I saw a Pompeii exhibit today where they show cased these beautiful gardens where they cultivated special fruits and animals to create a ‘utopian’ environment.

Of course, the story of the Garden of Eden had been around for a few centuries before Pompeii, yet it was Pompeii trying to emulate Greek gardens… Greek gardens were supposedly emulating Minoan (ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_gardens) gardens…

Babylon had their hanging gardens.

Troy, and Mycanae (maybe even Pompeii) were held in myth but were based around actual events. Maybe what we are hearing is a type of ostracism practiced in ancient times being passed down in epic fashion [i.e. myth based on actual events].

Now this is all conjecture. However, Minoan DNA has been found in many western Europeans, and Minoan culture had thriving palace cities. (see http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22527821)