Naxos is the largest island of the Cyclades, located in the central Aegean Sea (at the co-ordinates 37° north and 25° east): it is one of around 20 islands, set on a upraised platform of underwater terrain. Its shape is ellipsoidal and has an area of 435 sq.km. On its major axis it is 33 km long and on the lesser 25 km, while its coastline measures 91 km.
It is part of the core of the Attic-Cycladic massif. This mountainous mass is composed of crystalline-schistose rocks (gneisses, marbles, schists) hundreds of metres thick. In the centre of this metamorphic complex there is a migmatic gneiss dome. At the western end of the island, a granodiorite intrusion appears, while tertiary sediments (marls, sandstones, conglomerates) are present on the coast. Between the gneisses and schists are extensive beds of coarse-grained marbles of various shades (in the areas of Apollonas, Aperathos, Filoti, Kynidaros), the exploitation of which was begun in prehistoric times and continues unabated to this day. Within the marbles and in the form of lenticular beds is the hard rock of emery, which also has been exploited from prehistoric times to the present day.
It has a mountainous relief on a northeast-southwest orientation that follows the tectonic structure of the island and is characterized by folding in the same direction. The backbone of this great fold is dominated by the ridges of Zas (1004 m high), Koronos (992 m) and Fanari (908 m), while to the right and left of them there are numerous faults that have created deep and narrow valleys leading towards the sea. The coastline of the island is almost straight. The most important harbour is located in Chora. Other bays, which are suitable only for small ships and not in all winds, are: Amitis, Faneromeni, Agios Mamas, Apollonas, Lyonas, Moutsouna, Ligaridia, Psili Ammos, Kleidos, Spedos, Panormos, Rina, Kalantos, Agios Sostis, Agiasos, Agia Anna and Agios Prokopis.
Its climate is subtropical or Mediterranean with hot summers and mild and wet winters. Like all the Cyclades, it is one of the windiest regions of Greece.
Name
The oldest surviving mention of the name Naxos is made by the Parian poet Archilochus in an epigram for the (Naxians) Megatimus and Aristophon. Epigraphically, it appears only in the first quarter of the 4th century BC, in a votive inscription of the victors in a contest in the strait between Naxos and Paros. In Latin authors it appears as Naxos or Naxus. The ethnics Naxios, Naxia, Naxion appears for the first time in votive inscriptions around the middle of the 7th century BC.
The etymology of the name Naxos is not retrievable. It could one of those toponyms of pre-Hellenic origin. The impossibility of establishing its etymology led ancient writers to argue, among other explanations, for the origin of the toponym to come from its Carian settler, Naxos. However, in the literary sources other names are attributed, such as Strongyli, Dia, Dionysiada.
Mythology
Naxos is closely associated with Greek mythology, since a multitude of the Greek twelve Olympian gods, as well as lesser demigods and heroes, were worshipped on the island. Let us take a very brief look at the most important ones.
Zeus
Zeus, the father of the gods, may have been born in Crete, in the cave of Idaean Cave (Idaion Antron), but he ‘became a man’ in Naxos, to escape the envy and wrath of his father Cronus. He even gave his name to the highest mountain on the island, ‘Zas’ (Zeus), where he grew up. Two inscriptions on the mountain, on its native rocks, ΟΡΟΣ ΔΙΟΣ ΜΗΛΩΣΙΟΥ (The Boundary Stone of Zeus Milousios*) define, protect and emphasize his sanctuary.
- As a protector of sheep
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god most worshipped on Naxos, an island which many call ‘god-nurturing’. Although Dionysos originated, by the most popular view, in Thrace, the Naxian mythographers claim that he was born in Naxos, from Semele, daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes, and king Asterius. Zeus entrusted his upbringing to the Naxian nymphs Philia, Kleidi and Koroni, who raised him in the cave of Zas or, according to others, in the ‘Kako Spelio’ of Koroni. The fertility of the Naxian vineyards is attributed to the god, who was worshipped on the island with events that included games and sacrifices. The modern custom of Apokries (Carnival) with its masquerades is said to be a remnant of a Dionysian cult.
A very widespread myth is that one where Dionysus rented a ship from Tyrrhenian sailors to return to Naxos. However, they intended to take him prisoner. Dionysus realized their intent and to escape them, he showered them with wine to get them drunk. At once a vine climbed up the masts of the ship and its branches were filled with grapes. The sailors, terrified by this sudden phenomenon, were so frightened that they fell into the sea, where they were at once changed into dolphins.
Naxos, the island of Ariadne
It is well known that it was in Naxos, and in particular on the islet ‘Palatia’, that Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus, despite the fact that she had previously helped him in Crete to kill the Minotaur, on the condition that he take her with him. The connection of Palatia with the myth is also implied by another name of the islet (‘Bacchus’), as well as by the fact that it is often referred to as ‘of Ariadne’.
Dionysus saw her sleeping there and fell in love with her. In fact, according to a variation of the myth, Theseus was forced by Dionysus to leave Ariadne in Naxos, after he was threatened.
Dionysus then approached Ariadne. As soon as she woke up, she saw him standing next to her and speaking tender words to her. She immediately asked him about Theseus, but the god replied that he had left, while plying her with wine to drink from a golden cup and offering her a golden wreath, the work of Hephaestus, with precious Indian gems in the shape of nine stars. Others say that the wreath was a gift from Aphrodite and the Hours for their wedding. It was so bright that the gods placed it in the sky to shine alongside the other stars: it was called the constellation of Ariadne.
Angry with Theseus, Ariadne accepted Dionysus’ proposal. He took her to Mount Drios, today’s Mount Koronos. From there they left for Olympus, where Ariadne was made immortal. This is the version with the Happy Ending. There are many others less pleasant: one such has Ariadne commit suicide on the island of Naxos due to Theseus’ betrayal, by throwing herself into the sea.
Apollo
Apollo, the god of light and music, was also worshipped on Naxos, though he was born with his sister Artemis on Delos. He was the son of Zeus and Leto. She, to escape the wrath of the repeatedly deceived Hera, was transported to the sacred island with the help of Poseidon. It is thus no coincidence that Lygdamis built the temple of Delian Apollo in Palatia.
Otos and Ephialtes
Two local heroes worshipped in the quarries of Naxos (in place of Hercules) were the twin giants Otos and Ephialtes. According to ancient tradition, they had supernatural powers. They grew rapidly and prodigiously, and their arrogance likewise. They ended up threatening Zeus with their power, claiming that they would climb even higher than his throne on Olympus, by piling one mountain on top of another, and that they would overthrow the order of the world, turning the sea into dry land and vice versa. Zeus, in order to get rid of them, sent them to Naxos to search for their mother, who was on the island nursing Dionysus. There, by a trick of Artemis, they ‘accidentally’ killed each other while hunting – being invulnerable to all other mortals and gods. Tradition in Naxos said that the two brothers were buried in Melanes and worshipped as heroes.
The history of archaeological research in brief
The first archaeological (excavation) research on the island of Naxos took place at the beginning of the 20th century. Although the prehistoric remains of the island were still little known at that time, the anthropologist K. Stefanos (1854–1915) considered it a certain fact that this island, the largest of the Cyclades, with its natural wealth and exceptional location ‘in the midst of the great centre of the island’s pre-Mycenaean civilization’, would have known significant prosperity already in more ancient times. Applying to the Board of Directors of the Archaeological Society, he was active from 1903 to 1911. He toured the Naxian countryside where he located and excavated cemeteries for the most part, but also settlements. In 1903, there were cemeteries in Karvounolakkoi, Keli, Spedos and a cluster of tombs in Aila; in 1904, the extensive cemetery in Firrogi in the Athalassos region, and in the same area the cemetery in Louros with its rich tombs; he also investigated Mnemouria and Kastraki (Polichni). In 1906, he worked in Kampos tis Makris, in Ligaridia, Kleidos, Panormos and again in Spedos, where he identified an acropolis; in 1908, he was in Komiaki, in the bay Apollonas and in Kastraki, the cemetery and the acropolis both; in 1909 and 1910, he returned to Kastraki; in 1909, he investigated tombs in Melanes, and in 1910, it was the turn of the large cemetery of Afentikon and the natural acropolis of Rizokastellia.
In 1930, G. Welter brought to light ‘subNeolithic’ remains in today’s Chora: in Grotta and Palatia, under the temple of Delian Apollo (Portara). Other research at Portara that yielded evidence of human presence of the years BC was also carried out by G. Gruben in 1971.
The activity of the Archaeological Society into the Cycladic culture of Naxos was resumed after World War II with the extensive excavation program at Grotta and Aploma under N. Kontoleon (1949-1972). Various events did not allow the continuation of the systematic research into the remains in this area; the exception was the excavation of a tomb at Aploma by V. Lambrinoudakis in 1974, which continued until the mid-1990s, with work extending beyond the beach and the Metropolis, in collaboration with the Archaeological Society. The latter organization, moreover, has the exclusive responsibility to undertake rescue excavations in the context of building requests and indeed for any kind of works on the island.
In essence, the work of the Service on the island has in effect been continuous since its establishment. It intensified after the war, especially in the countryside, mainly involving rescue excavations, many on sites of the Early Bronze Age, in response to the spate of illegal looting. As N. Zapheiropoulos (1965, 505) characteristically notes: ‘Since the year 1961, preventive excavations began to be carried out throughout the countryside of the island, whose archaeological research had been interrupted since the time of C. Stefanos. Unfortunately, the lack of sufficient scientific personnel and the limited topographical knowledge of the countryside in the early stages did not allow the excavations to be developed on the large scale, as the need required.’
In an effort to rescue the archaeological evidence from frequent illegal disturbances, a systematic investigation of the Cave of Zas was carried out in the mid-1980s (1985–1986) by the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology-Speleology under the direction of K. Zachos.
The action of the state through the responsible Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, especially in recent years, has not been limited to rescue operations, but is broader and includes field research (excavations, surface surveys, recordings, etc.) and enhancement projects, restorations of monuments, etc. throughout the entire area of Naxos, in settlements and in the countryside. Collaborations exist with foreign bodies and institutions, such as the Canadian Institute (Stelida), the Norwegian Institute (Apaliro Castle), and the British School (Keros).
Moreover, in parallel with the work of archaeologists of the Ministry of Culture, systematic research was undertaken and continues to be so from time to time by Greek and foreign scholars and institutions. Thus, in the early 1980s, the academic team responsible for R.C.P. 583 ‘Ancient Cyclades’ of the National Centre for Scientific Research of France (I. Cerceau, B. Fotou, O. Psychogios, led by R. Treuil) carried out surface research in the north and west of the island and identified settlements and cemeteries, while in the spring and summer of 1985 surface research was carried out in Mikri Vigla Polichniou, as a cooperation between the British School at Athens and the former 21st EPKA (now EFAKYK).
Some characteristic monuments and antiquities of prehistoric and Classical times of Naxos, in brief
The beginning of the history of the island is traced back to the depths of prehistory with evidence of human presence far earlier than the Neolithic era recovered on the hill of Stelida, namely in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras. The Cave of Zas, which sheltered the ancient Naxians of Neolithic times, before the beginning of the 5th millennium, is one of the earliest natural monuments of the island from the dawn of Greek civilization. The fortified acropolises of Panormos (Korfari ton Amygdalion), Korfi t’Aroniou and Spedos belong to a series of Early Cycladic settlements during of 3rd millennium, which together with their cemeteries are widely scattered, mainly on the southern and eastern coasts of the island.
The Middle Bronze Age is not particularly well represented on the island, due to the lack of systematic excavations. However, the data of the last decades, mainly from surface surveys but also from sporadic excavations, at sites such as Mikri Vigla, Rizokastellia, Petasi, and recently Agios Myronas Sagriou, testify that the island was still inhabited in the Middle Cycladic Period. As for the Late Cycladic and Mycenaean times and despite the remarkable Late Cycladic sites (Mikri Vigla, Rizokastellia, Ligaridia, Chosti Komiaki, etc.), the flourishing image one has of Mycenaean Grotta is not repeated elsewhere.
The Historical Period includes monuments and sites from the Geometric and Archaic periods, in particular the Geometric tumulus cemetery of Tsikalari, and the three Archaic temples of Delian Apollo at Palatia (the well-known Portara), the temple dedicated to Dionysus founded in nearby Yria, and the temple dedicated to Demeter in Sangri. The list of monuments includes the three semi-finished colossal male figures in the marble quarries, the largest located in Apollonas (a statue of Apollo or Dionysus), and the two smaller ones located in the area of Melanes, in Farangi and in Flerio, where the rural sanctuary of the Geometric and Archaic periods also stands. From the same period, the 11-kilometer-long Archaic aqueduct also stands out, while the Classical-Hellenistic sites (4th-3rd centuries BC) include towers such as Rina, Plaka and Cheimarros.