Trinacria, the island's millenary history

The Triskelion , also commonly known as Trinacria, is the representation of a mythological being with three legs. Its origins date back to the dawn of time and are shrouded in mystery. According to historical researchers, it is a symbol of Indo-Aryan origin that depicted the god of the sun in his triple form of spring, summer and winter and finds corresponding representations in other ancient Northern European, Mesopotamian and Central American civilizations.

The discovery of a Triskelion in the Agrigento area, in Palma di Montechiaro, supports the hypothesis of the Minoan origin of the first examples of civilization on the island in line with what Homer told, that is, that Minos, leaving from Knossos in pursuit of Daedalus, landed in Sicily. However, it is historically proven that the three-legged creature appeared in a period prior to the Greek colonization of the island, but it was the Greeks who first called it Trinakìa (changed over time into Trinacria), from the Greek word: trinacrios , which means treis (three) and àkra (promontories), from which also the Latin trìquetra (with three vertices). The three legs represent, in fact, the three promontories, the extreme points of the island: Cape Peloro, or Punta del Faro in Messina, Cape Passero in Syracuse, Cape Lilibeo, or Cape Boeo, in Marsala. The Triskelion was later adopted by the Greeks as a symbol of Trinacria, which has remained a synonym for Sicily. The symbol of Trinacria later lost its original solar value and acquired a sacred one in Sicily, given its apotropaic value that transformed it into a sort of talisman. The Normans, arriving in Sicily in 1072, exported the Trinacria to the Isle of Man, which chose it as a symbol to replace the previous one (a vessel) of Scandinavian origin.

The Gorgoneion , placed in the center of the Triskelion, is the head of the Gorgon, also called Medusa, whose hair is made of intertwined snakes, from which radiate the three legs bent at the knee. The Gorgons, according to Greek mythology, were three sisters, Steno, Euryale and Medusa. Monstrous in appearance, they had golden wings, hands with bronze claws, boar tusks and snakes instead of hair and anyone who looked directly into their eyes remained petrified. The Gorgon par excellence was Medusa, the only mortal among the three and their queen, as well as the guardian of the Underworld. The Gorgons represented perversion in its three forms: Euryale represented sexual perversion, Steno represented moral perversion and Medusa represented intellectual perversion. Another version of the head is that of a woman, perhaps a goddess, in some cases depicted with wings to indicate the eternal passing of time, surrounded by snakes to indicate wisdom. The snakes were later replaced by ears of wheat by the Romans to signify the fertility of the island's land and symbolize its status as Rome's "granary".