Mykonos in 218 B.C.

Mykonos — Spring 218 BC · In the Shadow of Delos.

A small, rocky and rather poor island close beside sacred Delos, living in the great island’s shadow and serving its festivals. It is proverbial among the Greeks: a "Mykonian" means a bald man, for the islanders are said to go bald young, and also a mean, uninvited guest. Two small towns and a hard soil — one of the humblest of the independent island poleis of the Cyclades in 218 BC.

Some islands of the Cyclades are sacred, some are rich; Mykonos is neither. A small, rocky, wind-scoured isle, it lies so close to Delos that it lives in the great island’s shadow and by its leavings — its people crossing to serve the festivals and trade of the holy isle nearby. Yet for all its smallness Mykonos is known the Greek world over, less for anything it has than for a pair of jokes: the Mykonian who goes bald young, and the Mykonian who turns up to the feast uninvited.