ABSTRACT
To most of us ancient Sicily means Greek Sicily. The first Greek colonists came to Sicily in the eighth century BC, and the presence of the Greek cities is still apparent in the landscape. Until very recently modern Syracuse occupied the area of her ancient predecessor. At Agrigento (Greek Acragas) the ancient metropolis is hidden, but only barely so, in the sloping bowl that descends from the acropolis (and medieval town) toward the low ridge a kilometer distant where a line of three temples still marks the limit of the city. At Selinus an archaeological park keeps alive something of the deserted grandeur of the ruins. Sicily’s Greek temples are more numerous than those of any part of the ancient Greek world. One of them, erected by the non-Greek (Elymian) city of Segesta, and thus Greek only in architecture, has a setting which rivals even the mountain backdrop of Greek Delphi. But unlike the ruined temple at Delphi, the temple of Segesta is in the same condition now as it was on the day in the late fifth century when its builders interrupted their work. At Acragas and Selinus there are two of the grandest and most unusual Greek temples (the Olympieion at Acragas and Temple GT at Selinus). Selinus is home to some of the earliest Greek architectural sculpture. And in another art, coin design, Greek Sicily became preeminent for all time.
