According to the fable of Hesiodus, goddess Aphrodite's birthplace is actually in the Kytherian sea, for when Cronus (Zeus' father) killed his own father Uranus, the blood of the latter's body that touched the sea foam gave birth to goddess Aphrodite. However, she did not stay on the island, but she travelled in a shell and reached the island of Cyprus.

The island was also the shelter of the famous pirate Barbarossa one of the most terrible pirates of the 16^th century.

Due to its geographical position the many conquerors (Venetians, Frenches, Russians, Turks) occupied the island, in order to gain control of the seas.

In 1815 Kythira with the rest of the Ionian islands formed the United State of Ionian Islands, Corfu being its capital and finally in 1864 the Ionian islands joined the independent Greece .