Naxos

Naxos (/ˈnæksɒs/; Greek: Νάξος, pronounced [ˈnaksos]) is a Greek island—at 429 km² (166 sq mi) the largest of the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern time was one of the best abrasives available.

The largest town and capital of the island is Chora or Naxos City, with 6,533 inhabitants (2001 census). The main villages are Filoti, Apiranthos, Vivlos, Agios Arsenios, Koronos and Glinado.

Geography

Climate

Climate is Mediterranean, with relatively mild winters and very warm summers. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Csa". (Mediterranean Climate).

Mythic Naxos

According to Greek mythology, the young Zeus was raised in a cave on Mt. Zas ("Zas" meaning "Zeus"). Homer mentions "Dia"; literally the sacred island "of the Goddess". Karl Kerenyi explains (speaking as if he were an ancient Greek):

One legend has it that in the Heroic Age before the Trojan War, Theseus abandoned the princess Ariadne of Crete on this island after she helped him kill the Minotaur and escape from the Labyrinth. Dionysus (god of wine, festivities, and the primal energy of life) who was the protector of the island, met Ariadne and fell in love with her. But eventually Ariadne, unable to bear her separation from Theseus, either killed herself (according to the Athenians), or ascended to heaven (as the older versions had it). The Naxos portion of the Ariadne myth is also told in the Richard Strauss opera Ariadne auf Naxos.

Naxos (Crete)

Naxos or Naxus (Ancient Greek: Νάχος) was an ancient town of Crete, according to the Scholiast (ad Pind. Isth. vi. 107) celebrated for its whetstones. Some classicists have doubted the existence of this city. The islands Crete and Naxos were famed for their whetstones (Plin. xxxvi. 22; xviii. 28), hence the confusion.

Modern scholarship and archaeology seem to confirm its existence. Naxos was located near the ancient city of Olous, atop a mountain now called Oxa where ruins can still be found.

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "^{article name needed}". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. 

Naxos (Sicily)

Naxos or Naxus (Greek: Νάξος) was an ancient city of Sicily on the east coast of the island between Catana (modern Catania) and Messana (modern Messina). It was situated on a low point of land at the mouth of the river Acesines (modern Alcantara), and at the foot of the hill on which was afterwards built the city of Tauromenium (modern Taormina).

History

All ancient writers agree in representing Naxos as the most ancient of all the Greek colonies in Sicily; it was founded the year before Syracusae, or 735 BC, by a body of colonists from Chalcis in Euboea, with whom there was mingled, according to Ephorus, a certain number of Ionians. The same writer represented Theocles, or Thucles, the leader of the colony and founder of the city, as an Athenian by birth; but Thucydides takes no notice of this, and describes the city as a purely Chalcidic colony; and it seems certain that in later times it was generally so regarded. The memory of Naxos as the earliest of all the Greek settlements in Sicily was preserved by the dedication of an altar outside the town to Apollo Archegetes, the divine patron under whose authority the colony had sailed; and it was a custom (still retained long after the destruction of Naxos itself) that all Theori or envoys proceeding on sacred missions to Greece, or returning from thence to Sicily, should offer sacrifice on this altar. It is singular that none of the writers above cited allude to the origin of the name of Naxos; but there can be little doubt that this was derived, as stated by Hellanicus, from the presence among the original settlers of a body of colonists from the island of that name.