All language subtitles for atlantis.1x01.end_of_a_world_birth_of_a_legend.hdtv_xvid-fov

2,500 years ago,
the Greek philosopher Plato wrote of
an island he called Atlantis...

..that was swallowed up by the sea in
a single day and night.

Vanishing without a trace.

Ever since,
people have wondered where this
mysterious island might have been,

or whether it was all just a myth.

New research suggests that

Plato's story
was based on real events.

Recent underwater explorations
off the Greek island of Santorini

have revealed deposits
from a massive volcanic eruption.

One of the greatest in human history.

And on Santorini itself,
archaeologists have uncovered
an ancient city.

A lost world
buried by the catastrophe.

Based on the latest
scientific research,

this is the story

of an incredible island,

the people that lived there...

..and the extraordinary last days
that inspired the legend of Atlantis.

3,500 years ago, the Greek islands
were home to a powerful and
advanced Bronze Age civilisation...

..one that rivalled the
Egypt of the Pharaohs.

These were the Minoans.

CHEERING

BULL SNORTS

CHEERING

BULL SNORTS

CHEERING

BULL ROARS

BULL ROARS

CHEERING

CHEERING

WOMAN SINGS A HAUNTING MELODY

In this world,
powerful priestesses presided over
strange and dangerous rituals.

He's handsome, isn't he?

Did you choose him for
you mother, or for me?

My son is the finest
athlete in the whole of Thera.

We're all terribly impressed, Rusa.

CHEERING

Plato wrote of great bulls
roaming the temples of Atlantis.

And the bull was certainly
central to Minoan culture.

Hear me great Poseidon,
creator of the earth and sea.
Lend me the courage

of our forefathers and accept this
wine as an offering.

EARTH RUMBLES

So important was the bull
that it gave birth to the legend
of the man-killing minotaur.

Half human, half beast.

BULL ROARS

Yishharu, you OK?

JEERING

You've shamed us all!

Go home!

Bull leaping is thought to have been
an important initiation rite
for young Minoan men.

And possibly even women.

A spectacle performed all over Crete
in temple palaces like
this one at Knossos,

a massive complex of
over 1,300 rooms.

This was the cradle of
Western civilisation.

Where's Yishharu?

I was thinking I
might leave him here.

Save us all the embarrassment.He's a boy.

The wife creates the man.

Come on.

Men, pull. Pull.

The Minoans dominated the
Mediterranean for over 1,000 years.

Until an island 70 miles north
of Crete blew itself apart.

The island of Thera,
known today as Santorini.

Reconstructions of Thera
show it consisted of

circular belts of sea and land,
just as Plato described Atlantis.

Because the island
was the top of a gigantic volcano

that erupts on a cataclysmic scale
roughly every 17,000 years.

By 1620 BC,

a pool of molten rock, large enough
to bury a city the size of London

had filled the magma chamber
seven miles beneath the island.

When did this start?Two days ago, master.

Two days?

You, pass me some fish.
Can I have two?

Where are you going with those?

Poseidon's island.

I've got an offering to make.You have a feast to attend.I won't be late.

Thera's wealth was built
on its mastery of the sea.

Its fleet dominated the trade
network of the Bronze Age world.

The islanders grew rich, buying
and selling goods from Africa
and Asia and other parts of Europe.

Their streets were lined with
multi-storey houses, decorated
with elaborate wall paintings.

They built the world's first
indoor toilets, connected

to an underground sewage system -
a luxury most Europeans would not
enjoy for another 2,000 years.

Presiding over this prosperous
society was the priesthood.

My son's wife, Pinaruti.

Welcome.

I've brought you oil,
to honour your island goddess.

That's for the high
priestess, not for me.

Come, I'll take you to her.

High priestess? Yishharu's wife.

Oil from the fields of sacred
Mount Juktas to honour
your island goddess.

Come with me.

Minoan women were remarkably
independent and influential.

The most influential of all
were the priestesses.

Their role was to communicate with
the gods,

often through elaborate rituals,

in which saffron seems to
have been used as a hallucinogenic.

Querasia welcomes you to
Thera, Pinaruti.

And we welcome you in her name.

Join us to give thanks
for your safe arrival here.

Don't forget your offering.

Like other ancient civilisations,
the Minoans believed that all
things were inhabited by gods.

There were gods for every
natural phenomenon, from childbirth

to earthquakes, to stormy seas,
to mountain peaks.

These gods weren't all seen as benign
and merciful, but as temperamental
and sometimes vindictive.

Offerings were made by those
seeking favour from the gods.

And it was through ritual ceremonies
that the priesthood sought
clarity on the gods' desires.

But in 1620 BC,
the Minoans' complex
belief system was

about to be blown apart by geological
forces beyond their understanding.

PINARUTI GROANS

It's OK, Pinaruti.

One of the first signs that the
volcano was stirring would have been

hydrothermal explosions triggered
by superheated ground water.

You saw something.

What was it? It was Yishharu.

He was in danger.

What kind of danger?

The sacrificial axe
was dripping in blood.

His blood.

Why would I see something like that?

Sometimes our visions
don't come from the gods,
but from our own fears.

This place is strange to you.

And perhaps you're
unsure of your husband.

Come.

We have a celebration
to prepare for.

We're here to welcome
my son's new wife, Pinaruti.

She's the daughter of my loyal
business companion, Piteri.

She is a Cretan,
but let's not hold that against her.

Ah,
good of you to join us, Yishharu.

Welcome.

ALL: Welcome. Welcome.

Now, I've seen many
things in this world.

Dolphins in the Straits of Hazim.

I've chased dolphins
across the Straits of Hazim.

I've loaded my ships
with treasures from Egypt.

I've fought
pirates off the shores of Elias.

But none of it compares
to the magnificence of
this beautiful island.

But none of it, none it compares
to the magnificence of this island.

An island I like to believe I've
played a small part in making great.

Sorry I was late.

Without Cretan middlemen...

Did you make your offering?

Something happened at the sanctuary.

The ground cracked. There was
this fountain of boiling water.

I don't know where it came from.

It was as if the whole island was...
Was being torn apart.

At the bull leaping,
you said that the ground shook.

You should tell your father.

I had hoped that my only son
would follow in my wake
and take to the seas.

Until now he's
put his blood and sweat into bulls,
and temple priestesses.

CHUCKLING

Here's hoping that his wife
can make a better man of him.

He's drunk, let's go.

We can't. This is in our honour.You think this is for us?

My advice
to anyone who marries is this.

Enjoy every day,

because you never know when the gods
will decide to take away what
is most precious to you.

They've blessed you, Rusa.

You tell us that they want
us to do this, do that.

We do it because you say so.
This is intolerable.

They don't speak to you.

DOG BARKS

SCREAMING

Yishharu!

Yishharu!

Get down!

Where's Yishharu? I don't know.

One of the Minoans' most
powerful gods was the Earth Shaker.

And for good reason.

Structural damage uncovered on Thera
shows that around 1620 BC

they were exposed
to an enormous earthquake.

Measuring more than
seven on the Richter scale.

Their buildings were designed to
withstand minor tremors and quakes.

Thick timber frames had been
used to give them extra strength.

Until finally, this quake, strong
enough to shatter these stone steps,

set in motion an irreversible chain
of events for the people of Thera.

Stay still.

Hey, little lady.

Has your husband left you already?

You should try the temple.

He used to find his peace there.

HE GRUNTS

Quick - over here.

Is he all right?

Looks like he's alive.

Hold on, there's someone else.

Look, I only went to the temple
to get away from my father.

I didn't know she'd be there.

I don't want your excuses.
Everyone knows what you've
been doing with that woman.

Even your father jokes about it.

You've humiliated me, Yishharu.

I won't stand for it.

As soon as I knew she
was there, I told her...

You told her it was over.

I told her that... It was a goodbye.

Yeah, it was goodbye.

We need to restore normality
as soon as possible.

Get them back into their homes.It's too soon.

Their homes aren't safe yet.

The houses may be damaged, but
most of them are still standing.

The houses have been weakened.
We need to make them safe
before the people return.

And expect people to leave
everything behind for
thieves to steal?

Anything of value
can be safely stored.

In the basements
or under the door frames
where the buildings are strongest.

Then we seal up the doors.

And the people go where?

You expect them to
camp in the streets?

I move them out of the city
while we repair the buildings.

Priestess?

Enough lives have been lost.

We set up camps until the
houses can be made safe.

And, Rusa,

the buildings are not
all we have to repair.

You take care of the gods, priestess.

I'll get the town up and running.

Archaeological evidence reveals that
the earthquake damage was so severe

that the Therans had to
leave their homes.

Their precious possessions
were discovered stored

beneath solid structures like
wooden doorways and under beds.

And the entrances to their houses
were found sealed.

Unlike Pompeii, no human remains
have been found in the town,

suggesting the islanders moved
to temporary camps, imagining
they'd be coming home soon.

You're as pious
as a priestess, Pinaruti.

There are others on this island
who could learn from your example.

Rusa?

He lost a wife.

And he blames the priestess
for failing to placate
the Goddess Eileithyia.

She died during childbirth?

They were only newly married.

Ever since, he's found it difficult
to put his trust in us.

If we can't trust you,
who can we trust?

For over 17,000 years, the magma
chamber under Thera had been sealed.

But the earthquake
had fractured the chamber...

Allowing magma to escape through
vents, releasing sulphur and other
poisonous gases.

Are you sure it's safeto be this close? It's fine.

But what's that smell?

It's like rotten eggs.

That's the smell of the water.

I believe it drives
the bad spirits away.

We don't know why it smells.

Or why it's so lovely and hot.

Come in, it's great!

What's wrong?

Yishharu.

Yishharu, quick, get back.

The ocean... The ocean is turning!

My father won't
believe it was a sign.

I just wish I was better
at understanding the gods.

They're trying to tell us something.
Your father's a powerfuland sensible man, Yishharu.

When he talks,
everyone listens to him.

If you can just convince him that
this is a warning from the gods.

My father's faith in the gods
ended when they stole my mother.

Where are you going? To the temple.

Bansabira will know
what the gods want.

EXPLOSION

Finally, pressure from rising magma

blasted out a plug of rock that had
blocked the mouth of the volcano
for thousands of years.

This was a pre-eruption.

Simply the volcano
clearing its throat.

Previous generations would have
witnessed small eruptions like this,

and seen them
as signs from the gods.

Signs that the priesthood
was expected to understand.

What do we do?

The Earth Shaker is speaking to us.

Just as he spoke to our forefathers.

We must respond as they did.

For the Minoans, there was no
better way to appease unpredictable

and violent gods than to make
an offering.

Preferably of blood.

Your father didn't seefit to join us. He's busy.

Is that so?

Our mayor is too busy
to honour the gods!

MUTTERING

Their peak sanctuaries have been
found littered with animal bones.

Goats, sheep, pigs,

even bulls.

ALL: Hail, Poseidon.

Poseidon, raging lord of the deep,

we offer you
the sacred blood of bulls.

May it drown your anger,
mighty dark-haired lord.

Let us live in stillness
and peace once more.

Hail, Poseidon,
ruler of the earth and seven seas.

The priesthood's power hinged on its
ability to keep the gods in check.

But the forces unleashed beneath
Thera were now unstoppable.

RUMBLING AND SCREAMING

From volcanic deposits, we know that
the early stages of the eruption

covered the island
with a sprinkling of light ash.

Enough to contaminate
the water supply.

What are you doing?
Are you trying to poison me?!

They're taking against Pinaruti.

I'm sure she means no harm.

This trouble began when SHE
arrived here. You know that.

Rusa brought her here and we
know the gods don't favour him.

Perhaps they're providing a way
for both of us to get what we want.

Forgive me, priestess.

I think I know what
Poseidon's asking for.

Speak.

I should have shared it earlier.

When Pinaruti told me
about her vision...

Go on. She saw a sacrifice.

But it was not a bull.

It was a person.

Who?

It was her own blood that was spilt.

She was the sacrifice.

Perhaps her vision

is the gods' way of telling us
that she's not welcome.

She's cursed.

Tell Yidini to gather the people.

I will speak to them
and restore order.

What would make this eruption
different from any other

the Therans had experienced was the
interaction of two kinds of magma,

triggering a catastrophic
chemical reaction.

This chemical reaction would thrust

an estimated 150 billion
tons of magma to the surface.

Hail, priestess. Hail, priestess.

And transform this eruption
into the greatest disaster
the ancient world had ever seen.

High priestess,
the people wait to hear you.

< People of Thera.

Everyone.

Friends and colleagues.

You must listen to me.

This is preposterous.

The blood of bulls is not enough.

There is nothing more we can offer.

The gods have given
us enough warning.

My fleet will sail at sunset.
We will leave the island

till it is safe to return.

There is only one authority we can
trust on this island. The truth.

People of Thera,

in order to restore
peace on our island,

Poseidon has asked
for something more.

What are you going to offer him now?
Lions? Elephants?

Until peace and calm can be restored,

those that want
to leave the island may do so.

- You cannot stay here, surely?
- You have to do your duty, Rusa.

And I have to do mine.

There will be another sacrifice.

This time I...

will undertake it
on behalf of all of us.

RUMBLING

The sound of the eruption
was heard as far away as Egypt.

A superheated column of gas, ash
and rock blasted six miles
into the stratosphere...

..forming a mushroom cloud
similar to an atomic bomb.

This was a Plinian eruption, the
most deadly of all volcanic events.

Everyone!
We need to leave the island now.

To stay here is madness.

Everyone, follow me. To the ships.

Get your things
and meet me at the harbour.

What now?

We do as we planned.

Bring me Pinaruti.

We need every inch of every ship.

OK, everybody. Cargo overboard.

Make space, come on.

Come on, move, move.

We're leaving the city with my
father. You're free to go, Yishharu.

We're BOTH leaving. No!

Pinaruti must fulfil her destiny.
The gods have demanded it.

Her destiny is with me.

Your vision, Pinaruti,
spelled out your destiny.

We do not choose these things.
The gods decide for us.

We must ensure it is fulfilled.

What vision?

What vision?!You said it wasn't clear.

That it wasn't the gods speaking, it
was my own fears. And it wasn't me!

It's not what I saw.

What did you see?

Who did you see?

Who did you see?!

After them!

Just move up. There's enough room.
We can get you all on board.

Yishharu, where are you?

It was Yishharu's blood
she saw sacrificed.

May the gods forgive your deception,
Ariad. I'm not sure I can.

We know what the gods have asked
for. The vision must be fulfilled.

It wasn't clear enough.I don't think... Start thinking.

The gods are tearing Thera apart.

If you can't tell us why,
if you can't stop it,

then what must the people think?

Where is your power, Bansabira,
if you can't appease the gods?

They've demanded a life and have
shown us who it must be.

Find him.

Keep going, come on.I'm slowing you down.

What are you doing?If they catch you, they'll kill you.

I'll get rid of them and comeback for you. What if you don't?

Then you must find my father
and tell him what's happened?

I'm scared, Yishharu.
I'm scared of losing you.

SHE SOBS

You think killing me
will stop this, Bansabira?

The gods want us all dead!

In the first hours of the eruption,

the volcano would have
ejected billions of tons

of magma into the sky.

Rapidly cooling, it fell as pumice.

THUDDING AND RATTLING

These small stones and rocks

filled with tiny bubbles of air,
began to bury the island.

SCREAMING AND SHOUTING

One at a time! Don't push!
Master, we've got to set sail!

We need to make for the ships.
We should go now.

Look at him, Bansabira.

Even your own people
don't believe in this.

Silence him.

Forgive me.

But it was ash, not pumice,

that posed the more immediate
threat. Help! Help me!

Volcanic ash isn't like ordinary
ash. It contains silicone.

Once inhaled,

it mixes with the moisture in the
lungs to form a liquid cement.

Somebody, please help me.

Please help!

Help me, please!

It makes breathing difficult.

THEY GASP AND COUGH

Then impossible.

Rusa! Pinaruti!

Where's Yishharu?
The priests came after us.

They wanted me as a sacrifice.He said he'd be back.SHE SOBS

Rusa, we've got to go! Take her
to her father in Crete. No. No!

No, I don't want to go without him.
Tie her up if you have to. No. No!

Rusa! Rusa! Let me go!

Let me go!

EXPLOSION

Halt! Out of my way!

As the crater widened,
sea water poured into it.

On contact with the magma,
the water exploded as steam,

triggering the next volcanic phase.

The violent reaction
between water and magma

created a phreatomagmatic eruption.

It's estimated the sound
pressure from this explosion

would have reached 300 decibels.

The sheer force ripped
rocks from inside the crater,

catapulting them
into the air like deadly missiles.

Lava bombs.

These burning chunks of magma
can be the size of a small truck

and weigh up to eight tons.

HE GROANS

Turn back! Turn back!

Turn back.SHE SOBS

There's nothing to go back to.

Please, turn back. Please.SHE SOBS

With the crater widening,

the pressure forcing the column
upwards started to drop.

Gas and rock spilled from the sides
of the collapsing column.

Known as pyroclastic flows,

these superheated waves of gas
and rock reached speeds

of up to 180 miles an hour,

and temperatures of
700 degrees Celsius.

You've taken all that's precious
to me. Is this all you have left?!

As the pyroclastic
flows hit the sea,

hot ash caused the water surface
to boil,

propelling them along

at an even faster
speed on superheated beds of steam.

Come on, come on, row!

Row, row, row, come on!

Come on, row!

The deadly impact of the eruption

extended far beyond
the island of Thera.

Pyroclastic flows pushed volcanic
debris out into the sea,

generating huge waves.

Tsunamis.

People on the nearby island of Crete
might have seen the warning signs.

But had little time to react.

Travelling at 200 miles an hour,
it would have taken

only 20 minutes for the first
tsunami to reach Crete.

Experts estimate that by the time
the waves hit the coastline,

they would have been
over 60 feet high.

Run!

New research has revealed that
a series of tsunamis ravaged towns

all along Crete's northern
coastline for hours,

if not days after the eruption.

Killing an estimated 30,000 people.

It was a disaster
on an unimaginable scale.

Three times larger than Krakatoa.

100 times larger than
Mount St Helens.

And 40,000 times more powerful
than the Hiroshima bomb.

The ash from the eruption
plunged the Mediterranean

into weeks of darkness.

Global temperatures dipped, stunting
plant growth as far away as Britain.

Minoan society was
shaken to the core.

Archaeological evidence reveals
that there was deep social unrest.

Towns and temple palaces
were sacked and burnt.

Humans sacrificed.

Finally, a civilisation that
had lasted for over 1300 years

was invaded and absorbed

by a warring Greek tribe
called the Mycenaeans.

Stories of the disaster, however,
were passed on, retold, embellished.

Many experts now believe
that accounts of Thera's destruction

inspired Plato to write
a morality tale about the rise

and fall of a great civilisation
he called Atlantis.

He wrote, "The island
consists of circular belts of sea

"and land enclosing one another.

"A seaway
and harbour filled with vessels

"and merchants from all quarters.

"And the wealth they possessed

"was so immense, that the like
had never been seen before.

"In the sacred precincts of Poseidon
there were bulls at large,

"and the ten princes hunted after
the bulls with staves and nooses.

"Then there occurred portentous
earthquakes and floods,

"and one grievous day and night

"the island of Atlantis
was swallowed up by the sea...

"..and vanished."

And so a great and wonderful world,

cut off in its prime by a disaster
of cataclysmic proportions,

became the birthplace of one of
the greatest legends of all time...

..Atlantis.

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