Mythology

After slaying the Minotaur, the Athenian hero Theseus and Ariadne, the Cretan princess who loved him, stopped to rest at Naxos on their way to Athens. Yet the next morning, while Ariadne slept, Theseus set sail and abandoned her. This, even in the eyes of the Athenians, was dishonourable, especially since Theseus had promised to marry Ariadne in return for the vital assistance she had rendered him in negotiating the Labyrinth. Various explanations for Theseus' ungallant behaviour have sprung up over the centuries. Did he simply forget about her, did he find a new mistress, or did the god Dionysos, who later found Ariadne and married her, desire her from the moment she set foot on Naxos, and warn Theseus away? Historically, some believe the myth demonstrates the rise of alate Cycladic civilization after the fall of Crete; others say that Ariadne, as a priestess of Crete, would have forfeited her rights and authority if she had gone to Athens. Common, however, are the accounts that it was the jilted bride's curse on Theseus that made him forget to change his black sails to white, inadvertently causing his father's death in Athens. In all events, Ariadne lived happily ever after with Dionysos, who taught the Naxians how to make their excellent wine and set Ariadne's crown, the Corona Borealis, amongst the stars; the Celts called it Ariansrod, where their heroes went after death. The story of Theseus and Ariadne inspired many later artists, most notably Richard Strauss' opera Ariadne auf Naxos .

History

Naxos was one of the major centres of the distinct Cycladic culture. Around 3000 BC, as now, the main settlements appear to have been near Hora, on the hill of the Kastro, and at Grotta, where the remains of the Cycladic town can still be seen in the clear water.

Tradition has it that the island was later colonized by a party from Karla, led by a son of Apollo named Naxos. Although these Naxians were Ionians, their most troublesome enemy was Miletus in Ionia proper, where some Naxian refugees, eager to take back the island for themselves, helped stir up trouble. According to Plutarch, many battles were fought between the two rivals at the fort called Delion, of which a few vestiges remain near Naxos town. The Naxian heroine Polykrite sought refuge here when Miletus besieged the island, only to find the gate of the fortress closed against her. One of the Miletan leaders found her there, and fell so in love with her that he agreed to help and informed Polykrite of all the movements of his armies. His information enabled the Naxians to make a sudden attack on the Miletians, but in the confusion of the battle Polykrite's lover was killed, and the girl died in sorrow the next day.

Naxos was one of the first islands to work in marble, and in the Archaic period produced the lions of Delos and kouroi statues of incredible size. Indeed, for a period, huge was beautiful on Naxos; in 523 BC the tyrant Lugdamis declared he would make Naxos' buildings the highest and most glorious in all Greece, although only the massive lintel from the gate of the Temple of Apollo survives on the islet of Palatia survives to tell the tale of his ambition. As with most of the islands, Naxos declined in importance in the Classical age. In Hellenistic times it was governed by Ptolemy of Egypt. Naxos next makes history in 1207 when the Venetian Marco Sanudo captured the island's chief Byzantine castle, T' Apalirou, and declared himself Duke of Naxos, ruler over all the adventurers who had grabbed the Aegean Islands after the conquest of Constantinople in 1204. When Venice refused to grant Sanudo the independent status he desired, he broke away in 1210 and became the Latin Emperor's Duke of the Archipelago.

Archipelago, was the Byzantine name for the Aegean; under Sanudo and his successors, it took on the meaning, 'a group of islands', in this case the Cyclades. Even after the Turkish conquest in 1564 the Dukes of Naxos remained in nominal control of the Cyclades, although answerable to the Sultan. A latter-day Naxian, petros Protopapadakis, planned the Corinth canal and gave many public works to the island. He was the Minister of Economics during the 1920-22 misadventure in Asia Minor, and was executed with other members of that sad government by the subsequent regime. His statue now stands by the port.