Palici

The Palici (Ancient Greek: Παλικοί, romanized: Palikoi), or Palaci, were a pair of indigenous Sicilian chthonic deities in Roman mythology, and to a lesser extent in Greek mythology. They are mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphoses V, 406, and in Virgil's Aeneid IX, 585. Their cult centered on three small lakes that emitted sulphurous vapors in the Palagonia plain, and as a result these twin brothers were associated with geysers and the underworld. There was also a shrine to the Palaci in Palacia, where people could subject themselves or others to tests of reliability through divine judgement; passing meant that an oath could be trusted.[1]

For the Romanian village, see Pălici.

Genealogy

The mythological lineage of the Palici is uncertain. One version of the legend attributes their parentage to sky god Zeus and nymph Aetna. Others associate their birth to a coupling between Aetna herself and smith deity Hephaestus. The "Greek version" indicate they are sons of Zeus and another nymph, called Thaleia.[2] A third account claimed that the Palici were the sons of the Sicilian deity Adranus.

The medieval Vatican Mythographers book ascribed their lineage to Zeus and Aetna: Zeus (Jupiter) impregnated Aetna and she, fearing the wrath of Hera (Juno), was entrusted to Earth to protect her and her sons.[3][4]

Interpretations

The second book of the Vatican Mythographers translated their name as 'twice-born'.[4]

Scholar Marcel Meulder argues for a Proto-Indo-European origin for their name, and relates it to a group of Greek compound names that belong to the semantic field of colours (e.g., leuko 'white'; melas 'black'). Thus, their name would mean 'of a white colour, of a grey colour, of a yellow colour' ("blanchâtre, jaunâtre, grisâtre”").[5][6] He also suggests it as evidence of the Indo-European character of the Siculian language.[5]

Polish historian Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak and Daria Zawiasa suggest the Palici may derive from the old Indo-European mytheme of the divine twins.[7] They argue that the pair fit some of the common traits that scholar Donald J. Ward ascribed to the mytheme, such as a sky-god's paternity and a single designation for both twins.[8]

Notes
  1. Dowdall, L. D. (1985). "On Marvellous Thing Sheard". Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2. pp. 1272–1298. doi:10.1515/9781400835850-004. ISBN 978-1-4008-3585-0.
  2. Witczak K. T., Zawiasa D. (2004). "Palici – the Sicilian Twin Brothers and the Indo- European Myth about Divine Twins". In: Živa Antika [Antiquité Vivante] 54(1–2), 2004, pp. 55–57.
  3. "First mythographer". The Vatican Mythographers. 2022. pp. 13–98. doi:10.1515/9780823293315-004. ISBN 978-0-8232-9331-5.
  4. Pepin, Ronald E. (2022). "Second mythographer". The Vatican Mythographers. pp. 99–206. doi:10.1515/9780823293315-005. ISBN 978-0-8232-9331-5.
  5. Meulder, Marcel (1998). "Les dieux sicules paliques portent un nom indo-européen". Latomus. 57 (1): 33–37. JSTOR 41538205.
  6. Meulder, Marcel (1 December 2016). "Le vers 4 du fragment 115 d'Empédocle (FVS 31 D.-K.): proposition d'une correction" [Verse 4 of fragment 115 of Empedocles (FVS 31 D.-K.): proposed correction]. Elenchos (in French). 37 (1–2): 33–68. doi:10.1515/elen-2016-371-203. S2CID 192732795.
  7. Witczak, K. T.; Zawiasa, D. "The Sicilian Palici as representatives of the indo-european divine twins". In: ΜΥΘΟΣ, n. 12, 2004-2005. pp. 93-106.
  8. Witczak K. T., Zawiasa D. (2004). "Palici – the Sicilian Twin Brothers and the Indo- European Myth about Divine Twins". In: Živa Antika [Antiquité Vivante] 54(1–2), 2004, pp. 56–60.

References
  • Hammond, N.G.L. & Scullard, H.H. (eds.). The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford; Oxford University Press. 1970).
  • Wilson, R.J.A. Sicily under the Roman Empire (Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 1990), p. 278.
  • Maniscalco, Laura (ed.). Il santuario dei Palici: un centro di culto nella Valle del Margi (Palermo: Regione Siciliana, 2008) (Collana d'Area. Quaderno n. 11).
  • Meulder, Marcel (1998). "Les dieux sicules paliques portent un nom indo-européen". Latomus. 57 (1): 33–37. JSTOR 41538205.
  • Meurant, Alain. Les Paliques, dieux jumeaux siciliens. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters, 1998. ISBN 90-429-0235-3.

Further reading
Archeology
  • Maniscalco, Laura; McConnell, Brian E. (2003). "The Sanctuary of the Divine Palikoi (Rocchicella di Mineo, Sicily): Fieldwork from 1995 to 2001". American Journal of Archaeology. 107 (2): 145–180. doi:10.3764/aja.107.2.145. JSTOR 40026074. S2CID 155841895.
  • Maniscalco, Laura (2014). "The Sanctuary of the Palikoi at Rocchicella (Mineo): The Copper Age Structures and the 'Boiling Waters' Phenomenon". In Gullì, Domenica (ed.). From Cave to Dolmen: Ritual and symbolic aspects in the prehistory between Sciacca, Sicily and the central Mediterranean. Archaeopress. pp. 169–178. doi:10.2307/j.ctvqmp11h.22. ISBN 978-1-78491-038-9. JSTOR j.ctvqmp11h.22.
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