Gli Scogli dei Ciclopi, the Rocks of the Cyclops, are basalt (volcanic) rocks that protrude from the sea at Aci Trezza, a fishing community on Sicily’s east coast, north of Catania. Local legend says that these are boulders from Mt. Etna, thrown here, into the sea, at Homer’s hero, Odysseus, after he and his men freed themselves from Cyclops’ fury.

In reality, these basalt stacks were pushed up from the seafloor thousands of years ago. They are, in fact, evidence of the very beginnings of the volcano Etna.