table of contents

Introduction

Seville is one of the Spanish (and European) cities most laden with history. So it is that the Andalusian capital is especially rich in legends and traditions going back to remote times. For example, did the Phoenician Melqart—later called Hercules—found Seville? This work does not neglect the story of the martyrdom and glory of Saints Justa and Rufina, during Roman times, nor, in the Visigothic, the tradition surrounding the revolt of Hermenegild against Liuvigild.

Did King Roderic really fall in the Battle of Guadalete? The loves of Abbad III, poet-king of Seville, with his beautiful slave Al-Rumaikiyya. How Ibn Ammar saved Seville by playing chess. Rodrigo Díaz in this city won the name of El Cid. What do we know about the construction of the Giralda? Here is recorded the daring of Saint Fernando, the exploits of Garcia Pérez de Vargas, and the feats of Admiral Bonifaz. The deaths of Leonor Dávalos and Urraca Ossorio. A murder in the Jewish quarter. A gypsy gave certain prophecies to Hernán Cortés in Seville. What are the Seises of the Sevillian cathedral? A look back at the Inquisition. Legends and traditions surrounding the Christ of Cachorro and of the Virgin of Hope of Macarena. Fact and fiction about Don Juan Tenorio. Bécquer, de Larra, and Seville. What do Sevillians do so that it will or won’t rain?

Traditions and Legends from Antiquity

How Hercules Founded Seville

Every commentator and historian agrees that Seville was founded by Hercules.

But can we credit this assertion? Isn’t Hercules a god from Classical mythology? How should we believe in a mythological god?

Some 1,000 years before Christ, or about 3,000 years ago, the first Phoenician sailors arrived in Spain. They came through the Mediterranean Sea, having followed the coastline of North Africa, where they learned the Egyptian religion (of the god Osiris and goddess Isis) and where the founded a colony, near present-day Tunisia, which they named Kar-tago, meaning “New City.”