Poseidon and the Greek Isle of Nisyros

Poseidon and the Greek Isle of Nisyros

Not exactly Celtic Myths, but there are a few similarities and after just arriving back from a few days to the Greek Isle of Kos, I thought I'd do at least one blog about it.

It was absolutely beautiful in every way; weather, food, history, and mythology. Unfortunately, I got a bit of a “dose” while I was there and when I got home was a bit suspicious, so I tested for Covid and sure enough, after over three years of avoiding it, it finally got me!

Still, it didn’t get in the way of enjoying the wonders of this island and its smaller neighbour of Nisyros. So many ancient ruins are there to see, from the temple of Askplipieio dedicated to the God of medicine, to the magnificent ruins in Kos town itself, which include the Casa Romana, a Pompeian style of villa and built on a previous Hellenistic home, the Roman Odeum amphitheatre and a temple to the God, Dionysus.

My favourite day, however, centred around our visit to Nisyros, the volcanic island, reached by a 45 min boat voyage from Kos, which in this case was a replica pirate ship! The journey outward was on crystal clear, exquisitely blue water where one island after another seemed to magically appear out of the heat haze forming over the horizon. The island itself is a fascinating place, in terms of geology alone, having formed from volcanic eruptions 150,000 years ago and re-modelled by subsequent activity 25,000 and 10,000 years ago. The centre of the 8K circular island, is occupied by a 4k Caldera which contains still active, though dormant craters. Stephanos is the one we visited and it is out of this world to be honest. As you enter the crater by roughly hewn steps and path, you are almost overwhelmed by the stench of Sulphur, visible as yellow blotches in the surrounding crater walls. The heat of the sun too, in such a place with no shelter, is also almost unbearable.  However, it is worth it, just to walk in this crater, like a surface from another planet and feel that sense of nature’s power just below your feet. Being a Hydrothermal volcano, there is evidence of fumeroles (vents from which hot gasses escape) though none were active when we were there.

Nikia, a village precariously overlooking the Caldera, is just the epitome of what a Greek village should be, certainly what I imagined in my mind’s eye. Absolutely beautiful, with the narrowest of “streets”, like a labyrinth of higgledy-piggledy homes of white-wash and blue, you immediately sense that connection to a culture and way of life that is rich in tradition and mythology.

So where does mythology come in to all this. Well, the Greek God of the Sea is directly connected to both Kos and Nisryos and on the smaller island his name is very much entrenched in their folklore. According to the legend, during the war of the Titans when the Gods and Giants clashed, Poseidon, the Greek God of the sea, chased the Giant Polyvotis across the isles. At Kos, Poseidon ripped a piece of land from the island and threw it in the direction of the Giant, and with perfect aim, hit his target. This is the mythology behind the creation of Nisyros, and the explosion of the huge boulder hitting Polyvotis, explained the volcanic eruptions which formed the island. The rumblings since, are said to be the groans of the Giant, still suffering beneath the weight of land above him.

What is interesting about this legend, is that over this side of the world, we too have an island formed by the throwing of a rock! In this case, it was Fionn Mac Cumhall who created the Isle of Man. According to that legend, he too was trying to kill a giant, this time, the Giant Benandonner. In this story, he picked up a huge chunk of land and threw it at his enemy, but unlike Poseidon, he missed his target. So instead an island, the Isle of Man, was formed and the large gaping hole from where he took the rock, became Lough Neagh!

Interestingly too, is that Nisyros is connected to the Greek God of the sea and the Isle of Man is called after Mananann Mac Lir, our own Sea-God!

So, it appears, no matter where  you go, mythology has similar themes, ways to explain the wonders and mysteries of nature!

Contact Details

Margaret McKenna
Carrick Eighter, Virginia, Co. Cavan, Ireland
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Art to me, is storytelling a means to visually capture the atmosphere and tell the tales behind our landscape or capture the essence of that person’s character.

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