The gods of others

Abstract

In Sicily between the VIII and the VI century BC, the process of Hellenization of the indigenous populations, even if it is completed with a substantial acceptance of Greek models, can provide important data for studying the religion of Siculi, Sicani, and Elimi. A disenchanted look, free from false prejudices of colonialist inspiration, furnish the key to interpreting the phenomenon that is first of all a political action among peers of hegemonic classes, the real creators of the acquisition of Hellenic cultural models. The in-depth analysis of the archaeological evidence, even if lacking the appropriate literary equipment, shows the persistence of an indigenous cultural and religious identity is not entirely lost.