EUCLID, THE father of geometry, ordained that the centre of a circle must be a fixed point. The Greek island of Delos, a thirsty patch of rock and thin soil that lies, roughly, at the midpoint of a ring of islands known as the Cyclades, violated this rule. The ancients imagined it to be drifting perpetually. It was said to have gained a fixed location only after serving as the birthplace of Apollo, god of wisdom and light, and probably also of Artemis, the moon goddess. Its reward for this hospitality was to be bound to the seabed by diamond chains. Previously known as Adilos (invisible, unmanifested), it was given the new name of Delos, which suggests something shown or demonstrated.
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