Final answer:
The eruption of the Theran volcano on Santorini, which destroyed the Minoan city of Akrotiri around the mid-second millennium BCE, may have inspired the legend of Atlantis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The eruption that may have led to the legend of Atlantis is that of the Theran volcano on the island of Santorini. This volcanic event took place in the mid-second millennium BCE and destroyed the Minoan settlement of Akrotiri, a sophisticated city that played a strategic role in the Aegean trade routes.
The city was preserved under volcanic ash similarly to Pompeii, leading to the reference as the Minoan Pompeii. The dramatic nature of this eruption and the subsequent loss of the advanced Minoan civilization could have been the inspiration behind the legend of Atlantis, an advanced society that was swallowed by the ocean.