Cults Myths and Legends of Ancient Sicily
7.5  NINFE AND RIVER DIVINITIES: Galatea and Aci

The myth of Galatea is linked to that of the river god Aci. Galatea is a sea nymph, and precisely a Nereid, that is, one of the daughters of the ancient god of the sea Nereus, a deity even older than Poseidon. Aci instead, before being considered a river divinity, is considered a Sicilian shepherd, albeit with divine descendants, being the son of the god Pan and the nymph Simeto, personification, this, of the Simeto river that flows near Catania. Galatea and Aci love each other but are opposed by the giant Polyphemus, in turn in love with Galatea. One day, while Galatea and Aci were resting together, Polyphemus, blinded by jealousy, takes a large rock and throws it against the two. But, before the rock hits Aci, Galatea transforms it into a river, and that's how Aci becomes the god of the river that flows at the foot of Etna.

A certain similarity with the legend of Galatea and Aci is found in the popular legend "Lu marinaru of Capu Fetu"[1] where it is said that two lovers (a friend and a wife) die crushed by a rock dropped by S. Giovanni. Anyone passing by the boulder will feel a strong stench as a reminder of the tremendous punishment suffered by the lovers. Obviously, in the legend, St. John does not kill out of jealousy but to punish the two lovers traitors of the sacred bond of the comparator.

[1]S. Salomone Marino: Sicilian folk legends. N ° XV, page 74.