NAXOS, one of the Cyclades, a fertile island in the Aegean Sea, a little to the east of Paros. It was rich in vines and famous for its wine, and in consequence became one of the chief seats of the worship of Bacchus. The god found Ariadne asleep on its shore, when she was deserted by Theseus. From its fertility and wealth Naxos was the most powerful of the Cyclades. A tyrant Lygdamis ruled there for some time during the 6th century b.c. In 501 a Persian fleet unsuccessfully attacked it, but in 490 it was captured and treated with great severity. Four Naxian ships took part in the great expedition of Xerxes, but deserted and fought on the Greek side at Salamis in 480. Naxos was a member of the Delian Confederacy; it revolted in 471, was captured by Athens, and remained in her possession till her empire was destroyed. The history of the island henceforth is obscure. The most remarkable event was its capture, in 1207 a.d., by the Venetian Marco Sanudo, who founded there a state and a dynasty that flourished till the Turks took the island in 1566. Since the War of Independence it has belonged to the Greek kingdom. The chief town occupies the site of the ancient city on the north-west coast. Naxos, Paros, Antiparos, and some little islets form an eparchia, with a total population of about 21,000....
NAXOS, the earliest Greek colony in Sicily, was founded from Chalcis in 735 b.c., on the east coast immediately south of the modern town of Taormina. Within a few years it became strong enough to found Leontini and Catana. It is impossible here to enter on the tangled history of its relations with the other Greek cities of Sicily, and with the tyrants Hippocrates, Gelo, &c. Naxos was the warmest ally of Athens in the Sicilian expedition. In 403 b.c. it'was completely destroyed by Dionysius, and was never rebuilt. Its place was supplied in 358 by Tauromenium, to which the Naxian exiles flocked.
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