Why are more than 100 aegean islands between mainland Greece and crete know as the cyclades?

Answer 1

The Cyclades islands, which lie in the Aegean sea south and west of the Greek mainland, are so named because of their circular position around the ancient sacred island of Delos.

For a more complete explanation, I've referred to the Encyclopedia of World Cultures, via Gale Virtual Reference Library. According to this publication, the Cyclades islands are:

"They are the peaks of a range of submerged mountains, separated by deep channels from the islands to the south and east."

Additionally, the islands have a rich history as part of the ancient Greek civilization:

"Although subject to the cultural influences of other areas (particularly Mycenean and Minoan influences) and to periodic invasions and/or waves of Immigration, the islands developed a distinctive Bronze Age culture with a now well-recognized Cycladic art, perhaps most clearly represented in the characteristic Cycladic marble figurines. In the eleventh century B.C., at the end of the Bronze Age, the Cyclades underwent a decline in population, but by the ninth to eighth centuries B.C. their population began to grow again, and new settlements were established. In the classical period some Islands were the home of independent city-states. From the eighth century B.C. the island of Delos was an important holy place for Ionian Greeks; during Hellenistic times it was an International merchant community as well, and it continued to flourish into Roman times. Ravaged by Mithridates of Pontus in AD. 88, it fell into decline, and then eventually into oblivion with the arrival of Christianity. After the Romans, the Cyclades became part of the Byzantine Empire."

I hope this helps! You can access databases like Gale Virtual Reference Library, where I found this answer, through your local library. Many library web sites even have a link where you can chat online with a librarian 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Kathryn Benson

Future Librarian and Slam the Boards! participant

University of Texas at Austin

MSIS expected Spring 2013

Source:

Dubisch, Jill. "Cyclades." Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Vol. 4: Europe. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1996. 75-79. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

Answer 2

The islands form a rough circular shape