Over the past few months, I've been fascinated by a trend that I noticed -- why do so many authors, artists, musicians and others searching for inspiration always head to Italy? In this particular post, I'm going to look at the island of Sicily.While technically not Italian literature, I was curious as to why so many authors and writers spent time in Sicily. I recently stumbled upon Guy de Maupassant's Sicily which was published in installments in Le Figaro and Gil Blas in 1885 and then again in 1886 in La nouvelle revue and as a chapter in La vie errante ("The Wandering Life") ( These writings describe Maupassant's travels to the island, his observations, and his reasons for going -- to see the splendid Venus of Syracuse, one of the masterworks of ancient scuplture.
Maupassant really captures the essence of Sicily, and it was ironic that many of his observations, at least of the buildings and monuments he visited, still ring true today. Maupassant also demonstrates how much Sicily has changed -- the thousands and thousands of orange and lemon groves have been replaced by urban sprawl as the island has changed and developed over the past 125 years.
Maupassant did much of his traveling by railroad and shows just how efficient and important rail was to Sicily. When Maupassat visited Sicily in 1885, the rail was a young 25 years old, but it enabled the author to see much of the island that might have been difficult to traverse by horse and carriage. Maupassant makes several observations about the crime and violence of the island but does his best to assure his readers that much of the danger is hype and fear. Maupassant's observations demonstrate how much the island had transformed itself in those two and a half decades.
Maupassant starts in Palermo and visits Catania, Syracuse and several other cities along the way, even making a trek to Mt. Etna to see one of Europe's most active volcanoes. He visits many ancient sites, recounts local anecdotes and describes many of the most important churches and buildings in Sicily, notably Cappella Palatina and the Duomo of Monreale (pictured).
Sources:
- Maupassant, Guy de, and Robert W. Berger. Sicily. Italica historical travel guides. New York: Italica Press, 2007
This is an excellent English translation of Maupassant's writing. The introduction and notes are excellent and provide background to the context of Maupassant's writings as well as links to further reading. - Maupassant, Guy de. Viaggio in Sicilia. [Palermo]: Sigma, 1998.
One of several Italian translations. - Maupassant, Guy de. Cronaca d'un viaggio in Sicilia. Biblioteca storica del viaggio in Sicilia, 6. Palermo: EdiBiSi, 2000.
image credit: Duomo of Monreale, Sicily -- image of the apse mosaic. Photo owned by Keith Preble (info@ilgur.com)
6 commenti e suggerimenti:
This is one book I might read since I love Sicily as you probably know. I was in Sicily recently, more exactly in the South-Eastern area of it, a bit of Catania, but especially Siracusa (and surroundings) who conquered my heart I wanted so badly buy a house there, but I can't, I have invested my money already, now being time of harvest (I hope), not of investing again.
People are so elegant in Syracuse, every place - restaurants, shops, church, ancient remnants, old historical town lanes and houses - is a jewel. And the wines! The churches are built over pagan temples and you can see the Doric columns showing thru the churches walls.
Which brings me to the saints. Syracuse has Santa Lucia or Lucy (from lux = light) – the only saint adored by Northern sun-starved Protestant Europeans; Catania has Santa Agata.
Well, they are not just saints, they are … revered-everywhere goddesses, you see icons, images, paintings all over the place, in every shop, street corner, market, piazza, you see thousands of images and people get so heated about it. For exampled I told this guy from Siracusa that Sant’Agata in Catania was more powerful: my he got so upset about it!
You know, I have a Roman mother here – of Catania’s descent - whose son fell in love with a … non appropriate woman, too much older and a bit phoney, cunning maybe, so this mother she prayed so much the saint and when the woman finally quit she told me (mind she is a lawyer): “Stant’Agata è potentissima!!” She looked happy and inspired, I have no words.
I have tons of pictures of everything I saw but was so overwhelmed by it all I could not write anything about Sicily, so all is coming out in floods now, I am sorry.
I am amazed that in 1885 the railroad was already so good. I have read Goethe's Italienische Reise and he talks a lot of Sicily, Naples and Rome and all the rest of Italy: the usual educational grand tour of Northern Europeans to the South, the land of lemons and of past civilizations. But Goethe’s report is special, he being at the level of Dante, or Shakespeare.
In any case, as I said, the Greek heritage of the South-east is still so evident. I don't know other parts yet. But the people in Sicily have an ... elegance not found elsewhere in Italy, and men hug each other (we don't do it in Rome, bur they do it in Naples) or go arm in arm and use a lot of perfume, like the Greeks did (and we don’t do it much here in Rome).
Ionic Greeks were Naxos, Katane (Catania) and Leontini (so their dialect was similar to Athens), while Dorian were Megara Hyblaea and Syracuse (dialect similar to Sparta). Greeks of slightly different ethnicity disliked each other a bit, one weakness among others Rome took advantage of.
Which brings to a stunning thing, ie Syracuse was the greatest Greek city of antiquity, who defeated even Athens (helped by Sparta a bit) and her theatre the most famous of the Greek world, were all the most important tragedies were first played. Italy is more Greek than one can think after all!
Sorry if I was verbose. It happens to me. Sometimes I need to talk, and I consider you a friend.
Thanks for the comment. :)
The "Roman" and Greek cultures were very different, and the Romans certainly borrowed a lot from Greek culture, philosophy, arts, as well as technology only to use it against them in the end. As you said, the Greeks disliked each other. The problem is that a "Greek" identity didn't exist in antiquity. Athenians, Corinthians, Spartans, Syracusans, even if all were "Greek" never saw themselves as coming from the same stock, so to speak. Each was a separate and distinct culture group, and this, in the end, is what lead to their downfall. They were unable to unite against the Romans (even some Greek colonies joined against fellow Greek colonies when it served their purpose).
I think that you find this fragmentation still even today in Sicily.
I love Sicily, too.
Check out my photos if you wish:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitto1975/
Very good pictures. How many times have you been in Sicily by the way?
Ciao!
I've only been once (last summer), but I plan to go again hopefully this summer, too, and have planned a definite trip in October with some friends.
Keith, just curiosity, are you both of Italian and Jewish origin? Since once you said to me somewhere the two cultures you were mostly interested in were these two.
Hi there!
No, I am not Jewish.
My mother's side of the family is Italian.
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