The island of Lesvos lies opposite to Asia
Minor. It has an
area of 1630 square kilometers
and a coastline of
370klm. The warm weather
of Lesvos island
combined with the rich soil
and plentiful waters
has created big areas
planted with olive-trees
and dense pinewoods. According to Mythology, Makaras, son of God
Sun, immigrated to
Lesvos island. This legendary
king had five daughters:
Mytilini, Mythimna,
Issa, Antissa and
Arisvi, as well as four
sons: Eressos, Kydrolaos,
Neadros and Lefkipos.
The children of Makaras
gave later their
names to the most
important towns of Lesvos.
Homer refers to Lesvos in Ilias and Odyssey.
This is where Menelaos,
Diomedes and Ulysses
met, after the siege
of Troy, to decide on
the way of their
return. As the archaeological
findings show, the
island had developed a
culture that matched
the Trojan or the Mycenaean
culture.
Two personalities of particular glory in
the ancient world, Sapfo and Alkaios, belong
to Lesvos. They flourished during the 6th
century BC and were the two most important
representatives of the aeolian melodic poetry.
Sapfo was born in Eressos in 612 BC and has
been remembered for her passion, her sensitivity
and the subtle lyrical vibration of her lyrics.
Syracuseans made a statue for her, and coins
were created with her face and the inscription
Sapfo the Lesbian. HYMN TO APHRODITE
by: Sappho
Throned in splendor, immortal Aphrodite!
Child of Zeus, Enchantress, I implore thee
Slay me not in this distress and anguish,
Lady of beauty.
Hither come as once before thou camest,
When from afar thou heard'st my voice lamenting,
Heard'st and camest, leaving thy glorious
father's Palace golden,
Yoking thy chariot. Fair the doves that bore
thee;
Swift to the darksome earth their course
directing,
Waving their thick wings from the highest
heaven
Down through the ether.
Quickly they came. Then thou, O blessed goddess,
All in smiling wreathed thy face immortal,
Bade me tell thee the cause of all my suffering,
Why now I called thee;
What for my maddened heart I most was longing.
"Whom," thou criest, "dost
wish that sweet Persuasion
Now win over and lead to thy love, my Sappho?
Who is it wrongs thee?
"For, though now he flies, he soon shall
follow,
Soon shall be giving gifts who now rejects
them.
Even though now he love not, soon shall he
love thee
Even though thou wouldst not."
Come then now, dear goddess, and release
me
From my anguish. All my heart's desiring
Grant thou now. Now too again as aforetime,
Be thou my ally.
This English translation, by William Hyde
Appleton, of 'Hymn to Aphrodite' is reprinted
from Greek Poets in English Verse. Ed. William
Hyde Appleton. Cambridge: The Riverside Press,
1893.
Today Lesvos is still a paradise with pristine
sand beaches and
warm inviting waters. One
of the best beaches
of the island lies at
Vatera. The beach
is 8km long with pure crystal
waters and attracts
many summer visitors,
making the area a
rapidly developing summer
resort.
The area combines natural beauty with history
from the cape of St Fokas where the ruins
of the ancient temple of Dionysus can be
found, to the village of Petra (Stone), in
the north part of the island
Jess1ee explaining
where she had
dissapeared
to on Lesvos
which is mentioned in Homers Iliad as the
mythical anchorage of Achilles. Everyone was accounted for as we gathered
at the port...except for Jess1ee. We had not seen her since we had arrived
at Lesvos and her dearest friends, Juntu,
Sidious and Enti were growing very concerned. She did show up later that night explaining
that she had met some friends (she would
not tell us who) and had gone on a photo
shoot. We all thought the story sounded just
a bit ...well, hard to swallow - but Jess1ee
showed us some of the pics and that ended
the discussion. "Miss Tory", I heard a voice with
a strong Greek accent ask. "Yes",
I repled. "I have letters inside these
envelopes for many people on your yachts",
he said and handed me about 20 envelopes
with the names of the girls on the cruise
written in a beautiful calligraphy handwriting. I flipped through the names but did not see
one for Mela, Twisted, Waya or me. "Well
it can't be invitations to a fancy party,
or we would have been invited", Mela
said half-joking.
Jess1ee looking
stunning on
Lesvos
Well, we found out later that they were indeed
invitations, but to a quiet romantic picnic
in the woods inland. It seems that the romantic
spirit took hold of some of the guys and
they
The guys made
up for missing
the ball by
dressing up
FINE and.......
decided to make up for missing the formal
ball aboard the Shadow Yacht. Each of the boyz dressed in their finest
formal wear, sent an invite to their girlfriends,
ordered a full dinner in a picnic basket
and hired a Greek band to woo their Moove
beauties. Mela and I were not invited, but we were
told that the picnic was laid out in a meadow
surrounded by thick pines and the music wafted
through the air like a soft summer breeze. As a suprise to all the pairs of lovers,
Mela and I had both of the sailing yachts
prepped with candles, wine and flowers and
docked them closer to shore. We could hear
the laughter and muffled talk across the
bay as the couples danced and eventually
snuggled down aboard the teak vessels. I
thought I heard that song "Don't Rock
the Boat", but it might have been just
the sounds of the sea playing tricks on me. I laid in bed and was just about to fall
asleep when I heard footsteps outside the
window slowly walk by, and then a cough I
did not recognize. Knowing that a display
of wealth like our flotilla was displaying
could attract modern day pirates, I thought
I better take a peek. I quietly got up as to not wake Mela , put
on my robe and unlocked the drawer where
I kept my 45 caliber. Making sure the safety
was on, I opened the master suite door and
tiptoed down the hall.
Copyright 2007/2008 - TorLa Inc
This Site is an independent affiliate of
Morning Glory Industries
All Coding except where noted is owned by
TorLa or is used by permission
Telluride, Colorado 81435
Contact Us: CrystalAngelFashion@earthlink.net
The island of Lesvos lies opposite to Asia
Minor. It has an
area of 1630 square kilometers
and a coastline of
370klm. The warm weather
of Lesvos island
combined with the rich soil
and plentiful waters
has created big areas
planted with olive-trees
and dense pinewoods.
