Warm sun greeted our first trip to Syracuse, where we were able to compare Cleomenes’ Temple of Apollo (c.600) to Gelon’s Temple of Athena (c.480), as well as spend some time exploring the island of Ortygia with its beautiful spring of Arethusa. Both temples were converted to various uses, but now the Temple of Apollo has been stripped of most of its non-Greek alterations, while the Temple of Athena is part of the fabric of Syracuse’s cathedral. Next week Giardini Naxos…
The previous weekend, members of the program helped to pick up litter in Aci Castello, a small town outside of Catania with an elegant Norman castle. The Aci in the title is the river Aci, that is the river that Ovid tells us was once Galatea’s lover, before he was destroyed by a jealous Cyclops… Less romantically, Galatea has become a subway station.
