Zeus Peloros e gli altri: un nuovo sguardo ai dipinti del "sacello pagano" nella catacomba di Santa Lucia a Siracusa

The so-called sacello pagano, a small hypogeic sanctuary later incorporated into the catacomb of St. Lucia in Syracuse, preserves interesting evidence of late Hellenistic painting. Since the first publication, in 1963, a new photographic documentation of thepictorial cycle has not been yet proposed. Thanks to a combination of high definition and ultraviolet (UV) photographs, it is now possible to have a deeper knowledge of the paintings. Through the inscriptions we immediately recognize the images of Zeus Peloros and Porthmos (the personification of the Strait of Messina); it is also proposed to identify in the other figures, very fragmentary and without explanatory inscriptions, Zeus (?), Isis lactans and Apollo Archegetes. From the reexamination of the pictorial cycle it clearly emerges that the sanctuary, dedicated to divinities connected to the sea and to navigation, was mainly addressed to seafarers and visitors of the nearby port of the city.