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HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY

Prehistoric finds testify to human presence on the island which dates back to approximately 3300 B.C. During the period between 3200 B.C. – 2400 B.C. the Thermi area becomes a large coastal urban settlement, with building blocks and paved roads. Actually, the excavations that were carried out in the nineteen-thirties by the English archaeologist Winifred Lamb, exposed settlement structures of small towns. Other settlements have also been located on the island (in Lisvori), while there are many smaller locations built on the fortified rocky hilltops, which possibly served as homes for farmers and cattle-raisers. The stone tools and the vessels that have been found reveal the purpose which these sites served. These excavations have revealed that the civilization developed on the island is similar to the Trojan and Mycenaean.

Based on pre-history, the first island dweller was Makaras, who according to one version was referred to as son of the Sun, while in another as son of the hero Krinakos and grandson of Zeus. Many of the island’s towns bear the names of Makaras’ children (Mytilene, Antissa, Mithymna and Arisvi took their names from the daughters of Makaras, and Eressos was named after his son). Makaras’ dynasty lasted until the Defkalion floods, when the island was laid desolate.

Lesvos is mentioned in the Homeric epics. The beauty and skilled hand of the women of Lesvos is extolled by Homer and plays a catalytic role in the events of the Iliad. Achilles, during one of his many invasions to the island, captured the beautiful Vrisiida, who later provoked the feud between himself and Agamemnon. The poet Parthenions tells us that Achilles conquered Mithymna with the help of the king’s daughter, Pissidiki, who had fallen in love with him.

In 1393-1184, Lesvos was ruled by the Aecheans and from 1100-1000 by the Aeolians who intermingled with the old population and gave the island their language and culture. Actually, scholars come to the conclusion that the Aeolians probably settled peacefully in the island and as their civilization was rather more advanced, they absorbed, and in time hellenised the local residents. Thus from that time on, Lesvos began to be regarded as an Aeolian Greek island and its previous history was forgotten. Lesvos, were in fact so powerful that for a long time they controlled the other Aeolian towns and regions of Asia Minor.

During the 6^th and 7^th century B.C. the island truly became a center of civilization, flourishing both commercially and culturally. Amongst the many who lived and worked on the island was Terpandros (700 B.C.), poet and great musician, who invented the seven note musical scale for the lyre , Pittacus (648 B.C.) one of the seven wise men of ancient Greece, Arion (625 B.C.) a charismatic lyrical poet and musician who developed the type of poem called dithyramb, the progenitor of tragedy, Alkaeos (600 B.C.) a great lyrical poet, Sappho (620 B.C.) a highly respected poet, whom Plato referred to as "the tenth muse” as her poetry was distinguished for its passion and depth of feeling, Theofrastus (372 B.C.) a philosopher and botanist, and finally Theophanes, a significant historian who accompanied Pompey in his Asia Minor expeditions.

                                    Sappho                                     Theofrastus                                  Alkaeos                                     Pittacus 

In 428 B.C., a short while following the start of the Peloponnesian War, Mytilini seeks to join forces with Sparta, but is betrayed by Mithymna. Thucydides documents the disputes between Athenians over imposition of the death penalty on all citizens of Mytilini. At the last moment the harsh decision is withdrawn and Mytilini is saved from complete annihilation. With the final, however, Athenian defeat, Lesvos temporarily passes to the realm of Spartan influence.

For two centuries it undergoes constant changes in sovereign: the Persians, Macedonians, Ptolemaiki and finally, Mithridatis, king of Pondos who forcefully withstood roman expansionism in the eastern Mediterranean. When he is ousted by western Asia Minor (approximately 80 B.C.), Lesvos, accedes without condition to the Roman Empire. Pompei granted the island a degree of autonomy which it last until 70 A.D., in the time of the Emperor Vespasian. Later Hadrian gave the people of Lesvos their privileges again. Monuments of great beauty are produced while Lesvos is under the Roman rule : the Aqueduct of Moria, the exquisite mosaic floors which decorate the villas in Epano Skala, the ancient Theatre and the Holy Altar of Thermias Artemis.

                                                            Aqueduct of Moria

Contrary to the political instability and the foreign domination there is an intense cultural activity that takes place on the island. In the middle of the 4^th century B.C., the Athenian orator Isocrates, writes in a letter addressed to the noblemen of Mytilini that "your city, it is commonly believed, that stands apart in all dimensions of cultural life and has given birth to all celebrated artists”. A little later, the philosopher Aristotle and his pupil and successor Theophrastos, born in Eressos, settle on the island. The philosopher Epikouros lectures on Mytilini, while the Apostle Paul visits the island (52 A.D.). Following the predominance of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman State, many basilicas are constructed.

During the Byzantine period (324-1453) the island was frequently attacked and looted by the Slavs (in 769), by the Saracens (in 821,881 and 1055), by the Venetians (in 1128) and by the Catalan pirates (in the 13^th century). In 1335 Ioannis V Paleologus ceded Lesvos to the Genoese aristocrat Francisco Gateluzi, who happened to be his brother-in-law. He showed an interest in the well-being of it’s inhabitants and supported commerce, literature and arts. In 1373 he renovated the fortress of Mytilini as it is shown by the inscription over the main gate.

On September 1^st in 1462, following a bloody siege, the Turks took the island, and despite valiant attempts for liberation during the Greek Revolution of 1821, Lesvos remained in their hands until 1912. During the Turkish occupation, all economical and cultural life on the island came to a halt. The church struggles from the very first days of enslavement to gather up whatever Turkish violence and fanaticism had left and at the same time keeps secret schools to educate the children in the Greek language and culture, and at the same time, to prepare people for the coming struggle for liberation.

In 1821 Papanikolis shelled the Turkish Frigate Moving Mountain, in the bay of Eressos, while the Turks in retaliation slaughtered the Christians. In 1867 the island was struck by an earthquake that left thousands dead and many buildings in ruins.

ek fleet retook the city of Mytilini and a month later the Greek victory was sealed after a bloody battle and Lesvos was finally liberated. During the Asia Minor catastrophe of 1922, almost 24,000 refugees settled permanently on the island. Finally, Lesvos met one more period of occupation during the Second World War, when German troops took the island from 1941 until 1944.