Tag: ancient greek
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Dress Like A Goddess
These terracotta figurines from the 3rd and 4th centuries B.C.E. are goddesses. Scholars know they are deities because they are wearing a polos. A polos is a headdress that collects the woman’s hair into a column of sorts, which prompts her hair upward and then to cascade from the top. Images of mortal women from…
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Calatafimi Segesta Festival
The 50th Anniversary of the Calatafimi Segesta Festival “Dionisiache” is happening now through September 3. This breathtaking 3rd century B.C. amphitheater on top of Monte Bàrbaro is hosting everything from ancient Greek works like Antigone and new plays such as Shakespeare in Brexit to symphony concerts and jazz. Just add cushions and it’s showtime!
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Here is Where You Heard
After saying, “Arrivederci!” to our wonderful guests from the last week, I drove to Siracusa to meet my cousin and business partner Evelina and her close friends. This evening, we attended “Le Rane,” or “The Frogs,” a comedy by Aristophanes, written in 405 BCE. The ancient theater was full. Joyful theater goers, seemingly all Italian,…
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Play On The Beach
On Friday, June 23, as part of the “Le Forme di Telesis,” or The Shapes of Telesis, arts festival, “The Trojan Women” by Euripedes will be presented in the Parco Archeologico di Selinunte e Cave di Cusa in Castelvetrano. The interpretation, which will emphasize the plight of women immigrants, will be performed on the beach…
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Demeter’s Joy: Summer
Happy Summer! I present to you the magnificent Goddess of Morgantina, in celebration of the solstice. Scholars don’t know if she represents Aphrodite, Demeter, Persephone, or Hera. But her size (2.20-2.25 meters high), indicates that it was certainly a mystery cult statue of great importance. Personally, I believe that she is Persephone because her right…
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The Phoenician Women in Siracusa
This weekend Experience Sicily’s Evelina Buttitta has made her annual pilgrimage to Siracusa to see classic theater in the Teatro Antico of the city’s archaeological park. Evelina took this photo featuring the production of Euripides’ “The Phoenician Women.” For just a few short weeks annually in May and June, you can experience ancient Greek theater…
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Taormina’s Ancient Amphitheater and the G7
Taormina’s Ancient Theater, or Teatro Antico, is the inspiration for the logo of the 2017 meeting of the G7, happening now in Sicily. To give you some background, and put things into perspective (We are here for so little time.), the theater was built in phases, starting in the 3rd century BC by the Greek…
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Sing Out at Segesta’s Theater
The amphitheater at Segesta sits on top of Monte Bàrbaro at an elevation of 400 meters above sea level, facing North and therefore, the sea. It dates to the middle of the 3rd century B.C. Excavations of the area are taking place sporadically. Some have revealed the existence of structures dating back to the 9th…
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The First Time Ever I Saw Your Vase
The detail of the face painted on this terracotta jar that is associated with weddings (called lebes gamikos) is extraordinary, considering it is from the 3rd century B.C. It is from the ancient town of Centuripe in Enna province, which was, at one time, one of Sicily’s biggest producers of ceramic objects. This vase illustrates…