Editing Naxos (section)

=== Mythic Naxos ===
[[File:GR-Naxos-MtZas 2 View East 1.jpg|thumb|200px|Landscape of the island]]
[[File:Portara Naxos 26.jpg|thumb|200px|Entrance of [[Temple of Apollo (Naxos)|Apollo Temple]] (''Portara'')]]

According to [[Greek mythology]], the young [[Zeus]] was raised in a [[Cave of Zas (Naxos)|cave on Mt. Zas]] ("''Zas''" meaning "''Zeus''"). [[Homer]] mentions "[[Dia (island)|Dia]]"; literally the sacred island "of the Goddess". [[Károly Kerényi]] explains:

{{quote|This name, Dia, which means 'heavenly' or 'divine', was applied to several small craggy islands in our [Aegean] sea, all of them lying close to larger islands, such as [[Crete]] or Naxos. The name "Dia" was even transferred to the island of Naxos itself, since it was more widely supposed than any other to have been the nuptial isle of [[Dionysus]].<ref>{{cite book| first= Karl |last=Kerenyi |author-link= Karl Kerenyi| year=1951 | title=The Gods of the Greeks | url= https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.7346 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.7346/page/n303 271]–272}}</ref>}}

One legend has it that in the Heroic Age before the [[Trojan War]], [[Theseus]] abandoned [[Ariadne]] on this island after she helped him kill the [[Minotaur]] and escape from the [[Labyrinth]]. [[Dionysus]] (god of wine, festivities, and the primal energy of life) who was the protector of the island, met Ariadne and fell in love with her. But eventually Ariadne, unable to bear her separation from Theseus, either killed herself (according to the Athenians), or ascended to heaven (as the older versions had it). The Naxos portion of the Ariadne myth is also told in the [[Richard Strauss]] opera ''[[Ariadne auf Naxos]]''.

The [[Aloadae|giant brothers Otus and Ephialtes]] figure in at least two Naxos myths: in one, [[Artemis]] bought the abandonment of a siege they laid against the gods, by offering to live on Naxos as Otus's lover; in another, the brothers had actually settled Naxos.

It is also said that the sea god [[Poseidon]] was passing by Naxos whilst driving his chariot on the sea surface and is where he first laid eyes on his future wife, the [[nereid]] [[Amphitrite]] as she was dancing there.
[[File:Case 09 Neolithic finds from Zas cave, AM Naxos, 176842.jpg|thumb|left|Neolithic finds from the Zas cave: jewelry, pottery, tools; archaeological museum of Naxos]]