July 10: Travel Month

The symbol of the Turkish island of Tenedos (now Bozcaada) is a double axe. This would have been the weapon of choice of the mythical prince Tenes. He had been falsely accused by his father of having assaulted his stepmother. It wasn’t true, but the father punished Tenes – and his sister Hemithea, who had nothing to do with the whole story – gruesomely. Inspired by the Perseus myth, he put the siblings in a chest and set it adrift. Maybe he counted on the gods to intervene, as they had done for Perseus. Indeed they did, and Tenes and Hemithea washed up safely on the shore of a nearby island, of which Tenes eventually became king. He named it for himself, Tenedos, and built a lavish palace for him and his sister. Not long afterwards, their father realised his mistake and set sail to his son’s kingdom to ask for forgiveness. Tenes however didn’t feel like forgiving at all. As soon as his father’s ship was anchored and fastened, he took his double axe and chopped the ropes, literally cutting all ties with his family. The saying lives on till today.

Tenedos tetradrachm

ceramics Tenedos

Did you know?

• Since Tenedos was close to Troy, the island came under siege at the time of the Trojan war. Tenes was killed by Achiles, who then tried to rape Hemithea. She fled and was swallowed in a chasm of the earth.

• Hemithea could also have been named Amphithea or Leucothea

• The double axe is called “labrys” in Greek and is one of the most recognisable symbols of the Minoan civilisation on Crete, where it was not a weapon, but an attribute of female goddesses. Today, it is also used as a lesbian feminist symbol.