The first place we stayed in was Ortygia. Here a formidably
defensible island was lucky enough to have a reliable spring of pure fresh
water which emerged right next to the sea. In the spring’s origin myth,
Arethusa was one of the goddess Diana’s girl-gang of nymphs. In Arcadia,
Arethusa went to bathe in the river, but Alpheus, the god of that river fell in
love with her and pursued her. To help her escape, Diana turned her into a
rushing stream and sent her underground, finally emerging by the edge of the
sea at Ortygia. However, Alpheus pursued her by running beneath the sea until
he caught up with her at Ortygia and was still able to ‘mingle his waters with
hers’.
Yuk.
A fountain in the central Piazza Archimede celebrates the
whole sorry affair.
Next we went on to Enna, a hill town said to be the setting
for the myth of Hades and Persephone. In the town square, sure enough, there is
a fountain depicting Hades, King of the Underworld, seizing the beautiful young
Persephone in order to kidnap her.
Also yuk.
After that we stayed in Castelbuono. We went for a drink in the
old town square, and Nigel saw me staring at the simple unadorned water feature
in the centre.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘This town doesn’t have a rape fountain,’ I said, ‘I like it
already!’
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