Delos (Sacred Island)
placeFloating island where Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis, later a major trade hub.
The Myth
Delos drifted unanchored across the Aegean until Leto, rejected by every land afraid of Hera's wrath, found refuge there. In gratitude for hosting the birth of Apollo, Zeus anchored the island with adamantine chains. Delos became one of the holiest sites in Greece — no one was permitted to be born or die on the island. In the Hellenistic period, Delos became the largest slave market in the Mediterranean, processing up to 10,000 people per day.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The archaeological site of Delos is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the rule against birth and death was so strictly enforced that archaeologists find almost no human remains there.
Explore Further
Delos
placeDelos was a tiny island in the Cyclades, sacred as the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and...
Apollo
godGod of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine...
Apollo (Light)
godApollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and...
Artemis
godTwin sister of Apollo and goddess of the hunt. Artemis roamed the wild forests with her band of...
Hera
godQueen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's...
Hyperborea
placeHyperborea was a legendary land of perpetual sunshine and plenty beyond the north wind, where...
Apollo Loxias
godAn epithet of Apollo meaning "the Oblique One," referring to the deliberately ambiguous nature of...
Artemis Brauronia
godAn epithet of Artemis worshipped at Brauron in Attica, where young girls performed bear dances as a...
Asteria
titanAsteria was a Titaness who leapt into the sea to escape Zeus's advances and was transformed into...
Helle
heroDaughter of Athamas who fell from the golden ram into the strait that bears her name — the...
Hellen
heroSon of Deucalion and Pyrrha, ancestor of all Greek peoples, whose name gave the Greeks their own...
Hera Teleia
godAn epithet of Hera as goddess of marriage and its fulfilment, worshipped as the divine model of the...