Tag: ancient greece
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How are the Acoustics?
The Ear of Dionysius (Orecchio di Dionisio) is an enormous cave in the archaeological area in Siracusa. It was a prison for centuries. Legend is that the tyrant Dionysius could hear prisoners’ whispers utilizing the former quarry’s acoustics. On the morning of Day 8 of September’s Savoring Sicily tour, we’ll see how true that is!…
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Your Literature Teacher Would Be Jealous
Experience Sicily’s Evelina Buttitta, along with some of my other cousins, made their annual pilgrimage to Siracusa this week to see theater in the Teatro Antico of the city’s archaeological park. Here’s a photo taken by Evelina of Sophocles’ “Electra.” For a few weeks in May and June each year, you can experience ancient Greek…
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It’s Show Time in Siracusa
Next week, the 52nd season of L’Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico (INDA) will raise the curtain (so to speak) in Siracusa. INDA has existed since 1914, and it presents ancient masterpieces of theater at Siracusa’s Teatro Antico — in the midst of the ancient Greek and Roman city’s archaeological park. This year’s series includes Sophocles’…
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A Bust of Persephone
Clay busts of Kore/Persephone, such as this one pictured from the archaeological museum in Aidone (Enna Province), have been found throughout Sicily, proving the significance of the goddess and her story. In the 5th century to the 3rd century B.C., for example, women devotees prayed to Kore for healthful fertility and protection during various stages…
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Our May 2016 Tour: Tall, Massive, and Handsome
The Temple of Heracles (also known as the Temple of Hercules) of Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples possesses eight reconstructed, massive Doric-style columns. Built in the late 6th century BC, it is considered the first temple to have been built of the seven that we know of at the Valley of the Temples. Valley of…
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Our May 2016 Tour, Day 7: If Walls Could Talk
If walls could talk, the Duomo of Siracusa would have 2500 years of human history to tell. We know this because its walls are supported by Doric-style columns from an ancient Temple of Athena that was build in the 5th century BC (pictured on the left). During the in the 7th century, when the Byzantines…
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Happy Valentine’s Day with a Kiss
Happy Valentine’s Day! Terracotta statuette of a reclining couple from the first century AD, excavated in 1967 in the Akradina district of Siracusa (Museo Orsi, Siracusa)
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Bronze Champion
During antiquity, bronze was not a material that sculptors in Sicily used often, so when I come across a bronze statuette like this one of an athlete in Siracusa’s Museo Orsi, I take note. This statuette is from c. 460 B.C., and according to the information in the museum, it is called “The Youth (Ephebe)…
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A Crown and a Dove
Clay statuette of Persephone-Aphrodite; On the goddess’ chest is the winged god Eros, who is holding a dove and a crown. This piece is dated to be from 460 B.C.E. I photographed it in Siracusa’s Museo Orsi.