Category: Art
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Recalling A Time of Chivalry In Sicily
The UNESCO recognized opera dei pupi was a popular form of entertainment in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Before film and television, it was a favorite form of diversion for men and boys (It’s actually pretty violent and bawdy!). Our hero Orlando and the knights and their enemies recall the age of chivalry, originating…
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Hercules Went Clubbing In Sicily
Hercules and the Hydra of Lerna, a fresco in the lobby of the main entrance of Villa Palagonia (18th century), Bagheria, Sicily… Hercules killed the serpentine monster during his second of 12 Labors, an ancient Greek and Roman myth.
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Live Nativity Scenes In Sicily
Today is Saint Stephen’s Day, a national holiday in Italy. Sicilians and Italians spend the day with family and friends visiting presepi di Natale, or nativity scenes, like this Presepe Vivente that I visited last year in Licodia Eubea in Catania province, where I’ll be hosting our Life in A Remote Sicilian Town tour in…
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Sending You Harmony And Joy
May harmony and joy greet you! Buon Natale! Merry Christmas! Ti mando armonia e gioia!
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In Sicily Legends Come To Life
Sicily is the stage for many myths and legends. Like this one pictured from Homer’s Odyssey, where the cyclopes Polyphemus is throwing lava boulders at Odysseus. During our October 2020 Stunning Sicily tour, these stories come to life–especially when you are standing on the slopes of Mount Etna looking at the coast from where Odysseus…
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A Dagger? Eyes On A Plate? What Intrigue!
A dagger? Eyes on a plate? What intrigue! (Continued from an earlier post…) Inspired by Sant’Agata of Catania before her, Lucia refused to participate in the activities of the brothel to which she was condemned. This of course, angered the madame, who called the Roman authorities to further punish the maiden. Somewhere in this mayhem,…
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Let’s Light Up These Dark Days on Sunday With Santa Lucia
At the dawn of the 4th century, practicing Christianity in the Roman-ruled city of Siracusa was illegal. Already though, inspired by nearby Catania’s Patron Saint, Sant’Agata, who lived just a few decades before (from 231 AD – 251 AD), the young and beautiful Lucia devoted herself to Christianity. In fact, she was known to enter…
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The Goddess Demeter To Santa Lucia
Join us for a party for La Festa di Santa Lucia (Saint Lucy)! This 3rd century BCE bust was found in Siracusa at the site of what was the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore (Persephone). Do you know the myth of the goddess Demeter and her maiden daughter? This Sunday, December 8 at Cacio e…
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Ancient Myths Light The Way
The legend of Santa Lucia starts before the early 4th century CE, when the maiden was killed by Roman soldiers for being Christian. Lucy’s story as we know it today starts with the ancient Greek divinities Demeter and Persephone. Demeter is the goddess of the grain, the harvest, and fertility. Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, is the…