Aci-
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Aci-: A prefix found in many place names in northeastern Sicily. Many scholars believe it to derive from Acis, a mythological figure connected with the area since ancient times. According to the Metamorphosis of Ovid, Acis was a handsome Sicilian youth, the mortal son of the nature-god Faunus and the sea-nymph Symaethis. Beloved by the beautiful nymph Galatea, he aroused the jealousy of her spurned suitor, the Cyclops Polyphemus. In a fit of rage the Cyclops attacked Acis, crushing the youth beneath a huge rock from Mt. Etna. As the stream of Acis’s blood poured out from beneath the rock, it was divinely changed into the river Aci, although some choose to connect it with the river today called the Fiumefreddo. An associated legend claims that Polyphemus tore the body of Acis into nine parts, scattering them throughout the countryside. Collectively these sites came to be known as the Nove aci (the Nine Acis): Aci Bonaaccorsi, Aci Castello, Aci Catena, Aci Platani, Acireale, Aci S. Filippo, Aci S. Antonio, Aci S. Lucia and Aci Trezza. The nearby coastal area, the Riviera dei Ciclopi, likewise came to be associated with the legends of Polyphemus and the other Cyclopses. The actual root for aci– appears to derive from the Greek word Akus (“penetrating”) and was probably first attached to the ancient river Acis because of the cold temperature of its water.