Eryx

Mount Eryx

The mountain, now called Monte Erice, is a wholly isolated peak, rising in the midst of a low undulating tract, which causes its elevation to appear much more considerable than it really is, so that it was regarded in ancient as well as modern times as the most lofty summit in the whole island next to Aetna, though its real elevation does not exceed 2184 English feet. Hence we find Eryx alluded to by Virgil and other Latin poets as a mountain of the first order of magnitude, and associated with Athos, Aetna, etc. On its summit stood a celebrated temple of Venus or Aphrodite, founded, according to the current legend, by Aeneas, whence the goddess derived the surname of Venus Erycina, by which she is often mentioned by Latin writers.

Legends

Another legend, followed by Diodorus, ascribed the foundation both of the temple and city to an eponymous hero named Eryx, who was said to have received Hercules on his visit to this part of Sicily, and contended with that hero in a wrestling match, but was vanquished by him. This Eryx was a son of Aphrodite and Butes, a king of the country, and is hence repeatedly alluded to by Virgil as a brother of Aeneas, though that poet does not refer to him the foundation of the city. The legends which connected it with Aeneas and a Trojan chief named Elymus evidently pointed to what we learn from Thucydides as an historical fact, that Eryx as well as Segesta was a city of the Elymi, a Sicilian tribe, which is represented by almost all ancient writers as of Trojan descent.

Yet another version was presented by Apollonius of Rhodes in his epic Argonautica. In this case, Butes was an Argonaut from Athens, who fell overboard in a rapture while listening to the Sirens. He was saved from drowning when Cypris (Aphrodite) took pity on him. She carried him to Eryx, where she ruled, and she settled him at Cape Lilybaeum.

History

It does not appear to have ever received a Greek colony but became gradually Hellenized, like most other cities of Sicily, to a great extent though Thucydides (460–395) still speaks of the Elymi, including the people of Eryx and Segesta, as barbarians. Nothing is known of its history previous to that period, but it seems probable that it followed for the most part the lead of the more powerful city of Segesta and, after the failure of the Athenian expedition, became a dependent ally of the Carthaginians.

Cyclopean masonry or Phoenician walls, and the parts later modified or built by the Elymians, once hugged the border of Erice.

In 406 BC, a sea-fight took place between a Carthaginian and a Syracusan fleet off the neighborhood of Eryx, in which the latter was victorious. On occasion of the great expedition of Dionysius I of Syracuse to the west of Sicily in 397 BC, Eryx was one of the cities which joined the Syracusan despot just before the siege of Motya, but it was speedily recovered by Himilco in the following year. It again fell into the hands of Dionysius shortly before his death, but must have been once more recovered by the Carthaginians and probably continued subject to their rule until the expedition of Pyrrhus (278 BC). On that occasion it was occupied by a strong garrison, which, combined with its natural strength of position, enabled it to oppose a vigorous resistance to the king of Epirus. It was, however, taken by assault, Pyrrhus himself leading the attack, and taking the opportunity to display his personal prowess as a worthy descendant of Heracles. …

Anagogia and Katagogia

Anagogia (ἀναγώγια) was a festival celebrated at Eryx in honour of Aphrodite. The inhabitants of the place believed that, at a certain period of the year, the goddess went over into Africa, and that all the pigeons of the town and its neighbourhood likewise departed to accompany her.

Nine days afterwards, at the so-called katagogia (καταγώγια, meaning return), one pigeon having returned and entered the temple, the rest followed. This was the signal for general rejoicing and feasting. The whole district was said at this time to smell of butter, which the inhabitants believed to be a sign that Aphrodite had returned.