For example, a well-known Greek myth tells that the beautiful nymph Ió (Iώ in ancient Greek) was loved by Zeus and transformed by him into a heifer to protect her from the jealousy of Hera. However, the goddess discovered her subterfuge and continued to persecute the nymph until she threw herself into the deepest sea of the Mediterranean. Even Ionio, Poseidon's nephew and valiant fighter killed by mistake by Hercules, may have given the name to the homonymous sea. According to the myth, the hero's body was in fact placed in a coffin and abandoned to the waves of the sea that he had loved so much and that from that moment took his name. According to a third version, Ionio was the son of King Adrias, who in turn gave his name to the Adriatic Sea.
The crystal clear waters of the Ionian Sea are deep enough to accommodate all these myths, weaving them together with the stories of ancient peoples and seafaring legends of all times. The Ionian is the "mare nostrum" to which we lovers of Kefalonia always try to return and the great expanse in front of which we sigh before setting off again. It is much more than a name, it is an infinite and eternal blue embrace.