Many ancient writers refer to the island giving it special names such as Vivlis, Gorgis, Mimallis, Akitos, and Zefiria. Its most predominant name was Milos. Ancient legend wants it, that the first resident of the island was named Milos. It is said that a young man with this name left from Delos and went to Cyprus. There he met with the family of King Kinira and in the beginning became best friends with Adonis the son of the king and later relatives as he married his daughter Pelia.

The connection of the two men, the friendship and their communication was not even broken by the death of Adonis. When Milos heard about the death of his friend he hanged himself from a tree that was named Milia. Aphrodite the goddess of love, touched by this fact and the sudden death of the two young men, transformed Milos into an apple (in Greek milo means apple) and his wife that also committed suicide into a pigeon. At the same time sent their son who was also named Milos, to the Aegean and then he in turn resided at Milos.

Terminologically it has been expressed that he name Milos originates from the pre-Hellenic word "viols", which later evolved to the word "milos" which mean sheep. The Cares and the Phoenicians are thought to be the first residents of the island.

The English archeologists Smith and Ogarth, in excavations that they first did on the island from 1896 to 1899 and also during 1911 discovered ruins of the prehistoric period that correspond to three historical phases and cover more than 1500 years.

The excavations of the British professor Colin Rewfrew brought forward many new elements. The effect of the Minoan civilization is clearly eminent. During the 1400 up until 1100 B.C. the Mycenaean civilization made his appearance. During the 1100 B.C. the decent of the Dorians took place and the area of Klima was inhabited. This town had walls, traces of which survive until today. With the passing of time the previous inhabitants of the island and the Dorians were joined to one breed. Milos cultivated arts such as those of ceramics and sculpturing and come to know great prosperity.

During the Persian Wars, the people of Milos fought on the side of the Athenians and against the Persians in the naval battle of Salamina and the battle of Plataion (479 B.C.). During the Peloponnesian War, Milos attempted to stay neutral. In 425 B.C. the Athenians sent their fleet with Nikia as their commander to impose on the people of Milos to join the Athenian Alliance. The island was obliged to pay taxes to the Athenians. Ten years later with the exhortation of Alkiviadis, the second campaign against Milos took place. This campaign is narrated by Thoukididis, who in his work (5th book) included the fantastic dialog between the Athenians and the Milians, were the Milians pleaded for justice.

After two years the Athenians destroyed the city, killed the men and drove the women and children to slave markets. Affected by this event Euripides wrote the "Troads" judging in this way the Athenians. After the end of the Peloponnesian War, the Spartans saw to that all the Milians that survived the catastrophe of Milos returned back to the island. During the following years and under the rule of the Macedonians and the Ptolemians, Milos came to know a period of prosperity were economy, commerce and basically the arts flourish. During this period many well-known sculptures were created, between them is the infamous Aphrodite of Milos.

In the catacombs 291 graves were discovered. In each grave many dead were placed. It is estimated that the dead that were buried in the catacombs reach up to 8000. Everybody that studied the catacombs came to the conclusion that there is another section that is still unknown and undiscovered. Today only one part of one gallery is open to the visitors, that of the second catacomb "That of the elders".

During the Byzantine period as the Roman Empire was divided to western and eastern, Milos goes over to the Byzantine state in the province of the Islands. But the extended Byzantine Empire had difficulty protecting the small islands of the Aegean and thus they suffered from the slaying of the pirates. There were also earthquakes and piracies and the cities of Klima and Milos were destroyed. Around the 8th and 9th century, the people of Milos revolted against the Byzantine emperor, basically for religious reasons.

The sieze of Constantinople by the Franks in 1204 had as a result for the Aegean islands to go over to the Venetians. Milos found itself under the reign of Markos Sanoudos (1207) The dynasty of Sanoudos maintained its power up until 1361. The people of Milos never accepted their fate as conquered. They revolted against the Sanoudos.

Nevertheless after the fall of the Sanoudos the dynasty of the Kristis followed (1383-1566 A.C.) But the pirates did not leave this area alone. Hairendin Varvarosa, the great pirate showed up and asked for the submission of the islands to the Turks and thus the island paid luxury taxes to the Turks. 

In 1566 the island went over from the Venetians to the Turks. Josef Nazis ruled from 1566 to 1579 and later Mourat the 3rd allowed some political freedoms. The Turks never inhabited the island. They use to send representatives to collect the taxes and then leave. Nevertheless the piracies continued.

Georgis Kapsis revolted against the Turks and in 1678 they took him to Constantinople were he was beheaded. In 1771 the Russians made their appearance. Milos was one of the first islands of the Cyclades to respond with fighters and with the provision of money for the revolution on 1821 against the Turks. The first naval battle between the Greeks and the Turks on the 11th April 1821, took place in the waters of Milos. Between other things Milos gave the amount of 37.000 grosses to the cause for the independence of Greece.

From 1830, like all the other Cycladic islands, Milos was included in the Greek state. During the Krimaiko War, the British and French forces established naval bases at the port of Adamanda. Milos was also present in the wars that followed. During the 1st World War, Adamandas was used again as a base of the French fleet in the Aegean. During the Near Eastern destruction, in 1922, Millos accepted more than 150 refugees.

During the 2nd World War the Germans took over the island immediately in May of 1941. The people of Milos resisted the conquerors and in May 9th 1945 put up the Greek flag. Unfortunately the difficult living conditions forced the people of Milos to emigrate to Attica, U.S.A and to other destinations. During the past few years Milos has been discovered by foreigners and has come to know great tourist development.