Posted by fum on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

Greek culture has always been my favorite part of history to learn about, and studying the impact of Greek culture in Sicily is no exception. It has always amazed me how far the Greek sphere of influence reached in the Mediterranean. This was evident when we visited the site of Segesta, which holds a beautiful Greek theatre and a mysterious temple built in the Greek style. We first hiked up to the temple, which looks like a typical Greek temple at first glance but has some peculiarities to it. First of all, the base of the columns still has the handholds attached, while Greeks usually shaved off the handholds after moving the giant stone blocks. Second, the temples were not fluted in the traditional Greek style. Finally, the area of Segesta was mainly populated by Elymians, not Greeks, which suggests that the temple was built to impress the Greeks and not for any actual religious purpose. Despite the fact that there are inconsistencies with why the temple was built, it is still impressive that it has managed to survive after all these years and remains standing. It never ceases to amaze me how well these ancient structures withstand the test of time and how the Elymians managed to build such a grand temple without any machinery. I have a hard time imagining any of the structures built in modern-day America lasting for thousands of years; we build more for utility, while ancient civilizations considered building things an art.

In addition to this temple built to impress the Greeks, there are other notes of Greek influence in this area as well. After we visited the temple, we went to visit the Greek theater on the other side of the valley. Rather than take the bus up the winding road, we elected to hike the 1200 meters up to the theater. Though it was hot and steep, I have no regrets because the amazing views on the way up were worth it. Once we reached the Greek theater, it was even more impressive. The theater was a semicircle, which is traditional of the Greeks, and the acoustics were amazing even after all these years. Part of it was reconstructed out of smaller stones, but many of the large stones used to build the original structure were still in place. As Vittoria (our guide) told us about the Greek tragedies and comedies that used to take place there, I was transported back in time. I could almost imagine being there, thousands of years ago, watching these actors performing with the rolling hills featured in the background.

America has no such ruins, since it is such a young country. I really felt the depth of the history here in Sicily as I was standing among those ruins, looking at things that had been built many different eras ago. Maybe one day America will have the layers of history that Sicily has, but for now I will have to keep traveling to places such as Segesta to explore ancient cultures.

The temple of Segesta, built in Greek style: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0f8fj2A_7mqMHlabGhOd0dfem8/view?usp=sharing

The Greek-style theater: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0f8fj2A_7mqT1N2SVFWYmNrZ2M/view?usp=sharing