The Temple of the Dioscuri or Temple of Castor and Pollux is certainly one of the symbols of the Valley of the Temples, together with the Temple of Concordia. Its present appearance, however, is the result of a reconstruction process carried out in the 19th century by the Commission of Antiquities of Sicily. Elements of buildings from different periods were used. The dedication to the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus in Greek mythology, is a convention. It is based on the work of the Greek writer Pindar, who mentions some festivals dedicated to the Dioscuri in ancient Akragas.
The Temple of the Dioscuri: the origin of the name
The Temple of the Dioscuri is one of the many examples in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento of the conventional attribution of a cult to a sanctuary. In fact, there is no source that attests the existence of a temple dedicated to the Dioscuri, the sons of Zeus Castor and Pollux. The ruins of the temple fall in the area known as the Sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities, where there are remains of various buildings dedicated to fertility worship. It is therefore much more likely that the temple was dedicated to the deities Demeter and Persephone (also called Kore). The attribution to the Dioscuri is based on a poem by the Greek poet Pindar. In his Olympic Ode III: Again for Theron of Agrigento winner with chariot at the Theoxenias, he actually speaks of some festivals in honor of the Dioscuri that were celebrated in ancient Agrigento.
The ruins of the Temple of Castor and Pollux
The remains of the Temple of the Dioscuri, as we see them today, are actually a reconstruction carried out by the Commission of Antiquities of Sicily between 1836 and 1852. Elements of buildings from different periods were used. The capitals and the frieze belong to the original temple, while the goat is from a restoration of the temple in the Hellenistic period. In fact, it is likely that the temple was burned by the Carthaginians in 406 BC. The temple was originally hexastyle, with six columns on the short side and thirteen on the long side. Inside were the pronaos, or entrance hall, the naos (or cella), the area where the statue of the deity was kept, and a rear compartment called the opisthodomos.
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