Lemnos, the island of Hephaestus
According to the mythology, the Jupiter in his conflict with the Ira, flew his son Ifaistos from Olympus mountain in the ground of Limnos. Ifaistos installed there his laboratory and taught the art of metallurgy in the residents of the island. Another important fable of the island refers to the first king of Lemnos, Thoas. Thoas, son of god Dionyssos and Ariadnis, married to Mirina from Iolkos and had a daughter named Ipsipili. In his years, the women of island neglected the adoration of Venus so she punished them with an intolerable bodily stench. Their spouses brought concubines from the Thrace and their women for revenge killed all men by throwing them from the cape Petasos. When the anger of Venus calmed down, Jason with his Argonauts came to the woman-handled island.Here in Anemoessa Limnos, the Queen Ipsipili entertained the Argonauts, and in order to honor them she set up prizes and organized games. The first Demigods Pentathletes were Telamonas, Lygkeas, Zitis, Kalahis and Pileas. Pentathlon became an Olympic Sport since 708 BC in the 18th Olympic Games. The unique place of the island in the North-East Aegean opposite Ellispontos determined his historical course. Limnos was colonized occasionally by Sinties, Kares, Cretes, Minies and Pelasgous. The archaeological hoe determines the way that the island had been populated since middle Neolithic Age. The most important prehistoric settlement is Poliochni. It was founded at 4th millennium BC and developed into a fortified state – the oldest perhaps in Europe – with urban structure and important culture, with the first democratic chamber of deputies. In Poliochni, on September 17 1994, the agents of Aegean, invited by the Ministry of Culture, 70 personalities from a lot of countries of the world, persons of science, Politics, Actors, Philosophers, men of Art and Intellect, decided and signed the Statement of Poliochni, gazing the immense light blue sea and they nominated the Archipelago of Aegean as Cultural Park of Europe. Limnos, as well as the neighbouring Samothrace, is connected with the mystic adoration of Kaveires, sons of Hephaestus. Remains of Kaveires’s holy have been found in Northeast Island. Few kilometres southern has been discovered Hephaestia, a city dedicated to Hephaestus that flourished in 5th century BC.