The history of Delos is totally entwined with mythology, as it was the birthplace of Apollo, son of Zeus, and therefore a sacred place. Its position was also fixed in mythology, since before it became Delos (the visible), it was a floating, nomadic rock called Ortygia or Adelos (the invisible).  Poseidon anchored the rock in the absolute center of the four points on the compass with regard to its position in the Aegean Sea.  It is nearly equidistant to the mainland on the northwest; Chios and Rhodes to the east; Crete to the south; and the Peloponnese to the west.  Its geographical position attracted the interest of ancient Greeks, as did other places occupying geometrically important places in their elaborate mathematical approach to Geography, like Delphi.  The creation of these myths, given the location of the island, was only a matter of time.  Thus, mythology joins with history, as Delos’ geographical position did indeed bring great wealth and riches to Delos, just as Leto, mother of Apollo, had promised.  What Leto had not foreseen was calamity and disaster and slavery and loss of human lives that this wealth also attracted, to such an extent that Delos was deserted and remained so in the last two millennia!

 

Zeus appealed to his brother, Poseidon, to help them find some place, somewhere in the sea where Leto could rest and eventually give birth to Zeus’ child.  Poseidon then took the invisible floating rock called Adelos [the invisible] and anchored it to the sea with four columns of rock-hard diamond chains and then renamed it Delos [the visible].  This myth was so intensely believed in that it was the reason of peril for many a brave treasure hunters who lost their lives trying to retrieve those diamond chains from the sea bed.  Leto promised to Delos that she would make the island the richest in the realm if Delos would allow her to rest here and to give birth to her child, and that the child would never leave the rock.  And so it was agreed, and Leto alighted to the Sacred Lake where one palm tree grew at its center.  There, Leto, unaided, since Hera had forbidden Eileithuia (From the Greek eleluthuia, which means "the ready-comer"- the Greek goddess of childbirth and midwifery) to assist her, gave birth to twins; the first was Artemis, goddess of the hunt and virginity.  Nine days later, she gave birth to Apollo, god of truth and light.  It is of interest to note that, according to the Myth, Artemis, a nine-day-old infant, was actually able to assist her mother bring her brother to light; this was possible because Artemis, according to beliefs deriving from the region’s deep prehistory, used to be a Goddess for mammal fertility. In Attica, in Brauron, the Brauronian Artemis was worshipped as the goddess of vegetation and hunting, and as the protector of women in child-birth and of the newborn. She, obviously, had to be reborn to serve her newly assigned role.

 

From that time onward, Delos became a sacred place, was thus destined to be a place of great wealth, and would always remain bathed in the light of Apollo. One needs to personally witness just how unique this Apollonian light is, to understand. The writer of this article has heard at least five world-renowned painters say that it is the most impressive light they have ever seen!