Not The Cyclops, But Etna

These rock stacks are volcanic. The beginnings of Etna, they were pushed up from the sea floor. So, contrary to the story from Homer’s Odyssey, they were not rocks thrown after Odysseus and his men by the cyclops. I recently finished listening to the Emily Wilson translation of the Odyssey read by Claire Danes. It…

Sicily Sets the Stage

Today is an important day in Sicily, when all eyes are on the arcipelago during its election for the regional president. Analysts say that the results of Sicily’s elections today could be a measure of Italy’s political climate for its national elections slated for March 2018.

Step Outside of Yourself

Happy Halloween! Pictured is one of the eye catching floats from the 2017 Carnevale in Acireale, Sicily. Although Halloween, as we Americans celebrate it, is gaining some popularity in Sicily, Carnevale (the days leading up to Lent) is the time when they dress in costumes and create mischief. No matter when you put on a…

Catania’s Persephone Fountain

This fountain, Fontana Ratto di Proserpina (The Rape of Persephone Fountain), exists in Catania at the Piazza Giovanni XXIII. It was sculpted in 1904 for Sicily’s second largest city by Giulio Moschetti (1847-1909). Moschetti is the same sculptor who created the Fountain of Diana in 1906 for Ortigia’s Piazza Archimede. With a nod to the…