According to mythology, Mykonos was formed by the petrified bodies of the giants that Hercules killed. Later, the island was named after the hero Mykono.

The first inhabitants of the island were Cares, Phoenicians and Cretans but later Iones came from Athens to Mykonos in the 9th century B.C.

In the beginning, the island had two main towns: Mykonos on the west coast -where the city lies today- and Panormos on the north coast. Right after the Persian Wars, the island was in a financial decadence, which was evident from the small contribution to the Athenian Coalition in which it belonged. Following the fate of the rest Cyclades it came under the Spartan domination followed by the Macedonian, the Ptolemeans of Egypt, and finally the Romans. During the Mithredatian Wars the island suffered a major disaster. The Byzantine era Mykonos belonged in the Aegean Thema and in the Middle Ages it came under Gizi brothers domination until their death. Then it passed under Venice control until the looting from Barbarosa and directly after it was ruled from the Turks. After that the island became a naval power and during the 19th century it was a pirate center. For a small period (1770-1774) it was controlled by the Russians. During the Greek revolution of 1821 the inhabitants participated actively, and Manto Mavrogenous became a national hero.

Delos

According to mythology, Leto, pursued by Hera, found refuge on a floating rocky island, which Poseidon then anchored to the sea bottom with pillars of granite. Here, under the palm, she bore to Zeus the twins Apollo and Artemis, attended by Arge and Opis, two maidens from the hyperborean regions of the north, which god was required to visit annually. Towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC this earlier population established a settlement on the hill of Kinthos, followed in the 2nd millennium by another settlement in the area of the later Sacred Precinct.

From the 7th century BC, Delos was under the influence of Naxos, which promoted the development of the sanctuary. In the 6th century BC, Peisistratos carried out a "purification" of the island, with the removal of all tombs (apart from the two hyperborean maidens) from Delos to the neighboring island of Rheneia. Athenians coveted Delos for a long time, seeing its strategic position as one from where they could control the Aegean, and by the 5th century it had come under their jurisdiction. At that time, Delos became the headquarters of the Delian Confederacy, a maritime league under the leadership of Athens, but in 454 BC the Athenians carried off the treasury of the league and deposited it on the Acropolis. In 314 BC Delos broke away from Athens to become independent and therefore enjoyed a period of great prosperity. The island reached its height in Hellenistic times, becoming one of the 3 most important religious centers in Greece and a flourishing center of commerce. It traded through the Mediterranean and was populated with wealthy merchants, mariners and bankers from as far away as Egypt and Syria. These inhabitants built temples to the various gods worshipped in their countries of origin, although Apollo remained the principal deity worshipped on the island.

In 166 BC the Romans declared Delos a free port, which promoted its development as a trading center - dealing, among other things, in slaves - and led to the growth of a considerable commercial town. In 88 BC it was sacked by Mithridates and 10.000 inhabitants were massacred. From then on, Delos was prey to pirates, and later, also to looters of antiquities.

Excavations

The rench School of Archeology has been responsible for the exploration of the site; excavations, begun in 1872, have been carried out in parallel with those at Delphi. In 1904 with the aid of a patron, the Duc de Loubat, M. Holleaux began the "great excavation" which uncovered public buildings and private houses; some have been partially reconstructed by the Greek Anastylosis Service. Work is still in progress particularly in a Hellenistic district to the north.

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