Asterion (king of Crete) Asterion (king of Crete) In Greek mythology, Asterion (; Greek: , gen.: , literally "starry") or Asterius (; ) denotes two sacred kings of Crete. The first Asterion, the son of Tectamus (son of Dorus) and an unnamed daughter of Cretheus. His father sailed to Crete with some Aeolians and Pelasgians and became the ruler of the island. Asterius inherited the throne from his father and he was the king of Crete at the time when Europa was abducted by Zeus and brought to his kingdom. He married Europa and became the stepfather of her sons by Zeus, who assumed
Postage stamps and postal history of Crete On February 1881 as Crete was still part of Ottoman Empire, Greek post offices opened in the three big cities of the island, Chania, Rethymnon and Herakleion. These Greek post offices were consulate departments and they operated until the end of 1881, just for eight or nine months, using Greek stamps (Large Hermes Heads). Due to the very short period that these services operated in Crete, the postal items, stamps and especially letters, are very rare. Crete became part of Greece in 1913 and Greek stamps have been used on the island since then. Remaining Cretan stamps were overprinted and