Samothrace

Birthplace of Apollo and Artemis

Delos was a tiny island in the Cyclades, sacred as the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis — one of the holiest sites in the ancient Greek world.

mystery cult, protection

Island sanctuary of the Cabeiri mysteries, which promised protection from shipwreck.

Island of Hephaestus

Lemnos was a volcanic island in the northern Aegean sacred to Hephaestus, where the god of the forge landed after Zeus hurled him from Olympus.

Island of the Minotaur and Minoan civilisation

Crete was the largest Greek island and the seat of the Minoan civilisation, home to King Minos, the labyrinth, and the bull-cult that produced some of mythology's most famous stories.

Sacred geography

The chief sanctuary of Aphrodite on Cyprus, where the goddess was said to have first come ashore from the sea

island, Aegean Sea

A large island in the southeastern Aegean, sacred to the sun god Helios and site of the Colossus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Island where Ariadne was abandoned

Naxos was the island where Theseus abandoned Ariadne — and where Dionysus found and married her, transforming abandonment into divine love.

Geography

A gold-rich island in the northern Aegean colonised from Paros and associated with the hero Heracles

island, Ionian Sea

A large island off the northwestern coast of Greece, identified in antiquity with the mythical Phaeacia where Odysseus was shipwrecked.

Site of the Mysteries

Eleusis was a sacred city near Athens, home to the Eleusinian Mysteries — the most important secret religious rites in the ancient Greek world.

island, Ionian Sea

A small island in the Ionian Sea associated with the Taphians, a seafaring people who appear in the Odyssey as traders and raiders.

mystery cult, metalworking

Enigmatic deities or spirits honoured in mystery rites on the islands of Samothrace and Lemnos, associated with metalworking and maritime protection.