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Greek Gods and Goddess: Syme

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She was either the mythical daughter of Ialysos and Dotis, who was abducted by Claucus, an ancient sea god, who named the apparently uninhabited island of Syme-Symi after her. Ialysus was a daughter of Danaus, who was worshipped on the island of Rhodes, and the city of Ialysos, sometimes called Trianta was named after her, although the ancient Doric city, of that name, lies close by. But when it comes to Dotis things become confusing.

To be or not to be, that is the question of he or she?

There appears to be two characters by the name of Dotis, one male and one female, however the two sources are one late (fifth century AD) the other being Pseudo Apollodorus, (first, or second century AD) while comprehensive, I have found it questionable in many cases. If I go further back, I find Doris (female [bountiful]) and Dorus (male [gift]), Rhodes was without doubt was Dorian, and the Dorians were recognised as one of the four, basic tribes, that constituted the Greek nation, the other three being Aeolians, Ionians and the Achaeans. However, we need to consider what the two late authors tell us first. The male Dotis is reported by Stephanus as the son of Asterius (of the stars) and Amphictyone [that joins, binds or fastens together), if I were to tell the story in ancient Egyptian terms, I would call Amphictyone, Nut, the mother of the stars, who having fastened herself to the body of earth Geb, had indeed joined the stars of heaven to the face of the earth.