SERIFOS TRAVEL GUIDE

SERIFOS > MYTHOLOGY

MYTHOLOGY

According to mythology, the island of Serifos, “the iron island” as they used to call it, was inhabited by the powerful giants, the Cyclops. The tremendous Cyclops lived in a cave near Psaropyrgos and the construction of huge walls all over the island – whose remains are said to be the walls of Liomandra and White Tower – is attributed to them. The Cyclops, the children of Poseidon, were the first to exploit the mineral wealth of the island and to create an early civilization, which they later bequeathed to the islanders.

There is also another legend for which Serifos is known. Arkisios, the king of Argos, having received an oracle that said that his grandson would kill him, decided to imprison his daughter Danae so that she could not give birth to any child. Unfortunately, Zeus fell in love with Danae, changed himself into rain, seduced her and she gave birth to Perseus. When Arkisios found out, he locked Danae and her son in a box and threw them into the sea. The box arrived in Serifos and mother and son were given shelter by the king’s brother, Diktis. When the king, Polydefkis, met Danae he fell in love with her. For fear that Perseus might prevent him from seducing her, he sent him to kill Medusa – the mortal sister of the immortal mermaids – who was able to petrify whoever dared to look her in the eyes.

Perseus succeeded in killing Medusa with the help of the gods’ weapons and mainly with Athena’s shield which he used as a mirror to avoid looking directly into the monster’s eyes. He returned to Serifos showing Medusa’s severed head and petrified Polydefkis and his peers. According to the legend this is why the island is so rocky. The fact that the first kings of the island were Diktis and Polydefkis, sons of Magnetos and grandsons of Aeolus, suggests that the first inhabitants of the island were Aeolians.