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Trinacria [trŠ'neŠkrŠ?,
traŠ-] noun Story of the Trinacria 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". Today its known as Sicily, or Sicilia
in Italian. The
Greeks circumnavigated the island and noted the three capes, Peloro, Passero,
and Lilibeo, forming three points of a triangle in the northeast, the
southeast, and the west. "Taken by its beauty they likened its shores
to the legs of a woman" and represented the island with the TRINAKIE.
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Anyone
who has been to the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea will be aware of the
triangular symbol of the island. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the
famous 'trinacria' of Sicily. Are both derived from ancient Greek mythology?
In fact, this seems to be the case. That of Sicily features a Gorgon's
head whose hair is made from snakes holding ears of wheat. According
to Greek legend the Gorgon was a terrible creature made up, in part, of
three daughters of the Gods of the sea. As well was a hair-do of snakes
the creature possessed bronze hands, gold wings and wild boar's tusks.
It lived at the ends of the earth (Sicily and the Isle of Man?) and could
petrify a man with its glance, being also part Medusa. So
how did it ever end up in the Isle of Man? Apparently the Normans, who
had already reached Sicily by the end of the 11th century, imported the
symbol following their invasion of England in 1066. The 'trinacria' replaced
a previous Scandanavian symbol and must have been a political act as the
culture of the island was deeply Celtic-Viking. It was only in February
2000 that the 'trinacria' as we see it above was approved for the Sicilian
flag. Isle
of Man links: |
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TRINACRIA Angela Celeste
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