Comment by Lady Aletria on Sunday: Yeah, my grandpa was awesome too.. would let me climb on his lap and sip wine from his glass.. I never met my paternal grandpa but would have like him from the stories I heard..

You do resemble her quite a bit

Comment by SIN JONES on Sunday: I always thought I had her eyes. Not the color, but the overall shape and eye-sockets.

My Mother's Grandmother was always mean, I don't know what her deal was but she wasn't a kind woman. She reminds me of your story. When I was forced to visit her, I always hung around my Papa. He was always kind and welcoming to his grandchildren. He also always gave me money in secret for candy at the Sweet Shop.

Comment by Lady Aletria on May 19, 2013 at 10:17pm: She is a beautiful woman, I can see Sophia in her and I see you in her face too.

Grandma's never let up on those things.. I was scared to death of my mom's mother. We visited Italy when I was little and in those days my nonna still wore long skirts like the old people did.. I remember hiding under the table as she came walking towards the table with that long skirt flapping and those monsterous muddy combat boots headed my way. The women worked in the fields as hard as the men. . she scared me to death..

Comment by SIN JONES on May 14, 2013 at 12:02pm: Yeah it's strange. Same thing with my family. My Great Aunt, is the only member of the family that married a Sicilian, and the older generation still tease her about it. She and her sister get into spats, and that's always a point my grandmother makes when razzing her.

They are getting on in age, but when my aunt was young people always told her she looked like Sophia Loren.

Comment by Lady Aletria on May 14, 2013 at 11:21am: thank you Sin ,Sicily is such a fascinating place. There is still to this day so much division between Italy and Sicily.. when I visited my aunt a few years back in Calitri, she took great delight in teasing me about my first husband who is Sicilian (American) same difference to her... and never let up on the fact that my children are half Sicilian, in a humorous way but deep down she would have liked to see me married to a Calitran or better yet one of my cousins... EWE..

Comment by SIN JONES on May 11, 2013 at 11:23am: Read: Medusa & the Gorgons

In the modern era, Medusa was replaced with a rather innocent looking onlooker figure so it appeared less threatening.

If you remember the tale, Medusa was very beautiful but was punished by Athena for lying to Zeus/Poseiden in her temple.

Later Greek writers changed the tale a bit, where Medusa was born a monster, and the Gorgons were beastly creatures with no human attributes at all. Hesiod for example thought them to be sea-hags, or daemons. This is her connection with sea-born storms and wrecks out at sea.

Comment by SIN JONES on May 11, 2013 at 11:17am: The Trinacria The word or term Trinacria means "triangle" as for the shape of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean. The Greeks called it Trinakrias, the Romans called it Trinacrium, meaning "star with 3 points.

The figure of Medusa's head with the legs was thought to represent the beauty of a woman, but deadly under the Laws of Zeus.

Comment by SIN JONES on May 11, 2013 at 11:13am: The Flag has the Wheat vs. Snakes. It was updated slightly in 2000.

The 'official' symbolism, is that the legs take on the triangular shape of Sicily, with the legs representing the points with red representing Palermo, and Yellow Corleone. Trinicria is the Ancient Name for Sicily.

The divided colors represent the first two cities to revolt against the House of Anjou, roughly the beginning of the 13th century.

The wheat represents the Agricultural Prowess both cities had over other areas in the Kingdom.

Comment by SIN JONES on May 11, 2013 at 11:07am

Lilibeo was an Ancient City, west of Sicily, precisely under Marsala, towards cape Boeo.
Passero/Pessera is a comune in the Province of Syracuse, 220 km South East of Palermo.
Priolo is a commune in the Providence of Syracuse, 190 km South East of Palermo.

Comment by SIN JONES on May 11, 2013 at 10:54am: Trinacria, the Triskelion of Sicily. The inscription "Tan Na Nopmi", roughly translated means 'To you Zeus', or Father Zeus Father of Laws.

The center figure is Medusa. The 3 legs represent Lilibeo, Piloro and Passera and the left legs represent the westward motion, and the overall symbol represents the union of Earth and the Sun.

The Snakes have a two-fold symbolism, on one hand they are elemental (Earth, Air, Fire Water) and on the other they also represent the people not of Sicily that lived in surrounding areas but responsible for raising Sicily a civilization, none the less.

Some people (Religious people) still take issue with the symbol as an Occult Evil reminiscent of the past errs before Christendom. Some people still fear it, and cast a sign of the cross as a protection when they are in its view.

Now That's Italian!

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