Italy is an ancient country, whose roots lie in such a distant past that history often merges with myth and Messina is a clear demonstration of this. The city rises in Capo Peloro, the extreme north-eastern tip of the island, set between the waters of the sea and Monte Peloritani.
It was born with the Sicilians with the name of Zancle, to then assume the name of Messana with the arrival of the Greeks. The earthquake of 1908 devastated it almost completely but the city was able to recover by restoring a large part of its historical and artistic heritage, showing itself as a beautiful and interesting city.
One of its symbolic monuments is the Fountain of Orion, a sculptural work whose meaning refers to legend of Orion and birth of Capo Peloro, where Messina stands.
Messina: legends and myth of Orion
The Orion Fountain is located in Piazza Duomo and was built in 1553 by Michelangelo's pupil, Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli: the fountain, wanted to celebrate the creation of the first aqueduct of the city, is in marble, with four basins decorated with sculptures depicting the Camaro, Ebro, Tiber and Nile rivers. At the top of the fountain stands Orion, complete with a crusader shield, typical Roman armor and helmet and above all the dog Sirius, his faithful friend.
The mythological birth of the is indirectly linked to the figure of Orion city of Messina and Capo Peloro: Orion was a giant and beautiful hunter, on whose birth there are various versions. Legend has it that he was the son of Euryale (daughter of Minos) and Poseidon, while another story has it that Orion was born from a previously sacrificed bull's skin filled with the urine of the Gods Hermes, Poseidon and Zeus.
The legend tells of a Orion madly in love with Merope, granddaughter of Dionysius and daughter of Oenopion: to obtain her hand, the girl's father asked Orion to free the island of Chios from wild beasts. The great hunter did so but, having returned to Enopion, did not get Merope's hand and understood the deception immediately. Humiliated and disappointed, Orion then raped Merope but suffered the atrocious revenge of her father who, thanks to the help of Dionysus, ripped out Orion's eyes in his sleep.
Orion managed to recover his sight by approaching the Sun and, just as he was meditating revenge against Enopion, he met Artemide and fell madly in love.
Orion and Messina: a legendary bond
However, Apollo did not approve of the link between Orion and Artemis and then devised a plan: he invited his sister, very skilled with a bow and arrow, to hit a point. Only when Artemis shot the arrow did she realize that the target was none other than Orion's head: the desperate goddess relegated the face of Orion and his dog Sirius to the firmament, so that there would be an eternal memory of them everywhere.
There are other legendary versions of the death of Orion, including one that narrates her death after trying to rape Artemis herself, who defended herself by having the hunter stung by a scorpion, then turning both into constellations.
According to Diodorus Siculus, the myth of Orion it was also widespread in Sicily and it is said that it was Orione himself who built not only the port for the ancient city of Zancle but above all Capo Peloro himself, later building a temple in honor of his father Poseidon.
In reality, in relation to Capo Peloro, it is also said that Peloro is none other than the helmsman of one of Hannibal's ships, killed by the latter because he believed he had brought him into a gulf with no way out. Hannibal, after realizing his mistake, entitled the north-eastern promontory to Peloro and also erected a sort of monumental tumulus, with the aim of serving as a lighthouse for sailors.
According to Homer, however, the term Peloro is nothing more than a simple epithet with which Orion himself was called in the past.
In any case, the Orion Fountain perfectly represents all the mythology that cloaks the city of Messina, but it is certainly not the only thing to visit. The ancient Zancle enchants with its churches, the Capo Peloro lighthouse and the sixteenth-century Forte San Salvatore on the San Raineri peninsula, the first thing you see when arriving in Messina from the sea.
If you want to immerse yourself in the most fascinating myth related to Orion and other mythological deities, reach Messina and discover the most hidden secrets of this splendid city.
© Image by I, Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
