N.021 - Parthenope

Andre Ducci’s illustration references the legend of the founding of Naples, whose first settlement arose between Monte Echia (Pizzofalcone), today the site of the Nunziatella Military School, and the small island of Megaride, now home to Castel dell'Ovo. It was precisely on Megaride that the creatures of the sea laid the lifeless body of the siren Parthenope after she had been rejected by Odysseus and was therefore destined to die. Her story is a complex one to tell, yet it remains etched in the memory of a people who proudly claim their origins in this legend, referring to themselves as “Partenopeans.”