Untold Italy · Friday, August 28, 2026
The Cyclopean Isles, or Faraglioni of Aci Trezza on Sicily's east coast, are identified as a potential setting for the Cyclops Polyphemus's actions in 'The Odyssey.' Professor Skidmore explains how these dramatic rock formations near Mount Etna could be the boulders Polyphemus threw at Odysseus's ship.
“So they're right through the Greek world, and we have lots of Cyclopean walls in ancient sanctuaries and Greece. So the Riviera de stiklovby, how did I do? Did I do that with a reasonable accent? Even? Well done? Yeah? But avah, that's what we said. So on the eastern coast of Sicily, just north of Catania, near the villages of atche Tretza and arche Castello, just beneath Mount Etna, which is certainly, as she said, dominating the landscape here, so again very different from those beautiful white sandy beaches. It's a dark, volcanic rocky coastline, and the most famous feature is the Fariglioni of arch Tretza, these enormous, jagged looking rocks which are also called the Cyclopaean aisles, and these are the rocks that are attritionally identified as the boulders with which Polyphemous the Cyclops through an Odysseus ship.”
“And again everyone, this is another place that people miss everyone's busy rushing from Catania to Talmina, and you can easily go and explore this beautiful coastline along here with some really cute little fishing villages and all of those spectacular rock formations.”