Skyros is a vital part of the Greek Mythology as it is connected with Thiseas, Likomidis, Achilles and Neoptolemos. According to the different myths, Thiseas returned to Athens after his journeys, where he was encountered with an undoubtedly difficult situation. Some say that he was chased away by Menestheas, who usurped the throne of Athens that was rightfully permitted to Thiseas as he was the son of Aegeas, while others believe that he could not bear the humiliation caused by the dethroning and decided to leave. In all of these stories, Thiseas travelled back to Skyros, where he was born.
At the time that Thiseas arrived on Skyros, Likomidis was the king. At first he accepted Thiseas kindly, but as the time went by, Likomidis killed Thiseas by pushing him off the highest cliff of the island afraid that he might take his throne. In another version of the story, Thiseas committed suicide. However, the version of his murder is the dominant one.
Achilles – Likomidis’s nephew - spent a period of his life on Skyros as a fugitive. Achilles’ mother, Thetis, dressed him up in female clothes so that he looked like Likomidis’s daughters and hid him in the palace, in order to protect him from being killed in the war of Troy. However, Odysseus found him when he gave to Likomidis’s daughters a hamper full of textiles among which a sword was hidden. Achilles obviously chose the sword and left with Odysseus for Troy. Deidamia, one of Likomidis’s daughters, got pregnant by Achilles during his stay on the island. She gave birth to Pyrros, who went to fight in Troy at the age of 12. After that he was renamed to Neoptolemos, which in Greek means “new on the battlefield”.