Cape Tenaron

 

Cape Tenaron or cape Matapan is mainland Greece's southernmost point. It was the site of the Ancient city Taenarum.  Nearby is a cave legend claims was the home of Hades the God of underworld.  On the hill above the cave there is a temple dedicated to the God of the sea Poseidon.

Tenaron's lighthouse was built in 1892 and its luminosity was 12 nautical miles.  In 1984 it was upgraded with solar panels and its luminosity is now 22 nautical miles.  The trek to the lighthouse from the end of the paved road is 2.2 kilometers.  For those who decide to take the hike to this very interesting place is better to start early in the morning or late in the evening in order to avoid the blazing summer Greek sun as there is no shade in its entirety.  I visited the site in 1968 when I was serving in the Greek Navy and my brother visited it recently on foot.

The Sirens

Emerging from the Underworld, Odysseus and his few remaining men returned to the island of Circe to learn from her that they were about to begin the most dangerous part of their journey.

According to Circe they must sail past Sirens’ island, who were sea nymphs, and whose songs drew men to a watery grave. The Sirens (Greek: Σειρηνες) were maidens of Persephone, who were transformed to birds by Demeter, Persephone’s mother, in order to assist in the search for her daughter who was abducted by Hades the God of Underworld.  

After their failure to find Persephone they settled on the island of Anthemoessa, which according to Homer was situated between Circe’s island and the rock of Skyla. It is not known with certainty where the island of Anthemoessa was located.  As Capo Circeo was on the north end of the bay of Napoli and Skyla was further south the likely candidates were either the island of Ischia or Capri in the Campania region of Italy.  

When Odysseus and his companions passed by the Sirens and were unmoved by their songs, the legend has it, the Sirens threw themselves into the seas and were metamorphosed into the rocks, as it had been decreed that they should live only till some one hearing their song should pass by unmoved.  Some impressive rocks near Capri are likely connected with the legend of Sirens self-destruction.  

Odysseus on the advice of Circe plugs his crew ears with bee wax and ties himself on the mast.  He admonishes his men to keep rowing and ignore his pleas to untie him.

We sailed past the land of the Sirens on the west coast of Italy.  We kept a safe distance and though we did not plug our ears with bee wax or tied Nikos-our skipper-on the mast, no seductive songs reached our ears on our sail to the Aeolian Islands.