Ancient Greek Gods, Heroes and Islands of the Mythical Peloponnese

The Peloponnese is not a place you can skip and do more islands. Many visitors will skip the media-promoted touristy islands and do the Peloponnese without missing on the islands when right next to this region there are so many of them!

Think before you spend all your time in Athens, Mykonos and Santorini!

The Mythical Peloponnese

There isn’t a richer history and mythology region in Greece than the Peloponnese. Here are some quick facts and information that can help you create a great itinerary while visiting Greece.

Over the past century, temples and sanctuaries have been discovered which were dedicated to Zeus and Hera at Olympia; Poseidon at Isthmia; Apollo at Corinth and Bassae; Athena at Mycenae; Aphrodite at Acrocorinth; Asclepius at the ancient theater of Epidaurus, Ancient Corinth, and Messene; Heracles at Ancient Nemea.

☼ Heracles and Pelops were the most prominent heroes of the Peloponnese

☼ Theseus, the Athenian hero, was born in the Argolid a subregion of the Peloponnese.

☼ Medea, the Eastern princess who returned from gold-rich Colchis with her Greek husband Jason, settled at Corinth, where she killed her own children.

☼ Bellerophon, the Corinthian master of the winged horse Pegasus, slew the fire-breathing Chimaera (the lion-headed goat) with a snake’s tail, and defeated the Amazons.

☼ Sisyphus, a legendary king, resided on the Acropolis of Corinth.

☼ Homeric characters are to be found at many corners of the Peloponnese.

☼ Mycenae was ruled by Agamemnon, who sacrificed his own daughter Iphigenia to reach Troy and was himself brutally slain by his wife.

☼ Clytemnestra died at the hands of her son Orestes, with the help of his sister Electra. A very popular summer play at the Epidaurus theater.

☼ The Trojan War had started in Sparta, where king Menelaus had lost his queen, Helen, to Paris.

☼ Nestor, another Homeric figure, reigned at Pylos, where he offered hospitality to Telemachus during the young man’s quest for his long-missing father Odysseus.

Local myths flourished throughout the Peloponnese.