Demeter, the goddess of the grain, female fertilization, and the harvest, who is the mother of Persephone, represents the great matriarch in ancient Greek mythology. Her power to cultivate the bounties on the Earth’s surface for us are illustrated significantly during the myth of Demeter and Kore/Persephone. Before the Christian era, the Eleusinian Mysteries (as…
Tag: mythology
Persephone And Pomegranates
Pomegranates, when left on their trees, open like flowers to release hundreds of seeds. They are harvested in the fall. The maiden Kore, before she became known as Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, ate pomegranate seeds when Hades (AKA Pluto, God of the Underworld) offered them to her. The act of accepting them signified moving…
Beware And Be Kind To The Mandrake Plant
Beware! Attenti! Mandrake (pictured), or Mandragora, is a perennial plant that grows in the Mediterranean. You’ll find them throughout Sicily in the fall and spring. They have long roots with a very short stem. When pulled from the earth, the plant and roots together resemble the human body–both men and women. The mandrake has medicinal…
Persephone, The Goddess Of The Underworld, And Sicily
Persephone is the daughter of the great goddess Demeter and the Goddess of the Underworld. Here she is as interpreted during the 2019 Arches of Easter in San Biagio Platani (Agrigento). (Yes, this art is made with beans and other natural elements!) During these last weeks of summer, she is preparing for her annual return…
On Sicily | Demeter And Persephone With Rosa Rizza
One can’t talk about Sicily without considering the ancient myth of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone (aka Kore). An agricultural society from the time of the ancient Greeks, the 4000-year-old story of mother and daughter and the circle of life and death helped the leadership of the Sicilian colony establish a new civilization and create…
Siracusa’s Myth of Aretusa
This stunning Fontana di Diana in Ortigia, Siracusa that tells the story of the Nereid-water nymph Aretusa and her protector, the goddess Artemis/Diana. One day while hunting in the forest in Greece, Aretusa decided to take a refreshing swim in a stream. While in the water, she felt something move beneath her. It was the…
Galatea’s Grief In Acireale
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…
Palermo’s Genius at Villa Giulia
Today I spent a glorious day in Palermo, which included a visit to Villa Giulia, a public garden that was commissioned in 1777 (More about that in a future post). In the midst of the park, I was so excited to see this version of The Genius of Palermo, the “Fontana del Genio a Villa…
The Genius of Palermo
This 16th century statue in Palermo’s Piazza Revoluzione is one of eight representations of a crowned man with a snake feeding on his breast that can be found throughout Sicily’s capital city. It is The Genius of Palermo, an ancient icon–so ancient that the mythological pre-Roman origins are uncertain. Il Genio di Palermo is considered…
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…