There are a great many tales and myths about Erice…

The Myth of Venus – In Erice, the cult of this female deity took on different names over the centuries and peoples. The Phoenician cult of the goddess Astante, later transformed by the Romans into that of Venus, was in many ways obscure in nature and included the breeding of doves and sacred prostitution within the temple.

Thousands of pilgrims each year would reach the shrine on the occasion of the departure of the doves sacred to the goddess who would head to Africa, to Kef, where a sister shrine was located and then return to Erice after nine days. During this time great festivals were held in Erice.
The myth of Venus was then fueled by the sacred prostitution of the Hierodules.

From all over the Mediterranean, traders and sailors arrived here to enjoy the company of the beautiful priestesses of Venus who, in return for substantial offerings, ensured the goddess’s protection.

Anchises’ Stele – Aeneas, on his journey away from Troy stopped at Aceste, king of Erice, who offered him hospitality. Along the coast of Erice, near the promontory of Pizzolungo, Aeneas was finally able to give a proper burial to his father Anchises in whose honor the Stele of Anchises was erected. On the first anniversary of his death, Aeneas organized here the Ludi, a sporting joust that Virgil accurately describes in the Aeneid.

Erice and Hercules – Legend has it that the area was ruled by the demigod Erice, son of Bute, one of Odysseus‘ companions, and the goddess Aphrodite. When Erice learned that the mighty Hercules had come to visit his territories, he wanted to challenge him to determine which of the two was the stronger.
If Erice lost, he would hand over all his possessions to Hercules. If not, Hercules would hand over to Hercules the sacred cows that he carried. But Hercules ‘ fame did not lie and he got the better of Hercules.
Hercules, however, continued his journey by entrusting the kingdom of Erice to its own inhabitants.

Daedalusand Minasse – Daedalus took refuge in Sicily, the guest of the Sican king Cocalo, after fleeing Crete because of the wrath of Minos who wanted to punish him to death for providing his consort Pasiphae with the famous bronze cow.
Minasseh, however, learned of Daedalus ‘ presence in Sicily and went to ask Cocalo to hand him over. The latter pretended to accede to the request but, in reality, it was just a ruse to kill Minos in a hot bath.

The same Cretans who had accompanied the king, before returning home, buried Minos and erected over his tomb a temple dedicated to Aphrodite.
According to some, the temple would have been precisely that of the Erycine goddess, under which Minos’ burial would be found.

The Myth of the Julian Knight – After the end of the Roman Empire, Erice disappears from historical records. It will reappear there only in the 12th century when we learn from Arab sources that there is a city, called Gebel Hamed, right there where Erice should be. It is 1076 AD, when the Norman Count Roger II besieges the Muslim populations on the mountain.

At first light in the morning, during an auspicious prayer for victory, he saw in a dream the knight Julian riding a white horse, equipped with shining weapons, dressed in the red mantle of a dignitary, with a falcon perched on his left hand, urging the Muslims to flee.

Gebel Hamed thus became Norman land and, out of devotion to the saint, was renamed in the year 1167 “Mount St. Julian.”