July 18: Travel Month

When the ship of the Argonauts was on its way home after retreiving the golden fleece, they had an encounter with the friendly seagod Triton (son of Poseidon). He handed them a clod of earth as a homecoming gift. That night, one of the crew members dreamt the clod changed into Triton’s daughter Kalliste, and they spent the night together. He told his mates about the dream, and after some debate, the sailors decided it was best to send “Kalliste” back home, by throwing the lump into the sea. In a huge outburst of fire and ashes, and under the rolling thunder of Zeus himself, up rose the island of Kalliste, identified by Plato as mythical Atlantis. According to the bible, the vulcanic eruption was witnessed by the prophet Mozes, as a “column of fire”. It’s even possible that it was the cause of the so-called “plagues of Egypt” (pestilence, hailstorms, darkness, locusts and so on). The Venetians later renamed the island after their favourite martyress: Saint Irene. And as Santorini, that’s what it’s still called today.

A Couple, statuette, Antikensammlung Berlin, Germany

The Sixt Plague, Toggenburg Bible, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany

Did you know?

• Jules Verne dedicates a whole chapter in his novel “20 000 Miles beneath the Sea” to the sunken city of Atlantis.

• There’s evidence of a Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, situated on Santorini, which could have been destroyed by a vulcanic eruption and would explain the myth of the “sunken” city of Atlantis.

• About Triton: “The Sirens’s Song”.