Testo in italiano

Kore: the beautiful Sicilian Goddess who lived on the shores of Pergusa lake

by Giovanni Vallone

Right in the center of Sicily there is an enchanting mirror of water, which, seen from the top of the skies, we could say from Mount Olympus, looks like the eye of a Cyclops who has the head of Trinacria: it is the Pergusa lake.

On its shores, at the time that the Gods of Olympus, that is Jupiter and his troop of brothers and sisters and various relatives, were running around here and there in the planet Earth, on its shores, we were saying, we often saw a beautiful girl, who with her handmaids rejoiced among the fragrant flowers, the warm rays of the sun and the everlasting wonderful colors of this island.

She was called Persephone or Kore if you prefer and was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of fertility.

Her father was the great kGod of the Gods, Zeus, who was also Demeter’s brother.

But in those times and especially in Olympus, it was used like this!

While one day Persephone was walking happily on the shores of this lake, all of the suddem, coming up from the underground, at full speed, a chariot appeared, pulled by powerful horses and driven by Hades the king of the underworld, who was also brother of Demeter and Jupiter and therefore uncle of Persephone .

As soon as his uncle saw her granddaughter so well grown, he grabbed her by her hips, and took her underground with him.

In short: uncle Hades married grandaughter Persephone.

At that time, as mentioned, it was used like this!

Mother Demeter, desperate, as soon as she heard the news from Kore’s handmaids, immediately called the powerful husband-brother and father of her daughter, Jupiter, begging him to intercede.

And then Jupiter, who by nature loved peace, proclaimed: let’s do this way, for six months Hades keeps her underground and for 6 months Persephone returns to you, here on the surface of the earth.

And so it was established that the 6 months that Persephone remained underground corresponded to Autumn and Winter; and the 6 months that she returned to the surface of the earth corresponded to Spring and Summer.

And here is the cave, right above the lake of Pergusa, from which on March 21 of each year the beautiful Kore brings flowers, love, and fertility to the whole world.

It is a beautiful place, where you can feel all the energy of a land, Sicily, whose history is one of the great columns that support the entire planet.

Cozzo Matrice, as this small hill is called, is a plateau, in the middle of Sicily, from whose summit one can enjoy the so famous endless horizons of wheat and poetry.

And just at the bottom of Cozzo Matrice, here it is that magic eye, where Persephone once gathered flowers and sang and danced; where once his uncle Apollo grazed the flock of the Sun; where a little further on Theocritus would have invented bucolic poetry.

We just told you the romantic story of Persephone the beautiful Sicilian Godness.

And, above all, now you are aware why Springtime brings flowers and serenity to the earth.

Also this happened in Sicily.

Author: Giovanni Vallone, Cultural Department of Splendid Sicily