The island of Delos, near Mykonos and near the center of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece.
Delos had a position as a holy sanctuary for a millennium before Olympian Greek mythology made it the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. From its Sacred Harbor, the horizon shows the two conical mounds that have identified landscapes sacred to a goddess in other sites: one, retaining its pre-Greek name Mount Kynthos, is crowned with a sanctuary of Zeus.
History[]
The island of Delos was once able to float freely around the ocean. Delos was considered sacred ground, which meant no mortal was allowed to be born there or die there. Therefore, there are no mortal spirits on the island.
When the Titaness Leto became pregnant with Apollo and Artemis (whose father was Zeus), Hera ordered every nature spirit to prohibit Leto from giving birth on any land rooted to the ground. Everywhere she went, Leto was constantly rejected. However, the nature spirits and the islands nymphs of Delos allowed Leto to give birth there. However, since Apollo and Artemis were born, Delos became rooted to the ground and could no longer float, which was the island's curse.