Mythology

Mythology

Serifos seems to have been a very important place for our ancient ancestors, probably because of its particularly rich subsoil and that is why it is mentioned in various myths of antiquity. Two very important heroes of ancient Greek mythology are associated with the island, the resourceful Odysseus and Perseus. It is also said that the 'Cave of the Cyclops', under Psaropyrgos, was home to the giant Cyclopes, sons of the sea god Poseidon, who were the first to develop civilization, exploiting the mineral wealth of Serifos. This view is also based on the existence of remains of the 'Cyclopean' walls in the area of Liomantra.

The Myth of Perseus

Once the king of Argos, Akrisius, asked for an oracle from the oracle of Delphi to find out if he was going to have an offspring. Pythia replied that he would have an offspring by his daughter Danae, but later he would kill her and succeed her on the throne. Terrified, therefore, Akrisius, after returning to the palace, gave orders that Danae should be imprisoned immediately in an underground cell, so that she might not be able to have a son and thus avoid death. Unfortunately, however, the father of all the gods, Zeus, had a contrary opinion.

Being madly in love with Danae, he decided to turn into golden rain and enter her cell in order to have sexual intercourse with her. The fruit of the love between the god and the mortal was Perseus. Akrisius, as soon as he was informed of the birth of his grandson, remembered the oracle of the Oracle of Delphi and, in order not to risk losing his throne, decided to enclose mother and newborn son in a box and throw them into the sea.

After a long journey, with the help of Zeus, the «larnaca» or else the box landed on a coast of Serifos and there Dictys, brother of the tyrant of Serifos, found it. Dictys opened the box and was surprised to see the hero and his mother. Without a second thought he welcomed them and his brother, the tyrant Polydektes, met and fell in love with Danae. Polydektes, seeing that Perseus was an obstacle to Danae's seduction, decided to get rid of him by sending him to kill the mermaid Medusa. Medusa was a beautiful mermaid, or in another version a beautiful priestess of the goddess Athena, who was impregnated by Poseidon transformed into a horse. Athena in order to punish her, cursed her and turned her into a hideous snake-haired monster. As proof, he even asked him to bring back her head, as a gift for his supposed marriage to Hippodamia, knowing of course that anyone who saw it would be petrified and therefore would have no chance of returning it. Another version says that Polydektes promised the young hero that if he brought him Medusa's head, he would help him take the throne from Acrisius.

Initially, Perseus took with him a bronze shield from the goddess Athena and a sword from the god Hermes, as gifts and began his long journey. First, he passed through the land of Forcyos and Cetus, where dwelt the old mermaid sisters, Eno, Pefreido and Deino, and by stealing their shared eye and tooth, he forced them to tell him where the mermaids Euryal, Stheno and Medusa lived. Passing through the grove where the Nymphs dwelt, he took three more valuable tools, the helmet of Pluto, God of the Underworld, which made him invisible, winged sandals with which he could fly, and a backpack that changed size according to its contents. Flying thus over the ocean, he reached the island of Mermaid, where, using the shield to reflect Medusa so that he could see her without being petrified, he decapitated her and placed her head in his backpack. In fact, according to legend, from the cutting was born the giant Chrysaoraswith the golden sword, and from the blood that fell into the Ocean, Pegasus thewnged horse

On the way back, Perseus faced various dangers and accomplished more feats. Passing through Ethiopia, he found the daughter of King Cepheus, Andromeda, tied to a rock. She was about to be devoured by a dragon of the god Poseidon so that the god would forgive the king's wife, Cassiopeia, for having insulted his daughters by boasting that she was prettier than them. Perseus killed the whale, thus saving Andromeda, whom he fell in love with. Wishing to marry her and take her with him to Serifos, he killed her fiancé Phineas and his companions and together they made their way back.

When they arrived at Serifos, Polydectes had taken Danae to the temple of Athena to sacrifice her because she stubbornly refused to marry him. On arriving at the temple, Perseus showed the head of the dead Medusa to Polydectes, who did not believe he had accomplished the feat, and was petrified on seeing it. He then installed Dictys as king of the island and lay down to rest. But the frogs of Seriphos with their singing would not let him sleep, so he asked Zeus to silence them. This is how the phrase "Seriphos frog" or "frog from Seriphos" was used pejoratively in antiquity to mock someone who lacked rhetorical ability. After resting, he took his wife Andromeda and his mother Danae and returned to Argos.

His grandfather, learning of his arrival, fled to Larissa to save himself. Finally, Perseus persuaded him to return to the city of Argos, but during the games that Perseus was participating in and Akrisios was watching, the hero's discus deviated from its route and struck Akrisios, killing him. Thus, the Delphic oracle was fulfilled. Then Perseus, distressed, exchanged the throne of Argos for that of Tiryns and built the city of Mycenae, famous for its Cyclopean walls. From his grandson Amphitryon and Alcmene was born Hercules, an equally important hero of Greek mythology, known for his twelve labours.

The Myth of Polyphemus

In Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus' journey to his final destination, Ithaca, is described, his passage from the island of the Cyclops Polyphemus is also mentioned. It is therefore said that the island of Cyclops Polyphemus was Serifos and that his residence was the 'Cave of Cyclops', located under the 'Throne of Cyclops', near the settlement of Megalo Livadi. During his difficult ten-year journey back, Odysseus also passed through Serifos, where Polyphemus, the most formidable of all the Cyclopes, resided. Polyphemus was the one-eyed son of the god Poseidon and the nymph Theosis, daughter of Forkyos, and lived from his sheep, which he took out in the morning to graze and at night he shut them up in his cave, sealing it with a huge boulder. He lived in this cave himself and stored his wine and cheese there.

When Odysseus and his companions arrived on the island, they scattered to find food, as they were very hungry from the journey. So they discovered the Cyclops' cave, which was open. After eating of the cheese and drinking of Polyphemus' wine, they fell asleep to rest. In the evening Polyphemus returned with his flock and closed the cave with the huge boulder, trapping Odysseus and his companions inside. When Polyphemus became aware of the uninvited visitors, he devoured two and then fell asleep. Terrified now, the poacher invaders had to find a way to save themselves.

The next morning, Polyphemus, after waking up and again devouring two of Odysseus' companions, went out to graze his sheep and sealed the cave. Odysseus then devised a plan so that they could escape. When Polyphemus returned in the evening, he ate two of Odysseus' companions again and then the resourceful hero offered him wine. Polyphemus asked what his name was, and Odysseus replied that he was called Uti, meaning none. Then, having become drunk, he fell asleep. Then, they grinded and fired a sharp stick together, and Odysseus blinded him so that he could not see them so that they could escape. Immediately, Polyphemus woke up from the horrible pains and began to cry out that None had blinded him. The other Cyclops heard the cries, but thought Polyphemus was mocking them.

Odysseus and his companions were caught by the bellies of the sheep and managed to get out of the cave and run aboard their ship. They quickly began to open out to sea to escape and then Odysseus made a big mistake. He revealed his real name to Polyphemus and he in turn asked his father, Poseidon to punish him. In fact, in a last-ditch effort by Cyclops to sink the ship, he threw a huge rock, which is speculated to be "Garbias", near the Good Vineyard.