Delos the Sacred Island

The island of Delos (Greek: Δήλος), is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece.  The island's original inhabitants in the 3^rd millennium BC were mostly pirates that were defeated by King Minos who wished to create safe passage for ships and thus establish a trade zone having Crete as its center.

(painting by Carl Rottman)

By the time of the Odyssey the island was already famous as the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis.  According to he legend their mother Leto chose Delos to give birth as it was a moving island thus she was able to escape the ire of Hera.  Leto bore Artemis first who acted as a midwife and assisted Leto in the delivery of her brother Apollo that took place between an olive tree and a palm tree.

The Delian League, an association of 150-176 Greek city-states, under the leadership of Athens was created for the purpose to continue the fight against the Persians. After the Greek victory at Byzantion, Sparta was eager to end its involvement in the war.  In the aftermath of Mycale, the Spartan king Leotychides had proposed transplanting all the Greeks from Asia Minor back to Greece as the only method of permanently freeing them from the Persian danger.  Xanthippus, the Athenian commander at Mycale, had furiously rejected this; as the Ionian cities were originally Athenian colonies, and the Athenians, if no-one else, would protect the Ionians.  This marked the point at which the leadership of the Greek alliance effectively passed to the Athenians.  With the withdrawal of Sparta and its allies, a congress was called on the holy island of Delos to institute a new alliance to continue the fight against the Persians; hence the designation "Delian League". According to Thucydides, the official aim of the League was to "avenge the wrongs they suffered by ravaging the territory of the king."  In reality, this goal was divided into three main efforts— to prepare for future invasion, to seek revenge against Persia, and to organize a means of dividing spoils of war. The members were given a choice of either offering armed forces or paying a tax to the joint treasury.  League members swore to have the same friends and enemies, and dropped ingots of iron into the sea to symbolize the permanence of their alliance. The League's meeting place was the island of Delos, where congresses were held in the temple and where the common treasury was until Pericles moved it to Athens in 454 BC.  Shortly after its inception, Athens began to use the League's navy for its own purposes. This behavior frequently led to conflict between Athens and the less powerful members of the League. By 431 BC, Athens' heavy-handed control of the Delian League prompted the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War; the League was dissolved upon the war's conclusion in 404 BC.

The Terrace of the Lions was dedicated to Apollo by the people of Naxos shortly before 600 BC, had originally nine to twelve squatting, snarling marble guardian lions along the Sacred Way.

The area between the theatre and the site at Mount Kynthos where Apollo and Artemis were born was considered holy and temples were erected for Greek and Foreign Gods.  The temple of Isis and those dedicated to Phoenician Gods signify that all of the Eastern Mediterranean Gods were worshipped at Delos.  The Temple of Isis was built during the Roman period to venerate the trinity of Isis, Serapis and Anubis.

The theatre at Delos was built in 280 BC and had a capacity for 5500 people.  Initially, performances were of religious nature but starting at 150 DC regular plays were staged.

Characteristic of the Delian houses was the room used to receive guests.  It was richly decorated with mosaics such as the dolphins in the picture.

The house of Cleoparta is below the theatre and was built by a loving woman after the death of Dioskourides, the man she loved.  The name Cleopatra means “glory of her father” in Greek.  It maybe serendipity but the bearers of the name in addition to paternal love they were passionately loved by the men who were romantically attached to.