According to mythology, Thoas, king of Limnos, took refuge in Sikinos, which was then called Oinoe, persecuted by the Limnian women who had killed all the men on the island. There, he married the nymph Nyis and their son Sikinos gave his name to the island. The first settlers of Sikinos were the Ionians, who were followed by the Dorians. The island, following the fate of the rest of the Cyclades, joined the Athenian League and then passed into the possesion of Macedonians, Ptolemies, and Romans. The latter used it as a place of exile. In 1537 it was subjugated by the Turks, after it had been taken by the Venetians and attacked by Barbarossa. 1774 was a tragic year for Sikinos. The island suffered one of the biggest pirate raids, which caused terrible havoc. It was finally united with the rest of the Greek state in 1830.