An island made famous by defiant Ukrainian border guards has a remarkable mythic past
the island the name the Island of Achilles. In antiquity the small island was said to be haunted by his ghost, which spent its time breeding a sacred herd of mares. As you do when you’re a ghost on an uninhabited island in the Black Sea.
When the Amazons, who are among history’s most famous horse-lovers, heard about Snake Island and its herd of mares, they decided to sail there. So, they commissioned their former captives turned lovers to build boats that could help transport the horses back from the island. While the ships were being constructed the sailors gave the dry-footed Amazons some instruction in sailing and rowing. When springtime arrived, they were ready to set sail.
After a long journey they arrived on Snake Island and began to cut down the trees in the forest that surrounded the sanctuary to Achilles. This violates rule number one of ancient sanctuaries: do not vandalize the sanctuary. This means no deforestation, no hunting of potentially sacred deer, no theft, and no sex within sanctuary precincts. Naturally, the now-angry spirit of Achilles enchanted the axes.
The Amazon women panicked and tried a last-ditch effort to round up the mares and herd them to the boats. They should have cut their losses. Achilles drove the mares wild. As Mayor puts it: “With pricked ears and bristling manes, the demonic horses trampled and bit the Amazons, tearing at their flesh and devouring the fallen bodies.
But there are some snippets of truth amid the ancient horror story. Philostratus’ rough contemporary Arrian confirms that there was a temple dedicated to Achilles on the White Island, and that people wholeft gifts of rings, cups and precious stones. Inscriptions at the site in Greek and Latin refer to both Achilles and his beloved Patroclus. This suggests that it was here that Achilles and Patroclus finally got their happy ever after.
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