Crete macrocarpa" forest in Europe. Samaria Gorge is a World Biosphere Reserve and Richtis Gorge is protected for its landscape diversity. Crete has a rich mythology mostly connected with the ancient Greek Gods but also connected with the Minoan civilisation. According to Greek Mythology, The Diktaean Cave at Mount Dikti was the birthplace of the god Zeus. The Paximadia islands were the birthplace of the goddess Artemis and the god Apollo. Their mother, the goddess Leto, was worshipped at Phaistos. The goddess Athena bathed in Lake Voulismeni. The ancient Greek god Zeus launched a lightning bolt at a giant lizard that
Timeline of the name "Palestine" strong similarity between the word Palestine and the Greek word "palaistês" (wrestler/rival/adversary), which has the same meaning as the word "Israel". This was expanded by David Jacobson to theorize the name being a portmanteau of the word for Philistines with a direct translation of the word Israel into Greek (in concordance with the Greek penchant for punning on place names. a. †Coele-Syria b. †Syria Palaestina c. †Achaemenid Empire Timeline of the name "Palestine" This article presents a list of notable historical references to the name Palestine as a place name in the Middle East throughout the history of the region,