Dēlos
(
Δῆλος). An island of the Aegean, situated nearly in the
centre of the
Cyclades (q.v.). This island was
called also Asteria, Pelasgia, Chlamydia, Lagia, Pyrpilis, Scythias, Mydia, and Ortygia. It
was named Ortygia from
ὄρτυξ, “a quail,”
and Lagia from
λαγώς, “a hare,” the
island formerly abounding with both these creatures. On this account, according to Strabo, it
was not allowed to have dogs at Delos, because they destroyed the quails and hares. The name
Delos was commonly derived from
δῆλος,
“manifest,” in allusion to the island having floated under the surface of
the sea until made to appear and stand firm by order of Poseidon. This was done for the
purpose of receiving Leto, who was on the eve of delivery, and could find no asylum on the
earth, Heré having bound it by an oath not to receive her; but as Delos at the time
was floating beneath the waters, it was freed from the obligation. Once fixed in its place, it
continued, according to popular belief, to remain so firm as even to be unmoved by the
shocks of an earthquake. This, however, is contradicted by Thucydides and Herodotus, who
report that a shock was felt there before the Peloponnesian War (
Thuc.ii.
8;
Herod.vi. 98).
Delos was celebrated as the natal island of Apollo and Artemis, and the solemnities with
which the festivals of these deities were observed there never failed to attract large crowds
from the neighbouring islands and the continent. Among the seven wonders of the world was an
altar at Delos which was made of the horns of animals. Tradition reported that it was
constructed by Apollo with the horns of deer killed in hunting by his sister Artemis. Plutarch
says he saw it, and he speaks of the wonderful interlacing of the horns of which it was made,
no cement nor bond of any kind being employed to hold it together. Portions of this altar are
identified by archæologists in the scattered blocks of marble lately found in the
so-called Hall of the Bulls, to the east of the great temple, and named from its
“taurine” capitals representing recumbent bulls. The Athenians were
commanded by an oracle, in the time of Pisistratus, to purify Delos, which they did by causing
the dead bodies which had been buried there to be taken up and removed from all places within
view of the temple. In the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War, they, by the advice of an
oracle, purified it anew by carrying all the dead bodies to the neighbouring island of
Rhenaea, where they were interred. After having done this, in order to prevent its being
polluted in the time to come, they published an edict that for the future no person should be
suffered to die, nor any woman to be brought to bed, in the island, but that, when death or
parturition approached, they should be carried over into Rhenaea. In memory of this
purification, it is said, the Athenians instituted a solemn quinquennial festival. See
Delia.
When the Persian armament, under Datis and Artaphernes, was making its way through the
Grecian islands, the inhabitants of Delos left their rich temple, with its treasures, to the
protection of its tutelary deities, and fled to Tenos. The fame of the sanctuary, however,
saved it from spoliation. The Persians had heard that Delos was the birthplace of two deities
who corresponded to those who held the foremost rank in their own religious
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Plan of Delos, showing Excavations. (1890.)
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system—the sun and moon. This comparison was probably suggested
to them by some Greek who wished to save the temple. If we may credit the tradition which was
current in the days of Herodotus, Delos received the highest honours from Datis. He would not
suffer his ships to touch the sacred shore, but kept them at the island of Rhenaea. He also
sent a herald to recall the Delians who had fled to Tenos, and offered sacrifice to the god,
in which 300 talents of frankincense are said to have been consumed (
Herod.vi. 97).
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Coin of Delos.
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After the Persian War, the Athenians established at Delos the treasury of the
Greeks, and ordered that all meetings relative to the confederacy should be held there (
Thuc.i. 96). In the tenth year of the Peloponnesian War, not being
satisfied with the purifications which the island had hitherto undergone, they removed its
entire population to Adramyttium, where they obtained a settlement from the Persian satrap
Pharnaces (
Thuc.v. 1). Here many of these unfortunate Delians were
afterwards treacherously murdered by order of Arsaces, an officer of Tissaphernes (
Thuc.viii. 108). Finally, however, the Athenians restored those that
survived to their country after the battle of Amphipolis, as they considered that their ill
success in the war proceeded from the anger of the god on account of their conduct towards
this unfortunate people (
Thuc.v. 32). Strabo says that Delos
became a place of great commercial importance after the destruction of Corinth, as the
merchants who had frequented that city then withdrew to this island, which afforded great
facilities for carrying on trade on account of the convenience of its port, and its
advantageous situation with respect to the coasts of Greece and Asia Minor, as well as from
the great concourse of people who resorted thither at stated times. It was also very famous
for its bronze. The Romans especially favoured the interests of the Delians, though they had
conceded to the Athenians the sovereignty of the island and the administration of the temple
(Polyb. xxx. 18). But on the occupation of Athens by the generals of Mithridates, they landed
troops in Delos and committed the greatest devastations there in consequence of the
inhabitants refusing to espouse their cause (B.C. 87). After this calamity it remained in an
impoverished and deserted state. The town of Delos was situated at the foot of Mount Cynthus,
in a plain watered by the little river Inopus, and by a lake called Trochoeides by Theognis
and Herodotus. Remains of the great temple of Apollo, of the temple of Leto, a theatre, a
private house, and of several porticoes are among the antiquities that are now visible. Since
1877, M. Homolle and others, on behalf of the French Archæological Institute, have
prosecuted very extensive investigations on the site of the town. See Sallier,
Hist. de
l'Isle de Délos, in the
Mém. de l'Académie
des Inscriptions iii. 376; and Homolle,
Fouilles de
Délos (Paris, 1878).