Live from Sicily! Today we stayed local to the villa we have rented, visiting sites in the town of Acireale and environs. Acireale is shrouded in mythology with the story of Aci and Galatea at the core. I was thrilled to see this magnificent statue depicting their myth in person for the first time! Galatea…
Tag: Cyclops
Rocks of Science
In addition to these rock stacks (or faraglioni, as they are called in Italian) being associated with the cyclops Polyphemus and Homer’s crafty Odysseus, they are also part of a nature preserve and research area owned by University of Catania. The largest of the faraglioni (pictured left), the island of Lachea, has been a biological…
Watch for Falling Rocks
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…
Our May 2016 Tour, Day 8: Polyphemus and Friends
Sicily is the setting for many of the adventures told in Homer’s Odyssey. And, indeed, some of the stupendous mosaic scenes at the Villa Romana del Casale at Piazza Armerina (Where we’ll be on the morning of Day 8 of our May 2016 Experience Sicily with Melissa Muller tour) illustrate some of the epic poem’s…
Hit and Myth
Galatea was a beautiful nymph with milky-white skin. A character in Greek Mythology, she was one of 50 sea nymphs called the Nereidi. Together, this clan of nymphs lived at the bottom of the sea and made it their business to assist the sailors on their journeys. Polyphemus, the cyclops who lived on a nearby…