CORFU - MYTH, HISTORY AND LEGEND

Named Corcyra in ancient times for Corcyra, mistress of Poseidon. Legend has it their offspring, Phaeax, became the founder of the ancient Phaecian race.

Or, if you prefer, Kerkyra, daughter of Asopos, with whom Zeus
fell in love and brought to the island. Their son was called Phaiakas.

Myth also reports that it was in Corfu where Ulysses met the daughter of Alkinoos, Nausica, who nursed him back to health at her father's palace and then gave him a ship to return to Ithaka. This enraged Poiseidon who petrified the ship and which is now an island in the small bay of Palaiokastitsa where Alkinoos palace is said to

have been. The wily Ulysses, of course, escaped ! The famed Argonauts were also said to have found refuge at Alkinoos Palace where Jason married Medea after abducting her from the King of Kolhida. Although contemporaries of the Mycenaeans, the Phaeacians had many ties to the culture of southern Italy in Apulla and distinct difference's from the rest of mainland Greece. This still holds true today.

Corfu was known to the ancient Greeks as Korkyra, from which the modern Greek name Kerkyra comes. The island lies on the Ionian Coast just opposite the Greek- Albanian border, and across the sea from northern Italy.

There were human settlers on this island from the Palaeolithic Period,
tens of thousands of years BC, but it was only when the Corinthians founded a colony on the island, which became the modern Corfu Town, that its history really starts. The date of the colony is not known exactly, but certainly by the end of the seventh century BC there was a thriving community in the "polis' (Greek city-state) of Korkyra.

By the time of the Persian War, at the beginning of the fifth century BC, Corfu had become a sea power to be reckoned with. It provided the largest force of ships after Athens in the fight against the Persians. Later that century the rising power of Athens, Sparta and Corinth led to tensions and the communities of Greece became divided into factions attached to these powerful "poleis" (city states). The smouldering tensions were set alight by a dispute between
Corinth and her daughter city Corfu over Corfu's daughter city, Epidamnus (near the northern border of modern Albania). The Peloponnesian War had begun. In this conflict Corfu was lucky enough to back the winner, Athens, but in the two centuries that followed its fortunes would change.

After the collapse of Alexander the Great's empire, the power of the Greek world declined. Corfu came under attack from Illyrian pirates (from modern day Albania, only a few miles fromCorfu).

The power of Rome was rising in the same period, and in 229BC the Romans took control of Corfu, re-establishing security. Once again Corfu was protected by a strong empire and was able to benefit as a trading bridge between Rome and Greece. It enjoyed a few prosperous centuries of peace and quiet, but eventually the power of Rome also passed.

After the Roman empire was split into East and West in 395 AD, Corfu became part of the easternpart, ruled from Byzantium. But Byzantium was too far away to protect Corfu from the hordes
of invaders rampaging through the remains of the Roman Empire, such as the Vandals, Goths,

Corfu island - Unparalleled beauty - Perfect Greece vacation in Kerkyra