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Leon ( el, Λέων, "lion"), also known colloquially as Nisi ("the island") and during
Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
rule as Rabbit Island, is an islet in
Souda Bay Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri p ...
on the northwest coast of
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
. On the southeast side of the islet, a small distance away, there is another larger islet called
Souda Souda ( el, Σούδα) is a town and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of ...
. In ancient times these two islets were referred to as Leukai (Greek for "white ones") and pronounced "Lefkai". Their name came from the ancient Greek myth about a musical contest between the
Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wiscon ...
s and the
Muses In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
. Out of their anguish from losing the competition, writes
Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethn ...
, the Muses plucked their rivals' feathers from their wings; the Sirens turned white and fell into the sea at Aptera ("featherless") where they formed the islands in the bay that were called Lefkai.Caroline M. Galt, "A marble fragment at Mount Holyoke College from the Cretan city of Aptera", ''Art and Archaeology'' 6 (1920:150).


See also

*
List of islands of Greece Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by ...


References

{{Aegean Sea Landforms of Chania (regional unit) Uninhabited islands of Crete Islands of Greece Souda Bay