Traveling up the mountainous road to reach the walled city of Erice offered an awe-inspiring view of the coast and the sprawled cityscape below. This sight was especially meaningful for readers of the Aeneid, since Erice may have been the site of the funeral games that took place to honor the death of Anchises, the father of the Trojan hero, Aeneas. After departing Carthage, Aeneas and his men were forced to take a detour in Sicily due to problematic weather conditions and were unable to proceed to their fated lands in Italy. Virgil describes how Acestes, the leader of the Sicilians who was of Trojan descent but had settled in Sicily long ago, spied the foreign ships arriving from a high peak of a mountain; the mountain described may have been this settlement at Erice (Eryx, in Greek). In fact, the fleet of Aeneas may have sailed on those very waters and landed on the very shore depicted in the picture. This bay may also have been the site of the exciting ship race, the first competition of the funeral games. Finally, the Greek name of the city refers to the eponymous hero Eryx, who is also referenced multiple times in the Aeneid. Eryx is Aeneas’ half-brother, since both heroes were sons of the goddess Venus. During the boxing competition, Eryx is referenced again as being the fighting tutor for the Sicilian contestant, Entellus.  The city of Erice is thus heavily connected to the myth and lore of the Aeneid and holds a special place in the imagination of Classicists.

The Piazza Pretoria in Sicily contains a large and elaborate fountain, which dominates the square. The fountain was originally commissioned for a villa in Florence, but was eventually transported to Palermo in pieces and assembled in the piazza. The fountain contains many beautiful figures found in Classical myth, including gods, monsters, and various nymphs. The statues are arranged in circular tiers, and the water flows through each base. The piece is known locally as the “fountain of shame,” because the sculpted figures are all nude. During our tour led by the anti-mafia group Addiopizzo, we also learned that the fountain has also earned this name because of its proximity to a government building (seen as the large rectangular building on the right in the photo). As our guide related to us, collaboration with the mafia still exists in the Sicilian government to this day; thus, the fountain also represents the actions of some officials to stem the ongoing flow of progress to undermine the power of the mafia.

Visiting the castle of La Zisa in Palermo on our first day in Sicily provided an initial glimpse of the immense amount of cultural integration we would witness on this trip. La Zisa was a palace initially built for the Norman kings of Sicily and was designed as a summer hunting resort for these rulers. However, the architecture of the castle shows a unique blend of various influences. The central hall (seen in the picture above), which contains an elaborate fountain that connects to the surrounding gardens, epitomizes this blend of artistic movements. The mosaics and the marble Corinthian columns that frame the fountain are distinctly Classical. However, the pattern of sculpted niches on the roof as well as the geometric borders lining the walls demonstrate the presence of Islamic influence. Finally, the elaborate, gold mosaics above the fountain seem more Byzantine in character and composition. The many styles encompassed in this one architectural entity further exhibit how control over Sicily often shifted between many competing powers, who all managed to leave their mark on the island.