Editing Selinunte (section)

===The East Hill===
[[File:Selinunte Panoramic View 1.jpg|thumb|300px|Temple E, view from within]]

There are three temples on the East Hill, which although all in the same area on the same north–south axis seem not to have belonged to a single sacred compound (''[[Temenos]]''), since there is a wall separating Temple E from Temple F. This sacred complex has strong parallels with the western slopes of the acropolis of [[Megara]], Selinus’ mothercity, which are useful (perhaps indispensable) for the correct attribution of the cults of the three temples.

'''[[Temple E (Selinus)|Temple E]]''' the most recent of the three, dates to 460–450&nbsp;BC and has a very similar plan to that of Temples A and O on the acropolis. Its current appearance is the result of [[anastylosis]] (reconstruction using the original material) carried out – controversially – between 1956 and 1959. The peristyle is 25.33 x 67.82 metres with a 6 x 15 column pattern (each 10.19 metres high) with numerous traces of the stucco which originally covered it remaining. It is a temple characterised by multiple staircases creating a system of successive levels: ten steps lead to the entrance on the eastern side, after the pronaos in antis another six steps lead into the naos and finally another six steps lead into the adyton at the rear of the naos. Behind the adyton, separated from it by a wall, was the opisthodomos in antis. A Doric frieze at the top of the walls of the naos consisted of metopes depicting people, with the heads and naked parts of the women made of [[Parian marble]] and the rest from local stone.

Four metopes are preserved: [[Heracles]] killing the [[Amazons|Amazon]] [[Antiope (Amazon)|Antiope]], the marriage of [[Hera]] and [[Zeus]], [[Actaeon]] being torn apart by [[Artemis]]’ hunting dogs, [[Athena]] killing the [[giant (mythology)|giant]] [[Enceladus]], and another more fragmentary one perhaps depicting [[Apollo]] and [[Daphne]]. All of them are kept in the Museo Archeologico di Palermo. Recent [[sondage]]s performed inside the temple and under Temple E have revealed that it was preceded by two other sacred buildings, one of which was destroyed in 510&nbsp;BC. Temple E was dedicated to [[Hera]] as shown by the inscription on a votive stela<ref>[[Inscriptiones Graecae|IG]] XIV 271</ref><ref>Tony Spawforth, ''The Complete Greek Temples'' 2006, p. 131.</ref> but some scholars deduce that it must have been dedicated to [[Aphrodite]] on the basis of structural parallels.<ref name=Coarelli-Torelli/>

[[File:templioselinunte.jpg|thumb|300px|East Hill: Temple F in foreground and the reconstructed Temple E in the background]]
[[File:Selinunte-TempleF-Plan-bjs.png|thumb|left|180px|Plan of Temple F]]
'''[[Temple F (Selinus)|Temple F]]''', the oldest and smallest of the three, was built between 550 and 540&nbsp;BC on the model of Temple C. Of the temples it has been the most severely spoliated. Its peristyle was 24.43 x 61.83 metres on a 6 x 14 column pattern (each 9.11 metres high), with stone screens (4.7 metres high) in the space between the columns, with false doors painted in with pilasters and architraves – the actual entrance was at the east end. It is not clear what the purpose of these screens, which are unique among Greek temples, was. Some think they were intended to protect votive gifts or to prevent particular rites ([[Dionysian Mysteries]]?) being seen by the uninitiated. Inside, there is a portico containing a second row of columns, a pronaos, a naos, and an adyton in single long, narrow structure (an archaic characteristic).

On the east side, two late archaic metopes (dated to 500&nbsp;BC) were found in excavations in 1823, which depict [[Athena]] and [[Dionysus]] in the process of killing two [[Giant (mythology)|giants]]. Today they are kept in the [[Regional Archeological Museum Antonio Salinas]]. Scholars have suggested that Temple F was dedicated to either [[Athena]]<ref name = Moscati/><ref name = Maiuri>Amedeo Maiuri, ''Arte e civiltà nell'Italia antica'', (Conosci l'Italia, vol. IV), Milano, 1960, pp. 79–80, 89–92, 106–108</ref> or [[Dionysus]].<ref name=Coarelli-Torelli/>

[[File:Crupi, Giovanni (1861-1925) - n. 0275 - Selinunte - Rovine.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Temple G in an early photo by G. Crupi (before 1925)]]
[[File:Selinunte-TempleG-Plan-bjs.png|thumb|left|180px|Plan of Temple G]]
[[File:Selinunte-pjt1.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Temple G : "lu fusu di la vecchia"]]
'''[[Temple G (Selinus)|Temple G]]''' was the largest in Selinus (113.34 metres long, 54.05 metres wide and about 30 metres high) and was among the largest in the Greek world.<ref>Along with the [[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Agrigento|Olympeion]] at [[Agrigento|Acragas]] and surpassed only by the [[Temple of Apollo (Didyma)|Temple of Apollo]] near [[Miletus]] and the [[Temple of Artemis]] in [[Ephesus]]</ref> This building, although under construction from 530 to 409&nbsp;BC (the long period of construction is demonstrated by the variation of style: the east side is archaic, while the west side is classical), remained incomplete, as shown by the absence of fluting on some of the columns and by the existence of column drums of the same dimensions ten kilometres away at [[Cave di Cusa]], still in the process of extraction (see below).

In the massive pile of ruins it is possible to make out a peristyle of 8 x 17 columns (16.27 metres high and 3.41 metres in diameter), only one of which remains standing since it was re-erected in 1832, known in [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] as “lu fusu di la vecchia” (the old woman's spindle). The interior consisted of a prostyle pronaos with four columns, with two deep antae walls ending in pilasters and three doors leading to the large naos. The naos was very large and divided into three aisles – the middle one was probably open to the air (''[[hypaethros]]''). There were two rows of ten slender columns which supported a second row of columns (the gallery) and two lateral staircases which led to the roofspace. At the back of the central aisle was an adyton, separated from the walls of the naos and entirely contained within it. Inside the adyton, the torso of a wounded or dying giant  was found as well as the very important inscription known as the “Great Table of Selinus” (see below). At the rear there was an opisthodomos in antis, which could not be accessed from the naos. Of particular interest among the ruins are some finished columns showing traces of coloured stucco and blocks of the entablature which have horseshoe-shaped grooves on the sides. Ropes were run through these grooves and used to lift them into place. Temple G probably functioned as the treasury of the city and epigraphic evidence suggests that it was dedicated to [[Apollo]], though recent studies have suggested that it be attributed to [[Zeus]].

At the foot of the hill by the mouth of the River Cottone was the '''East Port''', which was more than 600 metres wide on the inside and was probably equipped with a mole or breakwater to protect the acropolis. It underwent changes in the fourth and third centuries: it was enlarged and flanked by piers (oriented north–south) and by storage areas. Of the two ports of Selinus, which are both now silted up, the '''West Port''' on the River Selinus-Modione was the main one.

The extramural quarters, dedicated to trade, commerce and port activities was arranged on massive terraces on the hillslopes

North of the modern village of Marinella, is the Buffa necropolis