Ulysses
Well inserted in the LIM register of the Sicily Region (Places of the Sacred) - Sector "Places of myth and legends" in the following sub-category: Places of heroes and heroic legends
Places indicated in the IWB register
- Mouth of the Aci River, Port of S . Mary La Scala
- Faraglioni, Archipelago of the Cyclops
- Aeolian Islands, Aeolian Archipelago
- Scilla and Cariddi, Strait of Messina
- Polyphemus cave (Milazzo)
- Port of Ulysses (Ispica)
- Grotto of Sataria (Pantelleria)
- Rock of the Ligny Tower
Mouth of the Aci River, Port of Santa Maria La Scala// Faraglioni Rocks, Archipelago of the Cyclops/ Cave of Polyphemus
The myth of Polyphemus is linked to these places. Polyphemus fact sheet taken from the book by Ignazio Caloggero “ Cults, Myths and Legends of Ancient Sicily ”
Aeolian Islands, Aeolian Archipelago
In Homer's Odyssey (Book X, vv. 1-25), it is said that the Aeolian Islands hosted Ulysses, returning from the Trojan War. It is said that Aeolus took him in and gave him a leather skin containing the winds that were contrary to his navigation. Legend has it that, during the voyage, Ulysses allowed only the gentle Zephyr to blow, but while he slept, his companions, believing the skin to be full of treasures, opened it, releasing the winds that unleashed a terrible storm from which only Ulysses' ship survived.
“And we came to the Aeolian island. Here he lived Aeolus, dear to the gods, son of Hippota. The island wandered swimming. A wall surrounds it bronze; and smooth rises a cliff. Twelve children with him lived in the palace. The fragrant house echoes to the sound of the flutes until the day fades; Then when he left, I asked him to leave he did not refuse, but took my trip to heart; stripped a nine-year-old ox of the hidehe made a wineskin, and closed it inside of the howling winds the streets: he had a keeper of the winds made the chronicle, and could keep them quiet or incite them at will. In the hollow ship with a shiny rope, silvery, the skinskin tied, so that outside not even a breath came out; but only the breath of Zephyr set free for me may the benign ship push for us ”.
Scilla and Cariddi, Strait of Messina
From Homer's Odyssey (Book XII):
The other rock, the lower you will see it, Odysseus, / close to each other, / from one you could hit the other with an arrow. / On this there is a large fig, rich in leaves; / and under Charybdis gloriously livid water absorbs. / Three times a day he vomits it and three times he reabsorbs it / fearfully. Ah, may you not be there when it reabsorbs.
Port of Ulysses
See in this regard the article by Melchiorre Trigilia: The landing at Porto Ulisse
Grotto of Sataria
It seems that this was the cave where Odysseus met the goddess Calypso. Another cave (Calypso Cave) located in Malta is considered, according to some versions, to be the true home of the goddess Calypso. See the article: The Legend of Kalypso and Odysseus.
Rock of the Ligny Tower
According to tradition, the rock known as the “malcosiglio” has the shape of an elongated boat because it was Ulysses' vessel that was transformed into stone on his return to Scheria, which some hypotheses place in Trapani (Samuel Butler: The Authors of the Odyssey – book written in 1897)
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An interesting study on Ulysses's places in Sicily was carried out by Melchiorre Trigilia. See the interesting study: Ulysses's Travels and Places in Sicily
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Photo: web
Informational contributions : Ignazio Caloggero, Sicily Region