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Hades agreed to release Persephone on condition that she ate a pomegranate seed (food of the dead) so ensuring her return to the Underworld for four months each year. When she reigns in the Underworld, it is winter on Earth; when she returns, she brings spring and renewal.

Excavations here turned up remains of the 8th-century BC houses of the original Sicel culture. Around the oblong piazza are the Duomo, the town hall (located atop an Ionic Temple to Artemis) and outdoor cafés.

Many place names are Italian versions of original Greek or Latin names. Erice was known as Monte San Giuliano until 1934 when Mussolini went on a name-changing spree and adopted an Italian version of its original Greek name, Eryx. Arabic names remain in abundance – look for names with the prefixes Calta, Gibil and Sala.

The giant one-eyed Cyclops shepherd and cannibal held Odysseus hostage in his Mount Etna cave.

No good Sicilian is ever without a witty quip spoken in dialect. Examples include: Cu’ avi ’nna bona vigna, avi pani, vinu e ligna (he who owns a good vineyard has bread, wine and wood); Cu nun ’sapi l’arti, chiudi putia (he who does not know his craft, closes his shop); Soggira e nora calaru di n’celu sciarriannus (mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law were sent from heaven and started fighting before they hit the ground); and La soggira voli bene a la nora comu n’rizzu n’pettu (mothers-in-law love their daughters-in-law like a sea urchin in bed).

From Bagheria, Guttuso (1912–87) painted energetic canvases that spoke out against the Mafia and Fascism and illustrated Sicilian peasant life.

The earth goddesses were venerated at a sanctuary now marked by the church of San Biagio. The church was built on top of a 5th-century BC temple; two round altars are extant (see Sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities).

Rome’s successful siege of Syracuse in 212 BC marked the end of Greek power on the island. After centuries of warfare, Roman rule brought peace. Praetors were sent to Sicily to govern, including the infamous Verres, later prosecuted by Cicero for his misdeeds. Verres, who looted everything from Sicilian wheat to works of art, was the first in a long line of foreign plunderers.

After years of warfare, Rome finally took Sicily after the fall of Syracuse in 212 BC.

Born in Modica, Quasimodo (1901–68) wrote anti-Fascist works in a political climate that made it necessary to disguise his message. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1959.