Discovering the Similarity of the Greek and Sicilian Spirit
Date: Monday, June 27 @ 11:33:01 EDT
Topic: Community


By Catherine Tsounis
“All of Sicily from Siracusa to Messina (southeast Sicily) spoke only Greek till the 1100’s A.D.,” said Dr. Gaetano Cipolla, President of Arba Sicula, the International Organization Promoting the Language and Culture of Sicily. “The first Greek colonists landed at Naxos, today’s Giardini-Naxos, a few miles from my town of Francavilla di Sicilia. We are all Greek-Sicilians.” Dr. Cipolla, a full professor of Italian Language and Literature at St. John’s University, has transmitted these facts to me since I was hired in 1997 to instruct the Modern Greek Language and Literature Program. I finally decided to discover for myself if this is true.

I attended the Arba Sicula 11th tour of Sicily from May 27th to June 8th. This organization is similar to the Cephalonian Brotherhood Aenos, Kefalos, Chian Federation, Panchiaki Korais, To Karpenessi, the Pan-Macedonian Studies Center and other Hellenic societies that promote Hellenism. We covered tourist attractions at Palermo, Marsala. Trapani, Agrigento, Enna, Siracusa, Catania, Giardini-Naxos, Taormina, Alcantara Canyon and Francavilla di Sicilia in eleven days. Our unique hotels were four stars with a touch of the Sicilian atmosphere. We met the intellectual community and shared in poetry and Sicilian musical evenings, visits to cultural events in towns and official dinners. Diana Mazza, our guide, emphasized the Greek colonization that did not take from the island. “The Greeks came, built and enriched Sicily,” said Dr. Cipolla. “They left their civilization for us. The Greeks were not invaders who plundered our island.

Throughout Eastern Sicily, portraits of Saints, mosaics and ancient statues showed the characteristic oval face, long nose and large eyes. I thought I was looking at islanders from modern Chios and Limnos. The only difference was the islanders spoke Italian or Sicilian. “Look at the itinerary, Catherine,” said Dr. Cipolla (who has the characteristic image of a Chian, with fair complexion, black hair and black eyes). ‘You are walking in the path of your Greek forefathers. The tour includes Segesta, Agrigento, Siracusa that is a totally Greek city, Catania and Giardini-Naxos. We are the only organization that gives you an insight into the soul of the Sicilian.” Dr. Florence Russo, who is from Calabria, Italy, looks like the women from our family in Tripoli, Peloponnese. She said that “Southern Italy has a rich agricultural economy that is being exploited by the industrial North centered at Milano.”

“For the Greeks, Sicily was a gift of the Gods,” explained Dr. Cipolla. “It was the promised land, because of its fertility, climate and natural beauties. Once they established themselves as Sicilians, they outdid their brothers in the grandeur of their achievements. The ancient Sicilian Greeks all suffered from megalomania, characterized by their excessive, pathological need for aggrandizing their accomplishments. This trait is evident in the monuments that have remained on the island.”

“Our exciting tour culminated on June 7th with a visit to Dr. Cipolla’s hometown of Francavilla di Sicilia. The ride through the mountains of the province of Messina, reminded me of Tripoli, the heartland of Greece. “My cousin grew up down the road from me,” said Dr. Cipolla. ‘I learned to swim in the local river. Our town has five thousand persons. I will take our group of 27 persons to visit my first cousins.” A cousin took us to visit the Cathedral. The altar has an icon of the Virgin Mary similar to icons created in Chios, Greece.

We had lunch at this cousin’s impressive three story home where three generations live. Athens, Greece has the same family housing arrangement. Marble with roman Greek architecture was prominent in the house interior. The beautiful garden had lemon and orange trees with multi-colored oleanders. Dr. Cipolla’s family set up a tent and picnic table for a traditional Sicilian luncheon. Pasta, stir fried vegetables, salads, cheese and vegetable dishes, homemade sorbet and fruits were served. The hostesses were elegantly dressed with gracious smiles. After the luncheon, we took a stroll through town. I noticed numerous cafenia and a store selling favors called boubounierre. The visit concluded with a visit Dr. Cipolla’s cousin’s gardens that included a swimming pool, fountain and numerous fruit trees and summer flowers. We were graciously served Sicilian ice cream. During the evening of this exciting day, the Mayor of Taormina hosted a dinner for our group. The mayor honored Hildebrand Doxey, a southern geologist, who has visited Sicily eleven times with Arba Sicula.

‘The family occupies the most prominent place in the lives of the Sicilians,” said Dr. Cipolla. “This is evident in the love bestowed on their children, as well as the Mother. Everything is subordinate to the main interest of the family. A Sicilian proverb says ‘He who loses his good reputation loses everything.’ They are not given to forgetting or forgiving.” I thought Dr. Cipolla was talking about Greek culture. No! This is the Sicily of 2005 that holds these customs.

Greek communities in Sicily produced giants in Ancient Greek civilization. Comedy was invented by Epicharmus of Syracuse. Archestrato of the Greek city of Gela wrote ‘The Sweet Taste”, the first cookbook in history in the fourth century B.C. Empedocles, the Father of Western Philosophy, lived in Agrigento. He was the first volcanologist. Pindar and Aeschylus lived in Syracuse. Archimedes was the greatest mind of the Ancient world. His writings still astonish us in the 21st century. He lived in Syracuse.

Southeast Sicily has a complete Greek character. When I entered Sicilian shops and said I am a “Griega”, I would be kissed on both cheeks. I had the unique opportunity of studying Greek language and culture under a 2003 Alexander Onassis Public Foundation scholarship during the spring of that year. I visited every museum and archeological site in Athens at least twice. The museum experts told me, “Go to Sicily to get a feel of the unique culture of the Diaspora Greek civilization.” They were right. The temples, ancient cities, monuments and art works are unparallel even in Greece.

Dr. Cipolla believes that “Sicilians inherited their sense of drama, along with their liveliness, sense of hospitality, gift for reasoning and physical appearance from the Greeks. Sicilians are much closer to Greeks in looks and attitudes than they are to Venetians or Florentines. If you were to identify those peoples with whom Sicilians have an affinity, you’d have to rank the Greeks in first place, followed closely by the Arabs, Normans and Spaniards.”

My question is this: How did Sicily manage to save its Greek antiquities from the numerous conquerors? My answer is to look at ourselves in the United States. We are attempting to remember Greece. We are building art and architectural wonders greater than the homeland. Our youth are making intellectual advancements in all fields of Study. The Greek-Sicilians are like us. They do not speak Greek, or are Greek Orthodox. Nevertheless, they have a similar perspective of life that is “Live for today and do not worry about tomorrow.” They have refused to assimilate and lose their unique civilization based on Hellenism.

A friend at the 2005 Arba Sicula tour, Joan Mettler, jokingly said, “Catherine will not have peace till she conquers Sicily and gives it back to Greece.” That is exactly how I feel about the unique Sicilians who are our soul brothers. “Katerina, you are not a stone. You feel,” said Dr. Cipolla’s cousin, Antonios, a NYU graduate, Ph.D., author and businessman, regarding my enthusiasm in seeing Sicily was a Greek island. Greek-American organizations must forge stronger ties with Arba Sicula to preserve our mutual Greek civilization. For more information, call Dr. Gaetano Cipolla at 718 990-5203 or email at gcipolla@optonline.net .





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