Knossos

Richard's adolescent devisees made their way ashore as soon as the Thetis made port at Heraklion, Crete's capital and the location of Knossos, the most famous Minoan ruin and one of Europe's oldest cities. According to myth, the demigod King Minos of Crete had called Knossos "home" and in maze beneath the palace called the "Labyrinth" dwelt a man-eating monster known as the Minotaur that was half-man and half-bull.

Richard, Ellen and their sons had gone into Heraklion to ask questions if any unusual sea life had been seen recently, animals that the area did not usually get. Thus, did the adolescent devisees take the time to see Knossos.

As the oldest at seventeen, Mara was the leader. He was dark-skinned, athletic in build, taller than George yet still shorter than Richard, brown haired and eyed and typically dressed in a white shirt with black pants and brown shoes. He got along well with George, all of the adolescent devisees did, George and Angela even having a mutual attraction just as Mara and Beatrice did, yet there were times when George when do something that caused Mara to either groan or roll his eyes. Seeking the Island of Atlas was one of those things.

All the way to Knossos, George had been talking about Atlantis with such enthusiasm that he was getting the girls excited at the prospect of finding evidence that the Minoan Civilization was indeed Atlantis. This always happened. George got enthusiastic about finding something and he got everyone exactly his age, Angela and Beatrice in this case, and younger, in this case Lin who was thirteen, as enthusiastic as he was. Worst of all it was a topic that George was already enthusiastic about, he may not have always been the most talkative, indeed Mara had seen George at his most talkative only when it was just him and Angela, but Atlantis was something that just kept George's mouth going. He had read "Atlantis: The Antediluvian World" by Ignatius L. Donnelly, Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias and many another work on the subject of Atlantis.

Sir Arthur Evans had done much restoration on Knossos and had he not work to preserve and restore the place, much of it would have been lost. Made extremely real was a historical understanding of the might and majesty of Minoan monarchs, a prominent example being the painted throne room and it did not stop with just the might and majesty of the monarchs. The comely restorations of art and architecture had all of the elegance and the skill of the architects and the artificers. Unfortunately, it did not accurately represent what was found, as the restoration turned out to be more Mycenaean than Minoan.

Within Knossos had been found the famous Bull-Leaping Fresco, dating back to 1450 BCE and it was hardly alone. Bull imagery could be found throughout Knossos. Just being here was enough to make George remember read "Mythology" by Edith Hamilton and it was through the most beautiful, most precious magic of all that George was taken back to the time of Minos and Theseus and now here he was, where Minos, Ariadne, Theseus and so many more had once walked.

By a pair of red painted columns, George surveyed the surrounding locus. This was Atlantis? What had happened? What could have turned a great naval power into this? Invasion was unlikely so what could the people of Plato's time have possibly interpreted as divine punishment?

Hearing a footstep near him, George turned in alarm with his shoulders arched as if he were a cat taken by surprise. It was merely Angela. George lowered his shoulders and relaxed and asked: "Am I being foolish to think this place was Atlantis?"

"Of course not, George, I believe it is just as you do." Angela said with an assuring smile. "As long as we are here in Crete, we can seek evidence it is."