THE CHRONICLES OF RHODES
November 11, 2019Rhodes is a place of unique beauty surrounded by many myths. Through the ages the residents of the island invented lots of stories about the way life and creatures were made. One of the most famous myths states that when Zeus prevailed upon the Giants, he decided to offer the island to one of the Olympian Gods. God Helios (god of Sun) at that time was absent, so to be fair, Zeus rearranged the procedure! Helios requested his desire for the first land that would rise from the Aegean Sea the following morning. The next day when he woke up, he saw a beautiful island full of vegetation and turquoise waters. Immediately Helios fell in love with Rhodes’ shape and natural details so he bathed her with his sunbeams and made them last for almost every day for centuries. Thus, Rhodes became the island of Helios, the god of Sun.
Helios and Rhodes got married and gave birth to 7 sons and 1 daughter. The progeny of Kerkafos, one of their seven sons, were Kamiros, Ialisos and Lindos. They divided the island into 3 regions and they named the new towns – that still exist today- after them. Rhodes is an island favorable by the sun, as it has sunshine for about 300 days per year. It served as a trade center between many civilizations from the ancient Greece’s era, through the Medieval times and also during the Ottoman domination. This is the reason it is packed with ancient mythology and Middle Ages folklore.