According to a story in Greek mythology, the young Zeus was raised in a cave on Mt. Zas ("Zas" meaning "Zeus").

Homer mentions "Dia"; literally the sacred island "of the Goddess". Karl Kerenyi, speaking for the ancient Greeks, explains:

"This name, Dia, which means 'heavenly' or 'divine', was applied to several small craggy islands in our [ Aegean ] sea, all of them lying close to larger islands, such as Crete or Naxos. The name "Dia" was even transferred to the island of Naxos itself, since it was more widely supposed than any other to have been the nuptial isle of Dionysus." (Kerenyi 1951 pp271-2)
One legend has it that in the Heroic Age before the Trojan War, on this island Theseus abandoned Ariadne, daughter of Minos, King of Crete, after she had helped him kill the Minotaur and to escape from the Labyrinth. Dionysus, god of the island and protector of wine, festivities, and the primal energy of life, met her and fell in love with her. But eventually Ariadne, unable to bear her separation from Theseus, killed herself, according to the Athenians, or ascended to heaven, as the older versions had it.

According to another mythological story, the Aloadae had piled Mt. Ossa and Mt. Pelion on top of each other in front of Mt. Olympus, and were seen as a threat to the gods. To solve this problem, Artemis told Otus, one of the two brothers, that if he shall stop the siege of the Olympus she would come and be his lover at Naxos. Another story says that the Aloadae had actually settled Naxos.