Letois
When telling the story of Patmos one would have to start with the godesss Leto. Leto was an Olympic goddess and the daughter of Titans Croesus and Phoebe. Born on the island of Kos Leto is the goddess of “motherhood” which basically means that she’s doesn’t posses many supernatural powers (like most gods of Olympia) and her life spent raising her two children was often filled with obstacles. More importantly her reactions to adversity should serve as examples of motherhood and a mothers love.
Little is known about Leto up until her relationship with Zeus . Leto was considered the favorite lover of Zeus but in all honesty Zeus had many lovers and was in no rush to settle down. When gossip of the pregnancy got back to Hera (another Olympic goddess known to overact at her future husbands infidelities) cursed Leto banning her from Olympus and declared that Leto “would not be able to give birth on any stable Land anchored to the sea floor”. If that wasn’t enough; Hera acting in typical fashion pressured Zeus into a shotgun wedding while Leto was still pregnant, and sent a dragon named “Python” to harass Leto causing her to constantly fear for safety.
People shunned the pregnant Leto afraid of angering Hera, so Leto wandered the earth searching for a place to give birth. Finally with secret help from Zeus and other Olympic Gods Leto finally settled on the island of Delos. A unique island in the sense that it was very small and was not anchored to the seas floor. The people of Delos agreed to allow Leto to stay in exchange that after she gave birth she would anchor the island to the bottom of the sea hence making it stable land. After 9 days of labor she gave birth two twins Apollo and Artemis.
How the hell does this all tie in with the island of Patmos you may ask… well legend says that Letos daughter Artemis among other things was a goddess of hunting and often frequented the city Caria to hunt deer and pay visits to the shrines. It was in Caria that Artemis met the moon goddess Selene. Selene took Artemis to the coast of Caria and shined moonlight into the ocean revealing a submerged island off the coast. Selene asked Artemis if she could help raise the sunken island and give it life. Finally Artemis agreed andshe acquired the help of her brother Apollo in asking their farther Zeus for permission. Zeus agreed and the island emerged from the deep sea into the light, this giving it life. The islands first inhabitants named the island “Letois” in honour of Artemis. “Letois” was the first name and mentioning of Patmos in ancient littereate; no other references of the island are made until much later when a Doric influx of inhabitants changed the islands fate forever….
Cave of the appocolypse
There is not much mentioned of Patmos (Letois) until around the time of 95ad when the island was under Roman control and used a place of banishment for religious heretics who threatened Roman power. St. John the Theologian (one of the twelve disciples of Jesus) was sent into exile on the island. St. John remained on the island for eighteen months during which time he lived in a cave below the hilltop temple of Diana. In this cave exists a fissure, or small hole in the rock wall, from which issued a series of oracular messages that Prochoros, a disciple of St. John, transcribed as the Biblical chapter of Revelations. During his time in the sacred cave, now known as the Holy Grotto of the Revelation, St. John also composed the Fourth Gospel. This grotto is believed to mark the spot where John of Patmos received his visions that he recorded in the Book of Revelation.
2017 Odyssey 