9. Aipos-Flori

According to myth, the poet wandered around mount Aipos as he was headed to the northern part of the island, the so-called Apanomeria. On a stifling hot summer day, the tired poet reached the foot of the mountain and cried ‘Ai, how shall I ascend the mountain?’ Many believe that this expression of despair named the mountain Aipos, while others believe it comes from the word epos and the Homeric epic poems. Mount Aipos has also been linked to Chios’ modern history. It was the site of the decisive battle which took place on the 15th of November 1912 to free the island from the Ottoman rule, a battle that remained in history as the battle of Aipos. The mountain’s summit is dominated by the monument erected to the memory of those fighters.

Konstantinos Kanellakis recorded various Homeric traditions concerning Aipos and how Homer got there. One such tradition refers to Flori, a point at the mountainous plateau which had always been a transit node with the northern part of the island. As Homer was headed towards Volissos, he stopped to rest under an oak tree. While he was enjoying the shade of the tree, an acorn fell and hit him on the head. Of course, Homer did not discover gravity – we would have to wait for centuries for an apple to hit Isaac Newton on the head – but our poet named an entire region and a type of bird living on the island. Scared as he was from the sudden hit by the acorn, the poet shouted “You too are persecuting me, friendly mountains (fila ori)?” Some shepherds nearby heard wrong and thought he was shouting at the birds… So the spot, as well as the type of bird, were both named Flori.