One of “Master of the Seas” Poseidon’s many children was a king named Kyknos. He ruled in the city of Kolonai, which was located in the colony of Miletos, not far from the island on the mainland. Kyknos had a son named Tenes. When Tenes’ mother died, his father – the king – remarried. This new stepmother, had it in for Tenes, and managed to slander Tenes, with the aid of a piper. King Kyknos was fooled by this set up. He arranged for Tenes to be locked into a wooden chest and to be thrown into the sea. The chest started to float, and after leaving the Dardanelles reached open sea and beached itself on the shores of Leukophrys Island. Here, Tenes managed to escape the confines of the chest, made the island his home, and according to the famous geographer Strabon, changed the name of the island from Kalydna to Tenedos – meaning “Tenes’ Island”. As for his dad – Kyknos … he came to his senses after some time, and realized that he did injustice to his son. He jumped on his ship, made it to Tenedos to make amends with his son. His son Tenes was not so accommodating though. He ensured that the ropes of Kyknos’ ship were severed and the ship was left to float away. On top of that, a piper having been part of the plot against him, he also decreed that from that day on no piper was to set foot on this island. According to Herodotus, the first known inhabitants of Tenedos – now Bozcaada – were the Pelasgians. It is estimated that they inhabited the island around 2000 B.C. It took 1500 years for the Persians to come, conquer and destroy all Ionian cities and the islands, including Bozcaada. In Herodotus’ words it took place as follows: “The Persian armada dropped anchor near Miletus for the winter. When they took sail again, they easily overpowered the islands of Khios, Lesbos, and Tenedos - close to the mainland. When the barbarians conquered the islands they captured its people by a method used in fishing. Their army locked hands and formed a long chain of humans all the way from the north shore to the south. They then started walking from one end of the island to the other and captured anything in its way as though with a trawl net.”

Website: http://www.bozcaadatenedos.com/