Hydrothermal Landscapes of Sicily: A Study of Their Mythological and Archaeological Dimensions

Abstract

The thermal waters of Sicily offer a unique vantage point from which to explore the deep interconnections between geological phenomena and cultural constructions in the ancient Mediterranean. From the Archaic period onwards, historians, poets, and geographers, from Diodorus Siculus to Strabo and Pindar, interpreted the island’s hot springs not merely as manifestations of an active volcanic landscape, but as tangible signs of a sacred dimension inhabited by chthonic deities, nymphs, and healing powers. An integrated analysis of literary sources, archaeological evidence, and geological data reveals that these springs functioned as liminal spaces where empirical observation, myth, cult practices, and social uses convergEd. The cases of Segesta and Himera, exemplary for their strong connection between thermal waters, local cults, and territorial configuration, demonstrate how such springs contributed to shaping religious imagination and communal identity. Over the long term, from antiquity to the present, Sicilian thermal waters emerge as a multilayered heritage: a natural resource, a space of healing, a repository of cultural memory, and a key to interpreting the island’s historical development. An interdisciplinary approach, bridging geosciences, classical philology, and archaeology, is therefore essential to fully grasp the complexity and significance of this phenomenon.