Gyaros
Encyclopedia
Gyaros is an arid and unpopulated Greek
island of the northern Cyclades
near in the islands Andros
and Tinos
, with an area of 23 square kilometres. It is a part of the municipality of Ano Syros
, which lies primarily on the island of Syros
. This and other small islands of the Aegean Sea
served as places of exile for important persons in the early Roman empire
. The extremity of its desolation was proverbial among Roman authors, such as Tacitus
and Juvenal
. It was a place of exile for leftist
political dissidents in Greece from 1948 until 1974. At least 22,000 people were exiled or imprisoned on the island during that time.
(25) recounts the tale that on Gyaros the mice eat iron.
In the Aeneid
of Virgil
, Gyaros and Mykonos
are said to be the two islands to which the god Apollo
tied the holy island of Delos
to stop its wandering over the Aegean Sea
. In his recounting of the myth of the war between Minos
and Aegeus
, the king of Athens, the poet Ovid
speaks of Gyaros as one island that refused to join the campaign of the Cretan king.
In 29 BC, the historian and geographer Strabo
had an extended stay on the island, on his way to Corinth
.
In the 1st century CE, Pliny the Elder
wrote in his Natural History that the island, which had a city, was 15 miles in circumference and lay 62 miles from Andros
. He also records that the inhabitants of Gyaros were once put to flight by (a plague of) mice. The island is also mentioned by the Roman orator Cicero
, and other notable Latin authors, indicating a broad awareness of Gyaros among the educated elite of the 1st century BCE to the 2nd century CE.
. Writing in the early 2nd century CE, the Roman
historian Tacitus
records that, when Silanus
, the proconsul
of the province of Asia was accused of extortion and treason, and it had been proposed in the Roman Senate
that he be exiled to Gyaros, the Roman Emperor
Tiberius
allowed him to be sent to the nearby island of Kythnos
instead, since Gyaros was “harsh and devoid of human culture” (Annales 3.68-69). When confronted with another recommendation to exile a defendant to Gyaros, Tiberius once more declined, noting that the island was deficient in water, and that those granted their lives ought to be granted the means to live (4.30). The defendant was allowed to go into exile on Amorgos
instead. The Roman poet Juvenal
, a near-contemporary of Tacitus, mentions this island twice in his Satires: first as a place of exile for particularly vile criminals (1.73), and second as a symbol of claustrophobic imprisonment (10.170). In the second reference, Juvenal compares the restlessness of Alexander the Great to that of a man imprisoned:
organization Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo
(EAM). Many of them were also involved in the Greek civil war
(1945-1949).
The prison was used again during the years 1957 to 1964 and during the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
. The structures are decaying due to weathering, and no maintenance is conducted. In four separate places north of the prison building, there are also the ruins of the camps where the men lived in tents, both summer and winter. Once a year, the men and women who are alive and in good health (most of them were born between the 1910s and 1930s) who were formerly imprisoned on the island for their political views, pay tribute by visiting the island and hold a ceremony in the cemetery of the men who left their last breath on this island.
The Greek government used the island as a target range for the Hellenic Navy
until the year 2000. Since that time, the island has been open to the public.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
island of the northern Cyclades
Cyclades
The Cyclades is a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, south-east of the mainland of Greece; and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around the sacred island of Delos...
near in the islands Andros
Andros
Andros, or Andro is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, approximately south east of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . Its surface is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and well-watered valleys. The area is...
and Tinos
Tinos
Tinos is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. In antiquity, Tinos was also known as Ophiussa and Hydroessa . The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos...
, with an area of 23 square kilometres. It is a part of the municipality of Ano Syros
Ano Syros
Ano Syros is a town and a former municipality on the island of Syros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Syros-Ermoupoli, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit includes the uninhabited islands Gyaros and Varvaroúsa....
, which lies primarily on the island of Syros
Syros
Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...
. This and other small islands of the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
served as places of exile for important persons in the early Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The extremity of its desolation was proverbial among Roman authors, such as Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
and Juvenal
Juvenal
The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
. It was a place of exile for leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
political dissidents in Greece from 1948 until 1974. At least 22,000 people were exiled or imprisoned on the island during that time.
Mythology and early history
The pseudo-Aristotelian work On Marvellous Things HeardOn Marvellous Things Heard
On Marvellous Things Heard is a collection of thematically arranged anecdotes traditionally attributed to Aristotle. The material included in the collection mainly deals with the natural world...
(25) recounts the tale that on Gyaros the mice eat iron.
In the Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
of Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, Gyaros and Mykonos
Mykonos
Mykonos is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island spans an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 9,320 inhabitants most of whom live in the largest town, Mykonos, which lies on the west coast. The town is also...
are said to be the two islands to which the god Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
tied the holy island of Delos
Delos
The island of Delos , isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece...
to stop its wandering over the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
. In his recounting of the myth of the war between Minos
Minos
In Greek mythology, Minos was a king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every year he made King Aegeus pick seven men and seven women to go to Daedalus' creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by The Minotaur. After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in Hades. The Minoan civilization of Crete...
and Aegeus
Aegeus
In Greek mythology, Aegeus , also Aigeus, Aegeas or Aigeas , was an archaic figure in the founding myth of Athens. The "goat-man" who gave his name to the Aegean Sea was, next to Poseidon, the father of Theseus, the founder of Athenian institutions and one of the kings of Athens.-His reign:Upon the...
, the king of Athens, the poet Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
speaks of Gyaros as one island that refused to join the campaign of the Cretan king.
In 29 BC, the historian and geographer Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
had an extended stay on the island, on his way to Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
.
In the 1st century CE, Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
wrote in his Natural History that the island, which had a city, was 15 miles in circumference and lay 62 miles from Andros
Andros
Andros, or Andro is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, approximately south east of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . Its surface is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and well-watered valleys. The area is...
. He also records that the inhabitants of Gyaros were once put to flight by (a plague of) mice. The island is also mentioned by the Roman orator Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, and other notable Latin authors, indicating a broad awareness of Gyaros among the educated elite of the 1st century BCE to the 2nd century CE.
Exile island during the early Roman Empire
The island also served as a place of exile during the early Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Writing in the early 2nd century CE, the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
historian Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
records that, when Silanus
Silanus
Silanus is the cognomen of a patrician branch of the gens Junia, a noble family of ancient Rome which came to prominence during the Empire. Important members of this family included three brothers who lived in the reigns of Claudius and Nero. They were descended via their mother, Aemilia Lepida,...
, the proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of the province of Asia was accused of extortion and treason, and it had been proposed in the Roman Senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
that he be exiled to Gyaros, the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
allowed him to be sent to the nearby island of Kythnos
Kythnos
Kythnos is a Greek island and municipality in the Western Cyclades between Kea and Serifos. It is from the harbor of Piraeus. Kythnos is in area and has a coastline of about . It has more than 70 beaches, many of which are still inaccessible by road...
instead, since Gyaros was “harsh and devoid of human culture” (Annales 3.68-69). When confronted with another recommendation to exile a defendant to Gyaros, Tiberius once more declined, noting that the island was deficient in water, and that those granted their lives ought to be granted the means to live (4.30). The defendant was allowed to go into exile on Amorgos
Amorgos
Amorgos is the easternmost island of the Greek Cyclades island group, and the nearest island to the neighboring Dodecanese island group. Along with several neighboring islets, the largest of which is Nikouria Island, it comprises the municipality of Amorgos, which has a land area of...
instead. The Roman poet Juvenal
Juvenal
The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
, a near-contemporary of Tacitus, mentions this island twice in his Satires: first as a place of exile for particularly vile criminals (1.73), and second as a symbol of claustrophobic imprisonment (10.170). In the second reference, Juvenal compares the restlessness of Alexander the Great to that of a man imprisoned:
Exile island during the 20th century
There is a red brick prison building which during the years 1948 to 1953 held approximately 10,000 men in custody due to their participation in the Greek ResistanceGreek Resistance
The Greek Resistance is the blanket term for a number of armed and unarmed groups from across the political spectrum that resisted the Axis Occupation of Greece in the period 1941–1944, during World War II.-Origins:...
organization Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo
Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo
The National Liberation Front was the main movement of the Greek Resistance during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. Its main driving force was the Communist Party of Greece , but its membership throughout the Occupation period included several other leftist and republican groups...
(EAM). Many of them were also involved in the Greek civil war
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
(1945-1949).
The prison was used again during the years 1957 to 1964 and during the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
Greek military junta of 1967-1974
The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, alternatively "The Regime of the Colonels" , or in Greece "The Junta", and "The Seven Years" are terms used to refer to a series of right-wing military governments that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974...
. The structures are decaying due to weathering, and no maintenance is conducted. In four separate places north of the prison building, there are also the ruins of the camps where the men lived in tents, both summer and winter. Once a year, the men and women who are alive and in good health (most of them were born between the 1910s and 1930s) who were formerly imprisoned on the island for their political views, pay tribute by visiting the island and hold a ceremony in the cemetery of the men who left their last breath on this island.
The Greek government used the island as a target range for the Hellenic Navy
Hellenic Navy
The Hellenic Navy is the naval force of Greece, part of the Greek Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy has its roots in the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence...
until the year 2000. Since that time, the island has been open to the public.