Reference sheet
Regions
Six regions, from the Pindus to the volcano of Sicily. Choose a pin to jump to its region below, or read the sheet from north to south.
Epirus
The wildest corner of the mainland: the Pindus range, the Vikos Gorge and the grey stone villages of Zagori. The stories here are folk tales rather than classical myths, told about the land by the people who farmed and herded it.
- Story
- The drakos, giant of the folk tales, and his two rival lakes
- Key place
- Drakolimni on Mount Tymfi
- Also here
- Smolikas, the Aoos valley, Ioannina
Thessaly & Pieria
A great farming plain ringed by mountains: Olympus and Ossa to the north-east, Pelion by the sea, Othrys to the south. It was the natural battlefield for the war that made Zeus king.
- Story
- The Titanomachy, the ten-year war of Titans and gods
- Key places
- Mount Olympus and Mount Othrys
- Also here
- Dion, the Vale of Tempe, Litochoro
Phocis
The slopes of Mount Parnassus above the Gulf of Corinth. The sanctuary of Delphi sits on a ledge under two cliffs, and the Greeks thought of it as the very centre of the earth.
- Story
- Gaia and Uranus, the first couple, and Earth's oracle
- Key place
- Delphi and its museum
- Also here
- The Castalian spring, Arachova, Parnassus
Elis
Green, low hill country where the Alpheios and Kladeos rivers meet. Its sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia hosted the ancient Games and kept some of the finest temple sculpture in Greece.
- Story
- Atlas, the Titan who holds the sky, and Heracles's trick
- Key place
- Olympia and its museum
- Also here
- The Kronion hill, named after Cronus
Crete
The largest Greek island, high and mountainous, with plateaus and caves that served as sanctuaries for many centuries. Crete claimed to be the birthplace of Zeus himself.
- Story
- Cronus, who swallowed his children, and the stone that fooled him
- Key places
- The Dictaean and Idaean caves
- Also here
- Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Mount Juktas
Greek Sicily
The island west of the Ionian Sea where Greek colonies flourished from the eighth century BC. Its eastern coast lives with Etna, the volcano that the colonists believed held down a monster.
- Story
- Typhon, the last and worst challenger of Zeus
- Key place
- Mount Etna
- Also here
- Naxos, Taormina, Catania