Cycladia Travel Guides

History | Mythology

Milos Mythology

Milos was the home of Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and beauty, who endowed some of her beauty to the island. And that is true… Milos is considered to be one of the most beautiful islands in the Aegean Sea.

The story behind the name

According to Mythology, Milos was a young man from Delos who, at some point in his life, decided to visit the island of Cyprus. There he met Adonis, son of the king of Cyprus Kinira and Pelia, a beautiful girl with whom he fell in love finally married. This loving couple gave birth to a beautiful little boy that was named after his father and was dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite. Milos, Adonis and Pelia were very close friends and enjoyed each other’s company. Unfortunately their destiny had planned a misfortune ahead. Adonis, who was in fact the object of Aphrodite’s passion, died violently and prematurely. When Milos heard the bad news he was so devastated that he decided to follow his friend to his death. He ended his life by hanging himself from a tree that was later given his name by Aphrodite “Milia”, meaning apple tree in Greek. Pelia followed their path since she was madly in love with her husband who was now dead along with Adonis who was a member of her family and one of her closest friends.

Aphrodite was so touched by their decision to follow each other to death that she turned Pelia in to a pigeon and Milos into an apple, in order to honor them. The son Milos, who was under Aphrodite’s protection, was sent by her to inhabit another Greek island. There he established a new colony and the island was named after him

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