According to mythology, Sifnos took its name from Sifnos, son of the Attican hero Sounios. Carians, Phoenicians, and Asians are believed to have first settled the island. However, due to the lack of proof on the subject, the prevailing theory is that the island was first inhabited by the Aegeans, who belonged to the Mediterranean race and the Cretans who joined them. During the Peloponnesian Wars, the island took the part of the Athenians and, after its end, joined the Athenian League. Later, it passed to the Macedonians, Ptolemies, and Romans. The latter used it as an exile. Pirate raids ravaged the island during Byzantine times when it was subject to the Theme of the Aegean. In 1207, it was captured by the Turks, who kept it until the early 19th century, with an interval of four years of Russian occupation. During the Greek War of Independence of 1821, Sifnians took an active part and were liberated in 1830, together with the rest of the Cycladians. The island's history continued its bloody course up until the Balkan wars and the two world wars.