Abstract
This paper compares two monuments, the ‘Elefantino di Piazza della Minerva’
in Rome and the ‘Fontana dell’Elefante’ in Catania, and their respective popular names,
Porcino della Minerva or Pulcino della Minerva and Liotro. After having documented the
presence of these denominations in literary works, I discuss their origins and analyze similarities and differences between what the two monuments have represented and continue
to represent today on a symbolic level for the people of Rome and Catania.
Keywords: Dialect, literature, etymology, identification, symbolic value.