Cycladia Travel Guides

History | Mythology

From a mythological point of view

The history of Skiathos travels back to the Golden Age, a period of the Greek mythology, according to which there are five or even more Ages of Man. During the Golden Age, the Titans were ruling the world. These were powerful deities who were always at war with the Olympian Gods. Otos and Ephialtes were the trouble-making sons of Iphimedia and Poseidon. They were very aggressive and audacious. At the age of nine they were 50 feet tall and could literally move mountains. During one of their infamous clashes, they got so angry that they started throwing rocks to each other. These rocks ended up in the sea and this is how the cluster of Sporades (Skiathos, Skyros, Alonissos and Skopelos) was created.

The story behind the name

There are two versions regarding how Skiathos got its name. According to the first, Skiathos was the name given to the island by the Pelasgians, who were its first inhabitants, because they were greatly impressed by the shadow (“skia” in Greek) created by the island’s lush vegetation and the name of the sacred Mount Athos, located about 140Km to the northeast of Skiathos. So we had Skia and Athos, which became Skiathos. According to the second version, the name Skiathos derived from Dionysus, the God of Wine, who was mostly worshiped on the island. His cult name was “Skianthios”, which is obviously very similar to Skiathos.

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