The islands, together with the three other volcanic archipelagos, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands (with the uninhabited Selvagens, or Savage Islands, in between), form the mythical Macaronesia. Macaronesia is Greek for islands of the fortunate or μακάρων νήσοι, a kind of heaven on earth where heroes lived in joy and the earth produced fruit three times a year. Geologically, Macaronesia is largely on the African plate, with the exception of the Azores.
“Macaronesia is Greek for islands of the fortunate, a kind of heaven on earth where heroes lived in joy and the earth produced fruit three times a year.“
In ancient times, these islands, along with some other islands including Sicily, the Aeolian – and Egadi islands in the Mediterranean Sea and the Lesser Antilles were labeled a winterless earthly paradise inhabited by the great heroes of Greek mythology. In this, the islands were reserved for those who had chosen to reincarnate three times, managed to be judged “pure” all three times and thus could be granted access to the Elysian Fields, the abode of these blissful souls. A feature of the islands is their connection with the god Kronos (Saturn for Romans mythology).
It is said that Socrates thought of such a place, when he said to his judges at his trial, that he looked forward to passing into a life, in which he will find all the great poets and thinkers of the prehistory, and would be able to continue with them his conversations in the inquiry into the final causes of all things.
