Editing Syros (section)

===Antiquity===
[[File:Pherecydes of Syros recent bust Syro208.jpg|thumb|left|140px|A bust of [[Pherecydes of Syros|Pherecydes]]]]

Throughout history, the island was known as Syra ({{langx|grc|Σύρα}}),<ref>''[[Suda]]'', ''s.v.''</ref> then Syros or Siros (Σῦρος). In later times, it appears to have been inhabited by the [[Phoenicians]]. In the [[Odyssey]], Syros was the country of the [[swineherd]] [[Eumaeus]] who described it at length (Odyssey, XV, 403 sq.), although it has also been suggested that Eumaeus referred to [[Syracuse, Sicily]].<ref name="Butler2015">{{cite book|author=Samuel Butler|title=Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Butler (Illustrated)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HkZCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT3206|date=14 April 2015|publisher=Delphi Classics|isbn=978-1-910630-86-0|pages=3206–}}</ref>

The island was also the home of the [[philosopher]] [[Pherecydes of Syros|Pherecydes]], the teacher of [[Pythagoras]]. It possessed two leading cities, [[Syros (city)|Syros]] (now the modern [[Ermoupoli]]) and another city ([[Galessus]]) on the western coast where [[Galissas]] now stands.

The island did not play an important role during [[Classical Antiquity|antiquity]] or the early [[Christianity|Christian]] years.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} It was not even a diocese at a time when even the smallest island possessed its bishop. During [[Roman Empire|Roman]] times, the capital of Syros was situated in the area of contemporary [[Ermoupoli]].