Mythology of Rhodes

Rhodes the nymph of iliou (sun)

When the gods divided the earth between them, Rhodes did not show on the surface of the sea, it was immersed. Ilios (Sun) was away on his usual trip and the other gods forgot to give him a share. When Zeus heard about it he wanted to redistribute the earth. Ilios (Sun) yet did not allow him to do this , due to the fact that he could see a new region immersing from the sea and asked to be given that one. Zeus invited Lahesi to give oath that the new region would be the share of Ilios (Sun). So the beautiful island came up to the surface of the sea and they gave it to God Ilios (Sun).

On that island God Ilios (Sun) with the nymph Rhodes had seven sons the Heliades: Ohimo, Kerkafo, Makar, Aktiona, Tenagi, Triopa, Kandalo and a daughter Ilektryoni. Kerkafos had three sons Kamiro, Ialiso and Lindo, they divided the island into three towns and each one of the sons had his own town and they named them after themselves.

This myth that is created by persons imagination, tries to interpret the different events. The surfacing of the island of Rhodes from the ocean is relative to the subsidences, that are mentioned in Geology relatively to the forming of the land. The love of Ilios (Sun) for Rhodes is explained with the sunny days that Rhodes has nearly all year round. This is why they called Rhodes the Nymph of Ilios (Sun) and they still think of Rhodes as the daughter of Aphrodite that emerged from the ocean.

THE TELHINES – THE FIRST RESIDENTS

The first residents of Rhodes are considered to be the Telhines, a weird race of people that were presented to be demons. Their name originates from «θέλγω» (thelgo=entice) namely charmers, magicians. They produce clouds, rain, hailstone, change shapes and are brilliant at arts. They were the first to have created statues of the Gods, in Lindo the “Appolo Telhinion” in Ialyso “Ira” and the Nymphs and in Kamiro the “Ira Telhinia”. When Poseidon reached manhood he fell in love with their sister Alia, got married to her and had six sons and a daughter called Rhodes by whom it is believed that the island acquired its name by.

They were good sailors and also skillful craftsmen in metal work. Stravonas mentions that they came from Crete and Cyprus, something that reminds us of the early colony’s in Rhodes. The tradition presented them as wild, dark because they process metal whereas others called them “vaskanous” and “goites” and that they had divine origins. It was believed that they had Zeus grace who sent the wealth to Rhodes as gold rain and the protection of Athena who made them first in arts and they decorated Rhodes with plenty and beautiful artifacts. 

MYTHOLOGY OF RHODES