MYTHOLOGY

Tenedos

Bozcaada, which was known as Leukophrys in the ancient world, is Tenedos in Greek mythology. In fact, the first time we come across Tenedos in Greek mythology is the story of when it was given this name.

As the story goes, a king with the name Kyknos was one of the many children of Poseidon, the master of the seas. He ruled the city Kolonai, a Miletos colony in the Lapseki region. He had a son named Tenes. And when Tenes’ mother died, his father married once again. However, the stepmother Philomene slandered Tenes. What’s more, she found herself a piper as a false witness. King Kyknos, who believed in this slander, had his son thrown into the sea in a chest. Crossing the strait, the chest found its way to the shores Leukophrys with the help of Tenes’ grandfather Poseidon. .The people of the island made Tenes king of the island and changed the island’s name to Tenedos, meaning Tenes’ island. Soon after, Kyknos who found out about the slander to his son set off to Leukophrys to ask for his son’s apology. When Tenes saw the boats of his father’s fleet docking, he cut their ropes with the axe he was holding. The common Greek saying “to cut with Tenes’ axe” comes from this story. To avoid meeting someone is referred as 'having cut with Tenes’ axe'.

The Iliad

One of Homer’s two great epics, believed to have been written during the 9th century B.C., The Iliad describes the Trojan War, which takes place in the wealthy city perched atop Hisarlik Hill directly across from Bozcaada. The war takes place between the Greek peninsula’s Achaeans and the Trojans living in Anatolia. The Achaean fleet, under the direction of Agamemnon, King of Kings, makes its first stop at Tenedos to stock up on food and drink. Tenedos makes an appearance a few more times throughout the war. While the wooden horse built by the Achaeans waits before Troy’s city walls, the Achaean fleet hides within a Tenedosian harbor and waits. With this ruse the war is thus won.