The Valley of the Temples

These pictures show and altar and part of the sacred area, also known as the Sanctuary to the Chthonic Deities. This area is rather large and there are four temples and numerous altars in this area. The entire complex, dating to the 6th century BC, was dedicated to the chthonic deities Demeter and Persephone. Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Demeter's own younger self. Persephone was the goddess of the underworld. The temple of Demeter was a temple in antis--having a recessed portico with a row of columns between the antae. It was built about 480 BC, dedicated to the goddess of the grain and harvest, and the base and most of the cella are still well preserved. In the Middle Ages, the Church of San Biagio was built on the steps of the Temple of Demeter.

This is the Temple of Castor and Pollux (Dioscuri). It was built in the 5th century BC and dedicated to Leda and Zeus's twins. The temples, which is also the symbol of Sicily, and the most photographed of all the temples, has only four columns and some of the trabeation standing. Close to it have been found two sacrificial altars, one square and one rectangular, probably belonging to an original sanctuary dedicated to the infernal gods. On the corner ashlar is a beautiful rosette. The building was cleared in 1836 of all the rubble and earth that had covered it for many centuries; The archaeologists Villareale and Cavallari, by order of the Duke of Serradifalco, unearthed the columns and re-erected three of them on three steps. A fourth one was added in 1856.

Castor and Pollux, also known as Gemini, were the children of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. Castor means beaver and the meaning of Pollux is "very sweet". In mythology, Castor and Pollux had the same mother but different fathers, which meant Pollux was immortal and Castor was mortal. When Castor died, Pollux asked Zeus to keep them together and they were transformed into the Gemini Constellation. They are also called Dioscuri, meaning youths of Zeus.

This is the Temple of Olympian Jove, also known as Zeus or Jupiter. The Akragantines, after their victory over the Carthaginians at Himera (480-479 BC) erected this temple to Zeus as a thanks giving. This temple is one of the largest in antiquity. It is a Doric building, but it was pseudoperipteral--that is there were no free-standing columns, but demi-columns, seven by fourteen, engaged into a continuous wall. The massive rectangular platform stands on five steps, and faces east. It is nearly the dimensions of a soccer field and can hold 4,200 spectators. In the intercolumni (spaces between the columns) stood giant statues called Telamons. The historian Tommaso Fazello, who discovered this temple, reported most of the building fell to the ground on December 9, 1401. Many of the tufa blocks have peculiar u-shaped cuts, which were used to channel the rope when lifting and setting the stones. This temple was never finished due in part to the Carthaginian raid in 406 BC If it had been completed it would have been the largest temple in the Greek and Roman world. Not much is left of the temple because the blocks were taken to help construct other buildings.

Zeus, or Juno, or Jupiter, was the supreme god of the Olympians. He was the father of heroes Perseus and Heracles, the latter of whom once wrestled him to a draw. Zeus was the youngest son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. When he was born his father intended to swallow him and he had all of Zeus' siblings: Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter and Hera. But Rhea hid the newborn in a cave on Mount Dicte on Crete. Even today, the guides at the "cave of Zeus" use flashlights to cast shadow puppets in the cave, creating images of baby Zeus. When he was an adult, Zeus caused Cronus to vomit up his sisters and brothers, and these gods joined him in fighting for control of the universe from the Titans and Cronus, their king. Having vanquished his father and the other Titans, Zeus imprisoned most of them in the underworld of Tartarus. Afterwards Zeus and his brothers Poseidon and Hades divided up creation. Poseidon received the sea as his domain, Hades got the underworld, and Zeus took the sky. Zeus was also accorded with the supreme authority on earth and on Mount Olympus.

The picture below shows one of the Telamon. This is a support sculpted in the form of a man, which may take the place of a column, pier or pilaster. It is also known as and Atlas, and the female equivalent is known as a Caryatid

This is the Temple of Hercules (Heracles is the Latin equivalent). Hercules was the son of Jupiter and Alcmene. His jealous stepmother, Juno, tried the murder the infant Hercules by placing a serpent in his cradle. Luckily he was born with great strength and killed the serpent. By the time he was an adult he had killed a lion. Eventually Juno drove Hercules insane. Because of his insanity Hercules killed his wife, Megara, and their three children. Because of the shame he brought on himself Hercules exiled himself. He decided to ask the Delphic Oracle what he should do to regain his honor and was told to go to Eurystheus, King of Mycenae, and serve him for twelve years. King Eyrystheus could not think of and tasks that might prove difficult for the mighty son of Jupiter, so Juno came down from her palace on Olympus to help him. Together the two of them came up with twelve tasks for Juno's immortal stepson to complete. These tasks are known as the twelve labors of Hercules.

The first task was to kill the Nemean Lion. Hercules strangled the lion and carried it back to Mycenae. The second task was to overcome the nine-headed snake known as Hydra. Hercules cousin, Ioloas helped him by burning the stumps of the heads after Hercules cut the heads off. Since the ninth head was immortal Hercules rolled a rock over it. The third task was to find the golden-horned stag and bring it back alive. Hercules followed the stag for one year, finally captured it and took it back alive. The fourth labor was to capture a wild boar that terrorized Mycenae's people. Hercules chased the boar up a mountain where the boar fell into a snow drift and Hercules was able to subdue it. The fifth task was to clean the Augean stables, where thousands of cattle were housed in a single day. Hercules diverted two rivers so that they would flow into the stables. The sixth labor was to destroy the man-eating Stymphalian birds. Hercules drove them out of their hiding places with a rattle and shot them with poison tipped arrows. The seventh task was for Hercules to capture a Cretean savage bull. Hercules wrestled it to the ground and took it back to King Eurystheus. The eighth labor was to capture the four man-eating mares of Thrace. Hercules threw the master of the mares to them and the horses became very tame. Hercules then led that back to Mycenae. The ninth labor was to obtain the girdle of the fierce Amazon warrior queen, Hippolyta. Hippolyta willingly gave her girdle to Hercules, but Juno convinced the Amazons that Hercules was trying to take Hippolyta from them, so Hercules fought them off and returned to his master with the girdle. The tenth labor was to recapture the cattle of the monster, Geryon. Hercules killed Geryon, claimed the cattle, and took them back to the king. The eleventh task was to get the golden apples of the Hesperides. Hercules told Atlas that if he would get the apples for him, he (Hercules) would hold the heavens for him. When Atlas returned from his task, Hercules tricked him into taking back the heavens. The last labor was to bring the three-headed watchdog of the underworld, Cerberus, to the surface without using any weapons. Hercules seized two of Cerberus' heads and the dog gave up. Hercules took the dog to his master, who ordered him to take it back. Finally, after twelve years and twelve tasks Hercules was a free man.

Hercules went to the town of Thebes and married Deianira and they had many children. Later the male centaur, Nessus, abducted Deianira, but Hercules came to her rescue by shooting Nessus with a poison tipped arrow. As he was dying, Nessus told Deianira to keep a protion of his blood to use as a love potion on Hercules if she thought she was losing him to another woman. A few months later, Deianira thought another woman was coming between her and Hercules so she washed one of Hercules' shirts in Nessus' blood and gave it to him to wear. Nessus had lied to her, and the blood really acted as a poison and almost killed Hercules. On is funeral pyre, the dying Hercules ascended to Olympus where he was granted immortality and lived among the gods.

The Temple of Hercules in Agrigento is one of the most beautiful temples of antiquity, but it is now in poor ruins. Even so, the building is still visible from far away. It is imposing and rises in the Valley of the Temples like the symbol of power and strength of Hercules, who is the national hero of Sicily, and in particular, Agrigento. The temple is huge, with six columns on the front and fifteen on the long sides. Out of the original 38 columns only nine stand today. These were re-erected in q922 by the English captain Alexander Hardcastle. The Temple of Hercules was the first to be built in Agrigento. The remaining columns show they were tapered, being smaller at the top to make them look taller. Looking south from the Temple of Hercules is the Tomb of Terone, a huge tufa stone monument. It is a pyramid shaped monument and was built to commemorate the soldiers who died during the Second Punic War.

This is the Temple of Concord. In Roman religion, Concord was the goddess of agreement, understanding and marital harmony. Her Greek version is Harmonia, and the Harmonians and some Discordians equate her with Aneris. Her opposite is Discordia (or the Greek Eris).The cult of Concordia Augusta (Majestic Harmony) was of special importance to the imperial household. Dedicatory inscriptions to her on behalf of emperors and members of the imperial family were common. In art, Concordia was depicted sitting, wearing a long cloak and holding into a patera (sacrificial bowl) a cornucopia (symbol of prosperity) or a caduceus (symbol of peace). She was often shown in between two other figures, such as standing between two members of the Royal House shaking hands. She was associated with a pair of female deities, such as Pax and Salus--or Securitas and Fortuna. The latter pair of concepts (security and fortune) could also be represented by Hercules and Mercury.

The setting of Temple of Concord is unique throughout the world. The proportions of this temple are perfect. It was erected about 430 BC and covers an area of 84,338 square meters and is 13,481 meters high. The cella, or inner chamber, was preceded by a simple antechamber, or pronaos, with two columns and was followed by a back porch, or opistodomos, where the treasure, votive gifts and the archives of the temple were kept. Of all the temples in the valley this is the only one to remain relatively intact and is considered one of the best preserved Doric style temples. It is not really clear which god this temple was erected to honor. The temple was named by the historian Fazello (1490-1570), who found a Latin inscription in the vicinity of the temple which really had no relationship to the building. It is built of six columns by 13 columns, each of which consists of 4 drums and has 20 sharp edged flutes. In 597 BC the temple was converted to a Christian basilica by the bishop Gregorio. He pulled down two pagan dolls in the temple, one of which was called Raps. Because of this the Church was later consecrated to St. Gregorio of the Rapes (Turnips). It is still possible to see the arches included in the central cell walls. There are massive tapered columns, and the frieze (wide central section part of the entabulature) is decorated with triglyphs (vertical blocks usually aligned over and between each column. They consist of two vertical grooves (glyphs) bordered by two hemi or half glyphs, hence the triglyph) and metopes (a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze.).

This is the Temple of Juno (Roman) or Hera (Greek). She was the wife and older sister of Zeus. She was the goddess of women and marriage. The cow and peacock were sacred to her. She was the mother of Mars. Juno's parents were Cronus and Rhea, but due to a prophecy that one of his children would take over the throne, she was swallowed by her father. Zeus was saved from being swallowed by a plan contrived by Rhea and Gaia. Rhea wrapped a stone in baby clothing and gave it to Cronus, and Zeus was moved to a cave on Crete. Rhea then gave Cronus an herb which she told him would make him invincible, but it actually made him regurgitate the other five Olympians he'd swallowed--Hestia, Demeter, Hera (Juno), Hades and Poseidon--as well as the stone. When Zeus was older he banished Cronus to Tartarus, the deepest chasm in the underworld, because Titans were immortal and could not be killed.

Portrayed as majestic and solemn, Hera is often shown enthroned and crowned with the polos, a high cylindrical crown worn by many of the Great Goddesses, Hera may have in her hand the pomegrante, the emblem of fertile blood and death, and a substitute for the narcotic capsule of the opium poppy. She was well known for her jealous and vengeful nature, most notably against Zeus's paramours and offspring, and against mortals who crossed her, like Pelias and Paris, who offended her by choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful of goddesses.

Hera was worshipped as "Argive Hera" at her sanctuary that was between the former Mycenaean city-states of Argos and Mycenae. Festivals held in her honor were called Heraia. Hera statred, "The three cities I love most are Argos, Sparta and Mycenae of the broad streets." Another main place for her was Samos, and there were temples to her in Olympia, Corinth, Tiyns, Perachora and the sacred island of Delos.In Magna Graecia the temple long attributed to Poseidon among the group at Paestum was identified in the 1950s as a second temple there to Hera.

In Classical times, Greek altars were always under an open sky. Hera may have been the first to have a closed roof temple dedicated to her at Samos in about 800 BC. The Temple of Juno in Agrigento was built in 470 BC and dedicated to Juno. Itm was merected on the highest point in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Sicily, which is located in the southeast corner. In 406 BC the Carthaginians ransacked the city and set the temple on fire. It was initially constructed with 34 columns, 30 of which still stand, only 16 of which still have their capitals. This temple was restored by the Prince of Torremuzza in 1787. This temple is known by several names, including the Temple of Juno, the Temple of Hera Lacinia and the Temple of Juno Lucino. The scenery in the last two pictures above is what you see looking from the temple.