The Genius of Palermo - Sicilian legend

The Genius of Palermo is one of the most ancient and complex mythological figures of the city tradition and expression of an ancient popular spirituality, probably dating back to pre-Roman times.
The Genius (from the Greek ghenos = birth and from the Latin genius = generator of life) was an immanent being able to protect the place, natural or not, in which the man and his family lived or lived: it is the Genius loci for the note.
The Genius is always depicted as an old man seated on a throne and crowned, he is accompanied by a snake in the act of biting or sucking his chest and sometimes surmounted by an eagle or with a dog at his feet.
The snake nourished by the Genius is indicative of renewal and transformation, also thanks to relations with foreigners who in the course of the city's history were sometimes conquerors and sometimes guests, produced commerce, trade, trade, remixing of ethnic groups and matrix of cultural changes. The majestic golden eagle is the symbol of the city of Palermo, while the dog crouching at the foot of the Genius represents loyalty.