Wednesday, April 16, 2008

More on Cyana...

The most famous divers of antiquity were the Greek Scyllias and his daughter Cyana. The Persian King Xerxes commissioned them in the fifth century B.C., as treasure salvors during one of the numerous wars between the Persians and Greeks. Not wanting to lose this valued diving duo, Xerxes refused to allow them to return home after finishing their commission. Using reeds as breathing tubes to avoid detection, they slipped into the water under the cover of darkness and escaped. Years later, they destroyed one of Xerxes’ fleets by diving into a stormy sea and cutting the mooring lines of the vessels at anchor.

For their bravery, statues of Scyllias and Cyana were erected in the Greek city of Delphi. Parenthetically, one contemporary writer noted that Cyana’s diving experience proved that “young women may dive into the sea without fear of losing their virginity.” Until then, it was believed that the water pressure that could so easily break eardrums could in the same way compromise the virtue of young maidens.

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