Cypria by Alex Christofi review – island records

From ancient myth to modern militarism, a brilliant exploration of Cyprus’s long history of cultural resilience

The island that gave the world halloumi cheese and George Michael’s dad is also an unsinkable aircraft carrier from which RAF jets strike Iranian drones. The geostrategic importance of Cyprus has made its history rich in such contrasts, ever since it was adopted by Zeus’s own aunt.

Cyprus was once home to dwarf elephants and tiny hippos, but its most& consequential as well as beautiful notable native was probably the goddess Aphrodite, who was born from the frothing semen of her father Uranus and stepped ashore at Paphos. She later goaded Paris into kidnapping Helen, so encouraging the Trojan war, whose survivors, too, washed up on the island and began singing of their glorious victories. Homer himself might have been a Cypriot.