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The
Aeolian Islands is a group of eight Islands in close proximity to the north shore
of Sicily. The picture on the right is
the Marcator nautical map we used to navigate the seas in between those
charming islands.
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| Nikos our captain is looking ahead and setting the course to the Aeolian Islands, while the first mate Kostas-a most able sailor-is steering our delightful sailboat which name at that time was Vol de Nuit. Her new name is Okyrhoe, the daughter of Oceanus - the Ocean - a nymph associated with water. The nymphs were lesser deities who were though invited to attend the assemblies of the twelve Gods on Mount Olympus. The legend has it that Sun God Helios and Hermes the messenger of Gods were in love with her. |
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We are
sailing under spinnaker in perfect weather towards Isola di Salina. The island of Salina has fertile plains and
two extinct volcano mountains therefore during the Hellenistic period was named
"Didyme" (Δίδυμη), a Greek name that refers to the two mountains as
"twins".
The Greeks from Sicily decided to conquer the islands and put an end of the
piracy that interfered with trade. Soon
after their conquest together with the locals formed a profitable confederation
of pirates. They also created an early
utopian socialist state as all the proceeds - loot - from piracy were
distributed to all the islanders on a day that commemorated their success and
bravery. It was taking place in the fall
each year likely in a festival where local food and wine were consumed in
abundance.
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The attractive
town of Santa Marina with its well
organized harbor is where we spent a few delightful days recovering from the
long sail from Propriano Corsica south on the Balearic sea, across the Strait
of Bonifacio, and the fierce storm in the north part of the Tyrrhenian
Sea.
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In
the beautiful little town of Santa Marina we learned and sampled the delightful
local wine called Malvasia which
though did not make us forget that loved ones were waiting for our return so we
had to sober up and sail again. The wine
and local food are feted in a festival in October while there is a similar festival
in June in which capers are feted as the Salina variety is the best in the
world.
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Stromboli
a small Aeolian island and its active volcano were known since antiquity. It derives its name from the Greek word Στρογγύλη that
means round. Because of its frequent
volcanic eruptions the island is also known as the “lighthouse of the
Mediterranean”. Was it here where Odysseus met the god of winds Aeolus requesting
favorable winds for his return to his homeland?
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Aeolus
the keeper of winds responded by gathering and placing the unfavorable winds in
a sac and leaving out only Zephyr the gentle west wind. He instructed Odysseus not to open the sac as
the bad winds were inside. Οιμε (alas) scream the readers of
Odyssey because while Odysseus was sleeping his crew who thought the sac was
filled with riches opened it, releasing stormy winds that drove them away from Ithaca
and back to where they came from.
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The
Tower of Winds in Athens depicts Boreas, the north wind on the left and Sciron
a northwesterly on the right, the wind other than Zephyr Ulysses needed to
return home from the Aeolian Islands.
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