Livius.Org Anatolia Carthage Egypt Germ. Inf. Greece Judaea Mesopotamia Persia Rome Other

Megiste


The island of Megiste, the most easterly part of Greece. Photo Jona Lendering. Megiste: island in ancient Greece, close to Lycia.

In Antiquity, sailors arriving from the east knew they were close to Greece when they saw the small island of Megiste - a rather inappropriate name as Megiste means "the largest". It was, and is, the most eastern part of Greece. In Antiquity, it was reckoned to the overseas territories of Rhodes.

Ancient-Warfare.com, the online home of Ancient Warfare magazine

Although Megiste belonged to the periphery of the classical Greek world, it was open to Greek civilization. The second picture shows the hero Bellerophon and his winged horse Pegasus. It is part of a sarcophagus that was found on Megiste, and is now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

A satellite photo can be seen here. Today, it is called Kastelorizo (in Greek) and Meis (in Turkish).
© Jona Lendering for
Livius.Org, 2008
Revision: 1 January 2008
Livius.Org Anatolia Carthage Egypt Germ. Inf. Greece Judaea Mesopotamia Persia Rome Other