The
explanation of the name " Trinacria "
The
first name of the island was Sicania.
This denomination
referred to the first inhabitants, Siculi
*
and Sicani **.
The Isle name is found from Omero's poems,
(in the Odyssey
Sicily is called Thrinakie, which means Isle with triangle's
form, a name that then changed in Trinakria,
which means Isle
with the three promontories, here they are: (the Capo
Peloro to the North East (Messina), Capo
Boéo
or Lilibéo
to West (Marsala), Capo
Passero or Capo
Spartivento (to the South Est).
Subsequently the
name became Trinacria: (name used also from Dante Alighieri
in the Divine Comedy), that the classical
tradition interpreted
like reference to the triangular form of the Island.
But the Sicily
name soon prevailed to designate the whole island and it lasted unchanged
until to today.
*
SICANI:
Name attributed to an ancient population of the Western Sicily. Not pertaining
to the great Indo-European grouping,
their origin is
unknown.
**
SICILIAN:
Name attributed to the antichi inhabitants of the Oriental Sicily. Coming
from the from the italica peninsula,
they are considered
a stirpe near that Latin.
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Triscele,
name of a Palermo's currency of the Roman age, with the representation
of the Gorgona *
with the three legs, represents the Trinacria, from the antiquity.
This is the figure of the triangular Sicily from the three
heads.
It was the first
simbol representing the identinty of a people and of a territory
* In
ancient Greek mythology, every single of the three daughters of Forco
and Ceto, monster winged, enveloped and twisted that lived
in the Ade. |
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E
la bella Trinacria, che caliga
tra Pachino e Peloro,
sopra 'l golfo
che riceve da Euro
maggior briga,
non per Tifeo
ma per nascente solfo,
attesi avrebbe li
suoi regi ancora,
nati per me di Carlo
e di Ridolfo,
se mala segnoria,
che sempre accora
li popoli suggetti,
non avesse
mosso Palermo
a gridar: "Mora, mora!".
Dante
Paradiso: Canto
VIII
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