Adranus or Adranos (Greek: 'Αδρανός) was a fire god worshipped by the Sicels, the original inhabitants of the island of Sicily. He was said to have lived under Mount Etna before being driven out by the Greek god Hephaestus or Vulcan. According to Aelian, about a thousand sacred dogs were kept near his temple at the eponymous town of Adranon, modern Adrano, near Mount Etna. Adranus was said to have been the father of the Palici, born to Adranus's lover, the nymph Thalia. According to Thucydides (vi:2), before the arrival of Greek colonists, the Sicels (or Siculi) were one of the three tribes who inhabited Sicily: the Sicels (Greek Sikeloi) in eastern Sicily (as well as southern Italy), who spoke an Indo-European language, and the Sicani (Greek Sikanoi) and Elymi (Greek... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Mount Etna (also known as Mongibeddu in Sicilian and Mongibello in Italian, a combination of Latin mont- meaning mountain and the local word for beautiful) is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. ... Hephaestus, Greek god of forging, riding a Donkey; Greek drinking cup (skyphos) made in the 5th century BC Hephaestus (IPA pronunciation: or ; Greek Hêphaistos) was the Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan; he was the god of technology including, specifically blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and metallurgy, and... Vulcan, in Roman mythology, is the son of Jupiter and Juno, and husband of Maia and Venus. ... Claudius Aelianus (c. ... Adrano is a town in the east of the Italian region of Sicily. ... The term Palici refers to twin gods in Roman and, to a lesser extent, Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of female nature entities, either bound to a particular location or landform or joining the retinue of a god or goddess. ... Thalia - oil on canvas by Jean-Marc Nattier 1739 In Greek mythology, Thalia or Thaleia (good cheer) was the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry. ...

Some commentators have suggested that Adranus may have been related to the similarly-named gods Adar and Adramelech (from Persia and Phoenicia respectively), who were also personifications of the sun or of fire in general. See also Atar, Mauritania. ... This entry incorporates text from the public domain Eastons Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the old Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. ... Phoenician sarcophagus found in Cadiz, Spain; now in Archaeological Museum of Cádiz. ...

References

• Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, edited William Smith (1870)