon's head is represented and a trident decorates the reverse. On the basis of these decorative themes archaeologists dated the coins in the 5th century BC). The city's patron Poseidon was worshiped from Homeric times. There was a temple dedicated to the Elikiean Poseidon. It is mentioned (Pausanias "Achaika") that there was a statue of supernatural proportions, dedicated to the God of the Sea, Poseidon. The rich and beautiful city full of temples and statues was built of what is primarily an earthquake zone. It is a well-known fact that the region of Aegeion hosts frequent seismic activity up till now.
Disaster struck during the winter night of 373 BC. Five centuries later and during the 2nd century AD the historian Pausanias gives a most detailed account of the disappearance of Eliki. He describes the devastating earthquake, which was followed by a Tsunami wave, swallowing the entire city with the sea covering its remains. Ruins of the ancient city were still visible under the sea during his time and 5 centuries after the earthquake. In his writings "Achaika" he pinpoints Dodekapoli stating "as one proceeds further you come across the river Selinounda and there, 40 stades (Greek ancient unit of linear measurement, nearly 7 nautical miles) from Aegeion on the sea is the region of Eliki. This is the site where the Ionians had the ancient temple of the Elikonian Poseidon. When the Achaeans conquered Eliki they chased the Ionians out and vandalized the temple". Pausanias goes on to say that Eliki's destruction is proof that the wrath of the God Poseidon is insatiable. Pausanias' account is of great value to researches as it is the only written account containing details of the city's location and the results of the earthquake.
Based on Eratosthenis who visited the area 1 century later, the historian Stravonas (Stravon VIII 384a) states that in the sea there was the statue of Poseidon on which fishermen often fouled their nets. The Sophist Ioulianos in his "History of animals" makes reference to the destruction of Eliki and states that the animals sensed the danger and began to leave the city five days before disaster struck. Aristotle in his "Meteorologika" (I 66, II 8) attributes the earthquake to natural causes than from the wrath of gods (Peri Cosmou P. 396a). Hraklitos, Ovidios (Metamorfoseis XV 293a), Plynios (II 206a) Claudios, Ptolemi, Dioddorus (XV 49a), Sikeliotis, and others make reference to Eliki.
Plato, the great Greek philosopher, lived the destructive earthquake in the winter of 373 B.C. and shocked by the results of this disaster. If he had recorded the actual natural disaster with reference the “sunk of Helike”, we would have just another report among the others from Eratosthenis, Stravonas, Hraklitos, Ovidios, Plynios, Claudios, Ptolemi, Dioddorus, Sikeliotis etc. But Plato was the philosopher who gave his own dimension giving this way birth to the myth of Atlantis. The ''myth of the cave'' is not the only myth Plato created. Eliki is the inspiration of Plato's eternal myth of Atlantis. Plato, is the first ''science fiction'' writer the world has ever known.