The Lost Greek City of Helike

The History of Greece: Philosophy, Empire, and Endless Reinvention — Fexingo History · Oct 4, 2026 · 5m · transcript

In this episode, we uncover the tragic and miraculous story of Helike, a wealthy Corinthian colony that vanished in a single night. On Christmas Day, 373 BCE, a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami swallowed the city into the sea, preserving its streets and temples under layers of silt for two millennia. We explore how ancient writers like Strabo and Pausanias documented the disaster, noting the strange phenomenon of ships being found resting on dry land centuries later. The narrative follows the archaeological rediscovery by the modern HELIKE project, led by Professor Antonis Goulas…