A Summary of Mt. Etna's Volcanic Aetiology

ὅσσα δὲ μὴ πεφίληκε Ζεύς, ἀτύζονται βοὰν
      And those whom Zeus has loved not, are by fear distraught when
Πιερίδων ἀΐοντα, γᾶν τε καὶ πόντον κατ᾽ ἀμαιμάκετον,           15
     The Pierian Muses' shout they've heard on both Earth and the irresistible Sea!  
[30] ὅς τ᾽ ἐν αἰνᾷ Ταρτάρῳ κεῖται, θεῶν πολέμιος,
     For he in the dread Tartaros lies, the gods' enemy,
Τυφὼς ἑκατοντακάρανος: τόν ποτε
     Typhon, hundred-headed! Him once
Κιλίκιον θρέψεν πολυώνυμον ἄντρον: νῦν γε μὰν
     The Kilikian many-named cave nurtured, but now indeed,
ταί θ᾽ ὑπὲρ Κύμας ἁλιερκέες ὄχθαι
     The sea-girt cliffs o'er Kymai
Σικελία τ᾽ αὐτοῦ πιέζει στέρνα λαχνάεντα: κίων δ᾽ οὐρανία συνέχει,           20
     And Sikelia weighs down upon his woolly breast! And him does that Heaven's pillar hold,    
νιφόεσσ᾽ Αἴτνα, πάνετες χιόνος ὀξείας τιθήνα:
     She, Snow-clad Aitna, year-round nurse of bitter snowfall,
[40] τᾶς ἐρεύγονται μὲν ἀπλάτου πυρὸς ἁγνόταται
     Belches forth the purest fonts of unapproachable fire
ἐκ μυχῶν παγαί: ποταμοὶ δ᾽ ἁμέραισιν μὲν προχέοντι ῥόον καπνοῦ
     From her innermost places. And her rivers in daytime pour forth a burning stream of
αἴθων᾽: ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ὄρφναισιν πέτρας
     Smoke, while in the darkness, rocks
φοίνισσα κυλινδομένα φλὸξ ἐς βαθεῖαν φέρει πόντου πλάκα σὺν πατάγῳ.
     Does crimson-red flame roll down and bear them to the deep plane of the sea with a crash!
25κεῖνο δ᾽ Ἁφαίστοιο κρουνοὺς ἑρπετὸν
     And streams of Hephaistos does yon beast
[50] δεινοτάτους ἀναπέμπει: τέρας μὲν θαυμάσιον προσιδέσθαι, θαῦμα δὲ καὶ παρεόντων ἀκοῦσαι,
     Upward throw, O the most terrible streams! A wondrous sign it is to behold, and a wonder to hear the tale told!
οἷον Αἴτνας ἐν μελαμφύλλοις δέδεται κορυφαῖς
     Such a thing in Aitna's dark-leafed heights is bound
καὶ πέδῳ, στρωμνὰ δὲ χαράσσοισ᾽ ἅπαν νῶτον ποτικεκλιμένον κεντεῖ.
     And under the plain, a bedspread cutting its whole back into furrows and stinging its length stretched out underneath. 

-Pindar, Pythian Ode I, for Hieron Of Etna, Winner of the Chariot Race, 470 B.C.                                                                                                             trans. is my own.

Mt. Etna has erupted once again, spewing lava over half a mile into the air, reminding all of her neighbors just how mighty the Earth's wrath can be.  Check out these pictures:

Is that Mt. Doom?

#heycooltheearthistryingtokillusagain

It is no wonder that the ancients, when seeing such a jaw-dropping, unstoppable force, believed mighty reasons for the phenomenon, reasons which (though terrifying) they could comprehend; before having a knowledge of plate tectonics, the ancient people reasoned that either Hephaistos, the smith of the gods, had his smithy and forge in the bowels of the mountain, or some terrible monster had been imprisoned under the mountain, and every now and again caused smoke and flames to erupt upward as he struggled against his rocky prison. The purpose of this post is to examine the science behind the mountain, the history of the mountain and its link to either a monster's prison, or a forge of the gods.  

Formation of the Mountain

Volcanic activity is estimated to have been brewing on the eastern shore of Sicily since some 500,000 years ago. Originating under the sea, the on-and-off again explosions of fire and chaos from under the Earth's crust led to a build-up of the summit which would become Etna. This area is especially active because it sits near the intersection of the African plate and smaller Ionic micro-plate, which both lie under the Eurasian plate at their subduction boundary:

These plates aren't just rubbing up against each other (which causes volcanic activity and earthquakes): the Ionic micro-plate has been broken off by the heavier African Plate and magma from the underlying mantle has filled the space left behind, leading to some impressive (and frequent) fireworks erupting from Etna. This explains why this volcano is so much more active than its siblings Vesuvius and Stromboli, even though the latter are part of the same volcanic chain created by the meeting of the Eurasian/African Plates - there is a fissure or break in the plate and magma from the mantle is being forced upward.

Mt. Etna itself began its process of building-up perhaps some 200,000 years ago, its gains in altitude were hindered by occasionally collapses of the mountain's magma chambers, causing great sections of the height to crumble in upon itself.

#10. Magma Chamber - these would form and collapse upon themselves and thus the mountain would lose height. Whenever it erupts anew, it replenishes its size.

The Arrival of Humans

Etymology points to the volcano's name coming from the Phoenician attuna, meaning "chimney, furnace". The Greeks called it Αἴτνη (Aitne), the Romans Aetna, and the Arabs جبل النار Jabal al-Nār, "The Mountain of Fire". The locals merely call it "a muntagna", The Mountain, as if no other can claim the title. The soil in the nearby Catania region is fertile and excellent for vegetation, a typical  side-effect of volcanic activity; as such, the areas around the mountain are rife with vineyards, orchards, and other agricultural pursuits, as is much of the Italian peninsula.

Etnian Vineyard

Surprisingly, the people are not typically affected by the near-constant activity of the volcano.  Though eruptions and the like appear hellish and terrifying, the lava events usually take place at the summit and infrequently reach the surrounding areas. The more dangerous events happen on the mountain flanks, which are more often responsible for Etna's seventy-seven recorded deaths. Large incidents, like March 1669, are straight out of a bad sci-fi movie: a flank eruption produced enough lava to destroy some ten villages in the area and even reach the city walls of Catania itself after collecting for several weeks; the lava was directed into the city's harbor.

A more antique large event occurred in 122 B.C: a Plinian eruption caused heavy enough ash and pumice stone (called basaltic composition in a paper concerning the event) to weigh down the roofs of the buildings of Catania to the point of causing them to collapse; the damage was extensive enough that the Roman Senate exempted Catania from paying taxes for ten years. These ash clouds have been known to billow thickly and treacherously and travel great distances (see picture below).

Etnian eruption seen from orbit.

Despite the name of one of their gods being used to refer to these deadly fissures in the Earth's crust ("volcano" ultimately derives from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and the godsmith; his Greek counterpart is Hephaistos). the Romans (and also the Greeks) had little knowledge of volcanoes apart from being the destructive side effects of vengeful gods expressing their dissatisfaction at whatever it is which pisses off perpetually pissed off godheads. The term "volcano" wasn't even in use in the same way we use it today until the A.D. 1500s at the earliest (Fre: volcan; Ita: vulcano - the Etymology Dictionary also notes that the antique Romans did refer to Etna using "Vulcanic" nomenclature, as they believed the mountain to be venting the smoke and flames from Vulcan's forge [see below]). Despite the preponderance of these stories to explain natural phenomenon, there was at the very least some scientific study of the subject of volcanoes on the part of an unidentified poet who penned the epic poem (yes, it is written in dactylic hexameter) Aetna (text). Perhaps inspired by the same Muse who directed Lucretius' superstition-dispelling pen, the Aetna author begins his work with a summary of the stories and legends surrounding Etna's conflagrations and then dismisses them as mere fancies in favor of studying the vera causa of Nature's workings ("artificis naturae ingens opus adspice - Upon the Artificer Nature's great work turn thy attention" [601]). The Latin and style of the Aetna points to the Silver Age of literature, and, more conclusively, the author mentions that he declined to make Vesuvius the subject of his work, for he considered the Campanian volcanic region to be dead; he would not have made such a claim following the great Vesuvian earthquake of A.D. 62 (a smaller event followed in A.D. 64) which ruined parts of Naples to the point that buildings were still being repaired seventeen years later when Vesuvius famously erupted on August 23rd, A.D. 79, destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum. The Aetna author theorized that the Earth was hollow-ish and honeycombed beneath the crust, and that volcanic fire came from rocks. 

Many centuries after the writing of Aetna, Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher (1602 - 1680) decided to set his sights on geology (after already making forays into the fields of Egyptology and Sinology), and found someone daring enough to lower him into Mt. Vesuvius during one of its more active spells. After recording his Vesuvian observations and experiencing earthquakes and volcanic activity at Mt. Etna, Kircher, in concurrence with the Aetna author, believed in the same honeycombed structure of the Earth, only his volcanic fire came ultimately from a central fire which was connected to Hell (he was a Jesuit after all), which was released all over the globe through cracks and mountains. Kircher also believed in a subterranean ocean which caused the tides and housed such beasties as dragons and basilisks, and influenced generations of fictions writers from Jules Verne to H.P. Lovecraft. Kircher published his geological findings in his seminal Mundus Subterraneus (text) in A.D. 1664.

 

   

A beautiful illustration from Mundus Subterraneus, depicting the inner fire of the Earth and its connecting passages to volcanoes.

 

So, given that the ancients did not truly know (at least in any widespread sense) the causes of volcanic activity, much less how to predict, measure, or take steps to prepare against such destructive forces, they turned to what they knew: their mythology.

A Fiery Prison

There exists a rather long-lasting and storied tradition of believing that underneath volcanic mountains, buried by the rocks and fire, were monsters and creatures of general ill-temperament who were put there by the gods some time ago.  And why not? Lacking the ability to measure the movements of plate tectonics and the like, the ancients went to the next logical reasoning behind these incredible phenomenon: this explained the earthquakes as the monster shaking against his stony bonds and the fire and lava as his deadly breath, cast upward by his roars of rage.  Though one might expect a typical dragon to be slumbering underneath, the Greeks were surprisingly thin on dragons in their mythology (though they possessed a natural human fear of snakes [serpents feature prominently in Grecian tales when the teller figured the story wasn't scary enough yet and added a few hissing snakes to the already hybridized monster] their hybridized creations tend to be, in many respects, more bizarre and freakish than the typical dragon cf. the Khaimera, the Gorgons), and so they, and the later Romans, cast Etna as the prison of either the Gigas Enkelados or the hurricane daemon Typhon, offspring of Tartaros and Gaia.

 

Enkelados

Bosquet de l'Encélade, Gaspar Mercy, Versailles

The Roman poet Vergil is said to have, like Pindar above, witnessed an Etnian eruption firsthand and committed the image it to parchment in Book III of his epic The Aeneid, where Aeneas and the Trojan refugees see the ash and flames of the mountain as they sail by:

Portus ab accessu ventorum immotus et ingens                                                570
     A harbor is there, by the approach of winds unmoved and huge
ipse: sed horrificis iuxta tonat Aetna ruinis,
     Itself it is. But joined to it is Aetna, roaring in dreadful destruction,
interdumque atram prorumpit ad aethera nubem
     Here and there a black cloud the mountain bursts forth to the upper air
turbine fumantem piceo et candente favilla,
      In a tornado, smoking with pitch-black and shining cinders.
attollitque globos flammarum et sidera lambit;
      And it sends upward balls of flames and the constellations it licks.
interdum scopulos avulsaque viscera montis                                                     575
      Oft rocks and the very upwards-cast innards of the mountain
erigit eructans, liquefactaque saxa sub auras
      It retches up, vomiting out, and the molten rocks under the sky
cum gemitu glomerat fundoque exaestuat imo.
      With a roar it heaps them together and from the deepest roots burns forth.
fama est Enceladi semustum fulmine corpus 
      The tale told-round is that Enceladus' body, singed by a lightning bolt,
urgeri mole hac, ingentemque insuper Aetnam
        Is weighed down by this mound, and that huge Aetna above him
impositam ruptis flammam exspirare caminis,                                                  580
        Was set, breathing out fire from its riven forges,
et fessum quotiens mutet latus, intremere omnem
        And as many times as his wearied side he shifts, shakes the whole
murmure Trinacriam et caelum subtexere fumo.
        Three-Promontories with a rumble, and the heavens he weaves with smoke.
                                                        -Vergil, The Æneid III. 570-582. Trans. is my own.

Many generations ago, before humans existed, the Titans (The Strainers), the twelve offspring of Ouranos (The Heavens) and Gaia (The Earth) conspired against their father (with mother's help) and their leader, the youngest Kronos, castrated his father and set his body as the heavens. The severed genitalia were cast aside, their dripping blood mingled with the earth, and from this primordial muck sprang the Gigantes (The Giants, "The Earthborn"). A generation later, the offspring of Kronos, the Olympians and their own offspring would offer mighty combat to these enormous monsters who often, in art at least, bore the shape of men. In this war between them, called "The Gigantomachy (The Giants' War)" by mythographers, Athena was typically paired in combat with Ἐγκέλαδος (Enkelados - "Charge-Sounder"; Lat: Enceladus), who was a particularly nasty Gigas.

Athena and Enkelados, Attic red figure, c. 550 - 500 B.C.

The goddess defeated her enemy and, while he attempted flight, cast the three-promontoried island of Sicily on top of him(!), the whole mass heaped upon the angry giant. Though that may sound incredible (even by Greek mythology standards), she wasn't alone in such a feat:
 

Poseidon and Polybotes (a Gigas), Attic red figure, c. 500 - 450 B.C. Poseidon is holding the island of Nisyros and is ready to throw it on the giant. Whoa.

Yeah, Poseidon lifts too. With the whole isle cast over him, the Gigas was weighed down and could not move, apart from his insistent tossing and turning which caused earthquakes, and his angry and deadly breath which caused the mountain summit and flanks to erupt into flames and spew molten lava. Some ancient writers besides Vergil described Enkelados as the angry imprisoned beast who caused the earthquakes and eruptions under the volcano:

               In medio scopulis se porrigit Aetna perustis:
                       In the midst, among burnt crags does Aetna stretch forth. 

               Aetna Giganteos numquam tacitura triumphos, 

                       Aetna -- over the Gigantes standeth it a never silent triumph 

               Enceladi bustum, qui saucia terga revinctus 

                       The tomb of Enceladus, who beaten down on wounded back, 

               spirat inexhaustum flagranti vulnere sulphur,               155 

                       Now breathes from a burning wound unceasing sulphur. 

               et quotiens detractat onus cervice rebelli 

                       And as many times as he draws down the burden on his rebellious neck, 

               in laevum dextrumque latus, tunc insula fundo 

                       Onto his left, and now his right side, and then the island from the root 

               vertitur et dubiae nutant cum moenibus urbes. 

                       Is upturned, and the shaky cities waver down to their walls! 

               Aetnaeos apices solo cognoscere visu, 

                       The Aetnian heights to know only by sight, 

               non aditu temptare licet. Pars cetera frondet               160 

                       Not by approach be it allowed to try. Though some of the rest be leafy-green 

               arboribus, teritur nullo cultore cacumen. 

                      With trees, by no pioneer is this mountaintop treaded! 

                                                          

                                                        -Claudian, De Raptu Proserpinae, I.152-161. Trans. is my own.


Later writers, such as Ludovico Ariosto, also took their cues from these ancients:

I.        Ceres, when from the Idaean dame in haste
          Returning to the lonely valley, where
          Enceladus the Ætnaean mountain placed
          On his bolt-smitten flanks, is doomed to bear,
          [...]

-Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, Canto XII.1. Trans by Sir William Stewart Rose 

But, because stories are only true if they have multiple variants (amirite?), the spectators of Etna had differing accounts of which monster was imprisoned beneath their very feet.

 

Typhon

 

Zeus Brandishes the Thunderbolt at Typhon, black figure Chalcidian, c. 550 B.C. H ere, Typhon follows the description offered by the mythographer Apollodoros.

 
                  αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ Τιτῆνας ἀπ᾽ οὐρανοῦ ἐξέλασεν Ζεύς,         820 

                            But when the Titans from the heavens did Zeus drive out, 

                  ὁπλότατον τέκε παῖδα Τυφωέα Γαῖα πελώρη 

                            Her youngest child, Typhoeus, enormous Gaia bore, 

                  Ταρτάρου ἐν φιλότητι διὰ χρυσέην Ἀφροδίτην: 

                            With Tartaros' love, bestowed by golden Aphrodite. 

                  οὗ χεῖρες μὲν ἔασιν ἐπ᾽ ἰσχύι, ἔργματ᾽ ἔχουσαι, 

                            His hands had might in carrying out his deeds, 

                  καὶ πόδες ἀκάματοι κρατεροῦ θεοῦ: ἐκ δέ οἱ ὤμων       825 

                            And the feet of the strong god were untiring. From his shoulders 

                  ἣν ἑκατὸν κεφαλαὶ ὄφιος, δεινοῖο δράκοντος, 

                            Were a hundred heads of a serpent, of a terrible dragon, 

                  γλώσσῃσιν δνοφερῇσι λελιχμότες, ἐκ δέ οἱ ὄσσων 

                            With dark tongues they licked, and from under his eyes' 

                  θεσπεσίῃς κεφαλῇσιν ὑπ᾽ ὀφρύσι πῦρ ἀμάρυσσεν: 

                            Brows, on those terrible heads did fire flash. 

                  πασέων δ᾽ ἐκ κεφαλέων πῦρ καίετο δερκομένοιο: 

                            And from all his heads fire burned while he glared. 

                  φωναὶ δ᾽ ἐν πάσῃσιν ἔσαν δεινῇς κεφαλῇσι                  830 

                            And the voices in all those fearful heads 

                  παντοίην ὄπ᾽ ἰεῖσαι ἀθέσφατον: ἄλλοτε μὲν γὰρ 

                            Of all sorts were the voices uttered unutterable: for sometimes 

                  φθέγγονθ᾽ ὥστε θεοῖσι συνιέμεν, ἄλλοτε δ᾽ αὖτε 

                            They made sounds as the gods understand, yet other-wise again, 

                  ταύρου ἐριβρύχεω, μένος ἀσχέτου, ὄσσαν ἀγαύρου, 

                             As a bull bellows, unchecked in his might, proud in his voice; 

                  ἄλλοτε δ᾽ αὖτε λέοντος ἀναιδέα θυμὸν ἔχοντος, 

                             And else-wise as a lion, shameless of heart; 

                  ἄλλοτε δ᾽ αὖ σκυλάκεσσιν ἐοικότα, θαύματ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι,  835 

                             And else-wise unto whelps likened, wond'rous to hear; 

                  ἄλλοτε δ᾽ αὖ ῥοίζεσχ᾽, ὑπὸ δ᾽ ἤχεεν οὔρεα μακρά. 

                             And else-wise they hiss, and echoed throughout mountains great. 

                  καί νύ κεν ἔπλετο ἔργον ἀμήχανον ἤματι κείνῳ 

                             And now would have come into being an impossible task on that day, 

                  καί κεν ὅ γε θνητοῖσι καὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἄναξεν, 

                             'Twould over both mortal and deathless alike be our lord, 

                  εἰ μὴ ἄρ᾽ ὀξὺ νόησε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε. 

                             If not indeed sharply had the father perceived, the father of men and gods. 

                  σκληρὸν δ᾽ ἐβρόντησε καὶ ὄβριμον, ἀμφὶ δὲ γαῖα         840 

                             Loud and mighty he thundered; and all over, the earth 

                  σμερδαλέον κονάβησε καὶ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθε 

                             Terribly clashed both wide heaven above

                  πόντος τ᾽ Ὠκεανοῦ τε ῥοαὶ καὶ Τάρταρα γαίης. 

                             And the sea, and Okeanos, and the rivers, and the Nether-depths of the Earth. 

                  ποσσὶ δ᾽ ὕπ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι μέγας πελεμίζετ᾽ Ὄλυμπος 

                             And under the deathless feet did shaketh great Olympos, 

                  ὀρνυμένοιο ἄνακτος: ἐπεστενάχιζε δὲ γαῖα. 

                             Under the feet of its rising lord, and groaned did the Earth. 

                  καῦμα δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων κάτεχεν ἰοειδέα πόντον         845 

                              And heat from under the two held fast to the violet-hued sea 

                  βροντῆς τε στεροπῆς τε, πυρός τ᾽ ἀπὸ τοῖο πελώρου, 

                              Both the thunder and the lightning, and both the fire from that beast 

                  πρηστήρων ἀνέμων τε κεραυνοῦ τε φλεγέθοντος. 

                              And from his hurricane winds and from Zeus' scorching thunderbolt.

                  ἔζεε δὲ χθὼν πᾶσα καὶ οὐρανὸς ἠδὲ θάλασσα: 

                              And boiling was the land --all of it-- and the sky and sea. 

                  θυῖε δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ ἀκτὰς περί τ᾽ ἀμφί τε κύματα μακρὰ 

                              And against the beachlands, all around the great billows 

                  ῥιπῇ ὕπ᾽ ἀθανάτων, ἔνοσις δ᾽ ἄσβεστος ὀρώρει:          850 

                              Rusheth from under the deathless, and the shaking unquenchable ariseth. 

                  τρέε δ᾽ Ἀίδης, ἐνέροισι καταφθιμένοισιν ἀνάσσων, 

                              And away runneth Haides who over the decaying dead is lord, 

                  Τιτῆνές θ᾽ ὑποταρτάριοι, Κρόνον ἀμφὶς ἐόντες, 

                              As well as the Titans under Tartaros, those who around Kronos are, 

                  ἀσβέστου κελάδοιο καὶ αἰνῆς δηιοτῆτος. 

                              He of unending clamor and grim battle-strife. 

                  Ζεὺς δ᾽ ἐπεὶ οὖν κόρθυνεν ἑὸν μένος, εἵλετο δ᾽ ὅπλα, 

                              And so when Zeus raised up his might, seized he his arms, 

                  βροντήν τε στεροπήν τε καὶ αἰθαλόεντα κεραυνόν,      855 

                              Both the thunder and the lightning and blazing thunderbolt, 

                  πλῆξεν ἀπ᾽ Οὐλύμποιο ἐπάλμενος: ἀμφὶ δὲ πάσας 

                              He smote him, when from Olympos he leapt. And all around 

                  ἔπρεσε θεσπεσίας κεφαλὰς δεινοῖο πελώρου. 

                              He burnt the awful heads of the terrible beast. 

                  αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δή μιν δάμασεν πληγῇσιν ἱμάσσας, 

                              Yea, when him Zeus mastered, with beatings he flogged, 

                  ἤριπε γυιωθείς, στενάχιζε δὲ γαῖα πελώρη. 

                              He cast him down, a lame thing, and wailed the enormous Earth. 

                  φλὸξ δὲ κεραυνωθέντος ἀπέσσυτο τοῖο ἄνακτος           860 

                              And the flame of the Thunderbolt-wielding lord shot out, 

                  οὔρεος ἐν βήσσῃσιν ἀιδνῇς παιπαλοέσσῃς, 

                              In the mountain's dark-wooded glens, 

                  πληγέντος. πολλὴ δὲ πελώρη καίετο γαῖα 

                              Typhon lay stricken. And much did the enormous earth kindle 

                  ἀτμῇ θεσπεσίῃ καὶ ἐτήκετο κασσίτερος ὣς 

                              With awful steam, and melteth away, just as tin does 

                  τέχνῃ ὕπ᾽ αἰζηῶν ἐν ἐυτρήτοις χοάνοισι 

                               By the skill of strong men and in well-bored crucibles 

                  θαλφθείς, ἠὲ σίδηρος, ὅ περ κρατερώτατός ἐστιν.          865 

                               Groweth it soft with heat, or iron, the strongest of all 

                  οὔρεος ἐν βήσσῃσι δαμαζόμενος πυρὶ κηλέῳ 

                               In the mountain's glens worked with fire burning, 

                  τήκεται ἐν χθονὶ δίῃ ὑφ᾽ Ἡφαιστου παλάμῃσιν. 

                               Melted in the earth at the heavenly hands of Hephaistos -- 

                  ὣς ἄρα τήκετο γαῖα σέλαι πυρὸς αἰθομένοιο. 

                               Just as this did melt the Earth in a glow of fire blazing. 

                  ῥῖψε δέ μιν θυμῷ ἀκαχὼν ἐς Τάρταρον εὐρύν. 

                               And cast him did Zeus, in his heart vexed, into wide Tartaros. 

                  ἐκ δὲ Τυφωέος ἔστ᾽ ἀνέμων μένος ὑγρὸν ἀέντων,          870 

                               And from Typhoeus came the might of winds, the damp which blows, 

                  νόσφι Νότου Βορέω τε καὶ ἀργέστεω Ζεφύροιο: 

                               Apart from Notos, Boreas, and even brightening Zephyros. 

                  οἵ γε μὲν ἐκ θεόφιν γενεή, θνητοῖς μέγ᾽ ὄνειαρ: 

                               Yea, these at least from gods are born, to mortals a great boon. 

                  οἱ δ᾽ ἄλλοι μαψαῦραι ἐπιπνείουσι θάλασσαν: 

                               And these other breezes do breathe upon the sea, 

                  αἳ δή τοι πίπτουσαι ἐς ἠεροειδέα πόντον, 

                               And yea, there are some which blow upon the violet-hued sea, 

                  πῆμα μέγα θνητοῖσι, κακῇ θυίουσιν ἀέλλῃ:                     875 

                               And a great misery for mortals, and with evil whirlwind they rage on. 

                  ἄλλοτε δ᾽ ἄλλαι ἄεισι διασκιδνᾶσί τε νῆας 

                               And elsewise some others breathe and scatter ships  

                  ναύτας τε φθείρουσι: κακοῦ δ᾽ οὐ γίγνεται ἀλκὴ 

                               And sailors they kill. Against this evil, there exists no strength 

                  ἀνδράσιν, οἳ κείνῃσι συνάντωνται κατὰ πόντον: 

                               For men who upon them happen to alight while on the sea. 

                  αἳ δ᾽ αὖ καὶ κατὰ γαῖαν ἀπείριτον ἀνθεμόεσσαν 

                               And these also upon the land, immense and flowering, 

                  ἔργ᾽ ἐρατὰ φθείρουσι χαμαιγενέων ἀνθρώπων 

                               The lovely works of earth-born men they destroy, 

                  πιμπλεῖσαι κόνιός τε καὶ ἀργαλέου κολοσυρτοῦ.             880 

                               Full of dust and yea, painful uproar. 

                                                                             -Hesiod, Theogonia 820-880. Trans. is my own.

Bitchin'. http://orig09.deviantart.net/472d/f/2014/079/5/a/tonyzeus_by_pernastudios-d7awuul.jpg

Though not as explicit as the Pindar passage above, Byzantine scholar John Tzetzes believed the Hesiodic resting place of Typhon, the mountain where he "lay stricken" (860-861) was Etna. The number of words displaying an ait- suffix in this passage is also notable, though most likely coincidental (though, that ἀιδνῇς (860) - "glen" is just one altered dental away from an αἴτνα- stem...), they do paint a nice picture as they tend to recall words which mean "blazing", "bright", "scorching", or "glen, mountain forest" --all words which recall images of Mt. Etna.  Typhon was the last son of Gaia, born of a union between her and her Nether-realm, Tartaros (yup). This hurricane daemon was a many-headed serpent-creature (cf. Python; Hittite: Illuyanka; Mesopotamian: Tiamat), almost like the gusts and bellows of a raging typhoon could be imagined as a multitude of lashing and hissing serpents.  The beast was born in Cilicia (Grk: Κιλικία; Lat: Cilicia), in "The Kilikian many-named cave", a birthplace written of in both Pindar (above) and in the later mythographer Apollodorus who offers a most amazing account: 

ὡς δ᾽ ἐκράτησαν οἱ θεοὶ τῶν Γιγάντων, Γῆ μᾶλλον χολωθεῖσα μίγνυται Ταρτάρῳ, καὶ

           And thus prevailed the gods o'er the Gigantes, but Gaia, still angry, lay with  Tartaros, and

γεννᾷ Τυφῶνα ἐν Κιλικίᾳ, μεμιγμένην ἔχοντα φύσιν ἀνδρὸς καὶ θηρίου. οὗτος μὲν καὶ

           she birthed Typhon in Kilikia, a hybrid having the nature of man and beast. And he

μεγέθει καὶ δυνάμει πάντων διήνεγκεν ὅσους ἐγέννησε Γῆ, ἦν δὲ αὐτῷ τὰ μὲν ἄχρι

            in greatness and might outstripped all others whom Gaia has birthed. And to his

μηρῶν ἄπλετον μέγεθος ἀνδρόμορφον, ὥστε ὑπερέχειν μὲν πάντων τῶν ὀρῶν, ἡ δὲ

            thighs he possessed an immense and great man-form, and thus held himself o'er all the mountains, and his

κεφαλὴ πολλάκις καὶ τῶν ἄστρων ἔψαυε: χεῖρας δὲ εἶχε τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν

            head often the stars did brush. And his hands holdeth he one upon the West and

ἐκτεινομένην τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνατολάς: ἐκ τούτων δὲ ἐξεῖχον ἑκατὸν κεφαλαὶ δρακόντων.

            stretching out the other upon the East -- then from these issued forth one-hundred dragons' heads.

τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ μηρῶν σπείρας εἶχεν ὑπερμεγέθεις ἐχιδνῶν, ὧν ὁλκοὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐκτεινόμενοι

            And from his thighs had he powerful coils of vipers, which, when undulating and towards his head stretching,

κορυφὴν συριγμὸν πολὺν ἐξίεσαν. πᾶν δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα κατεπτέρωτο, αὐχμηραὶ δὲ ἐκ

            much hissing they emitted. And his entire body was winged, squalid did the hair

κεφαλῆς καὶ γενύων τρίχες ἐξηνέμωντο, πῦρ δὲ ἐδέρκετο τοῖς ὄμμασι. τοιοῦτος ὢν ὁ

            on his head and face toss in the wind, and fire flashed from his eyes. Such was  

Τυφὼν καὶ τηλικοῦτος ἡμμένας βάλλων πέτρας ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανὸν μετὰ συριγμῶν

             Typhon and so great was he and while hurling kindled rocks, upon the very heavens with hissing

ὁμοῦ καὶ βοῆς ἐφέρετο: πολλὴν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος πυρὸς ἐξέβρασσε ζάλην. θεοὶ δ᾽ ὡς              altogether and cries he betook himself. And much from his mouth a great spurt of fire he spewed. And the gods

εἶδον αὐτὸν ἐπ᾽ οὐρανὸν ὁρμώμενον, εἰς Αἴγυπτον φυγάδες ἐφέροντο, καὶ διωκόμενοι

            saw him for the heavens striving, and into Egypt they bore themselves as fugitives, and, while being pursued,

τὰς ἰδέας μετέβαλον εἰς ζῷα. Ζεὺς δὲ πόρρω μὲν ὄντα Τυφῶνα ἔβαλλε κεραυνοῖς, 

             their forms they altered into those of animals. But Zeus from distance at Typhon cast thunderbolts,

πλησίον δὲ γενόμενον ἀδαμαντίνῃ κατέπληττεν ἅρπῃ, καὶ φεύγοντα ἄχρι τοῦ, Κασίου

             but when at close quarters, with an adamantine sickle he struck him. And when Typhon took flight, up to the Kasios

ὄρους συνεδίωξε: τοῦτο δὲ ὑπέρκειται Συρίας. κεῖθι δὲ αὐτὸν κατατετρωμένον ἰδὼν εἰς

             Mountain did Zeus overtake him, where it overhangs Syria. And there, when Zeus saw he was severely wounded,

χεῖρας συνέβαλε. Τυφὼν δὲ ταῖς σπείραις περιπλεχθεὶς κατέσχεν αὐτόν, καὶ τὴν ἅρπην                 him he grappled with his hands. But Typhon with his coils did ensnare him and hold him fast and, wresting away the sickle,

περιελόμενος τά τε τῶν χειρῶν καὶ ποδῶν διέτεμε νεῦρα, ἀράμενος δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων 

            the tendons of Zeus' hands and feet he severed. Grabbing him at his shoulders,

διεκόμισεν αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς Κιλικίαν καὶ παρελθὼν εἰς τὸ Κωρύκιον ἄντρον  

              he bore him through the sea to Kilikia, and, once arriving at the Kôrykian Cave,

κατέθετο. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ νεῦρα κρύψας ἐν ἄρκτου δορᾷ κεῖθι ἀπέθετο, καὶ κατέστησε

             he set him there. After likewise hiding the tendons in a bearskin, there he put them away and set o'er them

φύλακα Δελφύνην δράκαιναν: ἡμίθηρ δὲ ἦν αὕτη ἡ κόρη. Ἑρμῆς δὲ καὶ Αἰγίπαν

             a guard -- Delphynē, the she-drake, she a half-beasted maiden. But then Hermes and Aigipan

ἐκκλέψαντες τὰ νεῦρα ἥρμοσαν τῷ Διὶ λαθόντες. Ζεὺς δὲ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀνακομισάμενος

             did steal the tendons and fitted them to Zeus, all unperceived. And Zeus his own strength did he shore up,

ἰσχύν, ἐξαίφνης ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ πτηνῶν ὀχούμενος ἵππων ἅρματι, βάλλων κεραυνοῖς ἐπ᾽

             and all of a sudden from heaven upon a chariot by winged horses drawn did he leap. Hurling thunderbolts,

ὄρος ἐδίωξε Τυφῶνα τὸ λεγόμενον Νῦσαν, ὅπου μοῖραι αὐτὸν διωχθέντα ἠπάτησαν:

              to a mountain he pursued Typhon, a mountain called Nysa where the fates did beguile him in his flight -

πεισθεὶς γὰρ ὅτι ῥωσθήσεται μᾶλλον, ἐγεύσατο τῶν ἐφημέρων καρπῶν. διόπερ                 for he believed that he would be quite strengthened and so tasted of the ephemeral fruits; thereby

ἐπιδιωκόμενος αὖθις ἧκεν εἰς Θρᾴκην, καὶ μαχόμενος περὶ τὸν Αἷμον ὅλα ἔβαλλεν ὄρη.  

             when the chase was taken up again, he came to Thrace, and while battling around Haimos, he threw whole mountains.

τούτων δὲ ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ κεραυνοῦ πάλιν ὠθουμένων πολὺ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους ἐξέκλυσεν 

             When these upon Typhon by the thunderbolt were back again thrust, much blood upon the mountain washed out -

αἷμα: καί φασιν ἐκ τούτου τὸ ὄρος κληθῆναι Αἷμον. φεύγειν δὲ ὁρμηθέντι αὐτῷ διὰ τῆς

             they say that because of this, the mountain is called Haimos. When he began to flee through

Σικελικῆς θαλάσσης Ζεὺς ἐπέρριψεν Αἴτνην ὄρος ἐν Σικελίᾳ: τοῦτο δὲ ὑπερμέγεθές

             the Sicilian Sea, Zeus cast upon him Aitna, the mountain in Sicily. This is a very great mountain,

ἐστιν, ἐξ οὗ μέχρι δεῦρό φασιν ἀπὸ τῶν βληθέντων κεραυνῶν γίνεσθαι πυρὸς

            from which even hitherto they say that from the once-casted thunderbolts are born

ἀναφυσήματα. ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο ἡμῖν λελέχθω.

            eruptions of fire. Well, concerning these things, let them for us be spoken for.

                                                              -Apollodoros, Biblioteca, 1.6.3. Trans. is my own.

 

 

 

The Forge of Hephaistos/Vulcan

Many ancient authors identified Etna with the location of Hephaistos' (or Vulcan's) forge, where the lame godsmith tempered arms and gifts for gods and mortals (especially Zeus' weapon, the thunderbolt) with the aid of the Elder Cyclopes ("Orb-Eyed") and Hekatonkheires ("Hundred-Handed") as his helpers. 

Hephaestus and the Cyclopes, fresco, Pompeii

Vergil, who wrote in Book III of The Aeneid that the gigas Enceladus was imprisoned below Mt. Etna, expands on his Sicilian geography by describing in Book VIII a hollowed tunnel and cavern or vault which connects Vulcan's home island near Lipari and his smithy under the volcano:

Inde ubi prima quies medio iam noctis abactae
            Thence, when [Vulcan's] first repose, till the hour of midnight now spent,
curriculo expulerat somnum, cum femina primum, 
            Had driven off sleep -- just as when a wife
cui tolerare colo vitam tenuique Minerva 
            Endures the distaff and the loom with slender Minervan thread,
impositum, cinerem et sopitos suscitat ignis             410
            The embers and sleepy flames she rouses,
noctem addens operi, famulasque ad lumina longo 
            Adding this night-time to her work, and the household till dawn she
exercet penso, castum ut servare cubile 
            Urges in spinning the long length of daily wool to keep virtuous
coniugis et possit parvos educere natos: 
            Her marriage-bed, and so can bring up her small children --
haud secus ignipotens nec tempore segnior illo 
            No less likewise is the Firelord more sluggish at that hour
mollibus e stratis opera ad fabrilia surgit.               415
            When from his soft bedspreads he doth rise to his craftsman's toils.
insula Sicanium iuxta latus Aeoliamque 
            An island off of Sicilian headland, near Æolian Lipari
erigitur Liparen fumantibus ardua saxis, 
            Rises out of the sea, an island made steep with its smoking rocks,
quam subter specus et Cyclopum exesa caminis 
            Under which a tunnel lies which for the Cyclops' smithies was bored out
antra Aetnaea tonant, validique incudibus ictus 
            An Aetnean chamber loud resounding, and the strong blows on the anvils
auditi referunt gemitus, striduntque cavernis             420
            Can be heard far off, and resound the roars, and hisses throughout the hollows
stricturae Chalybum et fornacibus ignis anhelat, 
            The Chalybian iron and from the furnaces doth fire huff.
Volcani domus et Volcania nomine tellus. 
            Here be Vulcan's home and Vulcania be called this land in name --
hoc tunc ignipotens caelo descendit ab alto.
            Here then the Firelord doth from the high heavens come down.
ferrum exercebant vasto Cyclopes in antro, 
            Iron they were working in the vast vault, those Cyclopes,
Brontesque Steropesque et nudus membra Pyragmon.            425
            And Brontēs, and Steropēs, and bare-limbed Pyragmon.
his informatum manibus iam parte polita 
            Under their hands lay unfinished -- for now only in part was polished --
fulmen erat, toto genitor quae plurima caelo 
            A thunderbolt, one of so many which the Father from all the heavens
deicit in terras, pars imperfecta manebat. 
            Hurls down unto the lands, and the rest of it there lay undone.
tris imbris torti radios, tris nubis aquosae 
            Three beams of swirling storm to three of rainy cloud
addiderant, rutuli tris ignis et alitis Austri.             430
            They added, and three of ruddy-red fire and winged Southerlies.
fulgores nunc terrificos sonitumque metumque 
            Now they did the lightning flashes terrifying with both din and fear
miscebant operi flammisque sequacibus iras. 
            All together mingle within the weapon tempered with the inevitable flames of Jove's wrath.
parte alia Marti currumque rotasque volucris 
            Elsewhere, about the chariot of Mars and his flying-swift wheels
instabant, quibus ille viros, quibus excitat urbes; 
            Some stood at work, at the charge of which the god both men and cities rouses to war.
aegidaque horriferam, turbatae Palladis arma,             435
            And there, the terror-bearing ægis, angered Pallas' arms,
certatim squamis serpentum auroque polibant 
            They in contest polish, as well as its serpents' scales and golden gleam,
conexosque anguis ipsamque in pectore divae 
            And the interwoven snakes about that head on divine Minerva's breast
Gorgona desecto vertentem lumina collo. 
            Belonging to the Gorgon, who turns her eyes from her severed neck.

'tollite cuncta' inquit 'coeptosque auferte labores, 
            "Cease all!"

                                 Vulcan spake,

                                                          "And thy toils begun now stop,
Aetnaei Cyclopes, et huc advertite mentem:               440
            O Ætnean Cyclopes, and hither turn your attention!
arma acri facienda viro. nunc viribus usus, 
            Arms we must craft for a fierce man. There is now a use for your strength,
nunc manibus rapidis, omni nunc arte magistra. 
            Now a use for your swift hands, now a use for all your learned skill.
praecipitate moras.' nec plura effatus, at illi 
            For haste exchange delay!"

                                                            Nor more saieth he, but they
ocius incubuere omnes pariterque laborem 
            Swifter set on to the task, all of them equally for the work
sortiti. fluit aes rivis aurique metallum                445
            Are divvied up. Floweth the bronze in streams and metallic gold,
vulnificusque chalybs vasta fornace liquescit. 
            And wound-making iron melts in the huge smithy.
ingentem clipeum informant, unum omnia contra 
            An enormous shield they form, and it alone could withstand all
tela Latinorum, septenosque orbibus orbis 
            The weapons of the Latini, for seven layers in circles on top of each other
impediunt. alii ventosis follibus auras 
            The workers lay. Some on the windy bellows do gusts of air
accipiunt redduntque, alii stridentia tingunt            450
            Breathe in and breathe back in turn, while others do the hissing bronze plunge
aera lacu; gemit impositis incudibus antrum; 
            Into still water. Roars the entire smithy cave about the weighty anvils.
illi inter sese multa vi bracchia tollunt 
            All those workers side-by-side lift their many arms with might
in numerum, versantque tenaci forcipe massam. 
            In time as one, and turn with gripping tongs the metal to be worked.

                                                          -Vergil, The Æneid VIII. 407-453. Trans. is my own.

Vergil dactyls are perhaps the most famous regarding an Etnian forge of the god of fire and have codified imagery of a divine smithy complete with Cyclopean helpers hammering weapons and armor for gods and heroes. 

However, even before the arrival of the Greeks, the first inhabitant of the fiery mountain was a divinity known by the Sicels (indigenous Sicilians) as Adranos, who was originally a Phoenician fire spirit -- this should not surprise us, as the Phoenician sailors were the first to give the mountain her name (recall that Aitna comes from attuna, their word for "chimney"). As the Greek worship of the Olympians spread with the founding of Hellenistic colonies all over the Mediterranean, especially Sicily and southern Italy, the volcano was predominantly thought of as belonging to Hephaistos, and then later Vulcan, while the island was under the influence of the Romans. The worship of Adranos, however, does not seem to have diminished on the island, particularly in the town of Adranum (modern day Adrano), first built by Dionysius the Elder and located close to Etna. The name of the town, of course, still hearkens back to the old Phoenician fire daimon:

[...] ὑπώπτευον καὶ διεκρούοντο τὰς τῶν Κορινθίων προκλήσεις, πλὴν Ἀδρανιτῶν· οἳ πόλιν μικρὰν μέν, ἱερὰν δ' οὖσαν Ἀδρανοῦ, θεοῦ τινος τιμωμένου διαφερόντως ἐν ὅλῃ Σικελίᾳ [...]  

[The Sicilians] were suspicious and they rejected the Korinthians' appeals, all except the Adranians. These were from a town that, while small, was where there was a temple to Adranos, a god much honored throughout Sikilia [...].  

                                                                     -Plutarkh, Timoleon 12. Trans. is my own.

The 1st century A.D. the Greek-writing Roman scholar Aelian describes the remarkable dogs kept at the temple of Adranos:

ἐν Σικελίᾳ Ἀδρανός ἐστι πόλις, ὡς λέγει Νυμφόδωρος, καὶ ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ Ἀδρανοῦ νεώς, ἐπιχωρίου δαίμονος: πάνυ δὲ ἐναργῆ φησιν εἶναι τοῦτον. καὶ τἄλλα μὲν ὅσα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ λέγει, καὶ ὅπως ἐμφανής ἐστι καὶ ἐς τοὺς δεομένους εὐμενής τε ἅμα καὶ ἵλεως, ἄλλοτε εἰσόμεθα: νῦν δὲ ἐκεῖνα εἰρήσεται. κύνες εἰσὶν ἱεροί, καὶ οἵδε θεραπευτῆρες αὐτοῦ καὶ λατρεύοντές οἱ, ὑπεραίροντες τὸ κάλλος τοὺς Μολοττοὺς κύνας καὶ σὺν τούτῳ καὶ τὸ μέγεθος, χιλίων οὐ μείους τὸν ἀριθμόν. οὐκοῦν οὗτοι μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν μὲν αἰκάλλουσί τε καὶ σαίνουσι τοὺς ἐς τὸν νεὼν καὶ τὸ ἄλσος παριόντας, εἴτε εἶεν ξένοι εἴτε ἐπιχώριοι: νύκτωρ δὲ τοὺς μεθύοντας ἤδη καὶ σφαλλομένους κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν οἳ δὲ πομπῶν δίκην καὶ ἡγεμόνων μάλα εὐμενῶς ἄγουσι, προηγούμενοι ἐς τὰ οἰκεῖα ἑκάστῳ, καὶ τῶν μὲν παροινούντων τιμωρίαν ἀρκοῦσαν ἐσπράττονται: ἐμπηδῶσι γὰρ καὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα αὐτοῖς καταρρηγνύουσι, καὶ σωφρονίζουσιν ἐς τοσοῦτον αὐτούς: τούς γε μὴν πειρωμένους λωποδυτεῖν διασπῶσι πικρότατα.  

In Sicily there is the city of Adranos, as Nymphodoros says, and in this town is the temple of Adranos, a daimon of the area. And he is altogether, people say, in that place. And all the things which Nymphodoros says besides this, how he appears and how well-minded he is towards his adherents and how graciously, we shall at another time know – as for now, the following shall be said: there are sacred dogs, and these are his attendants and servants, exceeding Molossian hounds in beauty as well as size, and no less than a thousand are there in number. And so, in the daytime these dogs fawn and wag their tails for those who come upon the temple and the grove, whether the visitors be strangers or natives; but at night they act as guides and leaders for those who are already drunk and tripping over themselves on the road and very kindly do they lead these people towards each their own homes. And upon those who get into drunken mischief the hounds exact their due, for they fall upon them and their clothes they rip, and they scold them to such an extent. Those, however, who attempt robbery the hounds tear apart most keenly.  

                                                   -Aelian, De Natura Animalium XI.20. Trans. is my own.

   

A cloudy and snowy Etna looms over Il Monastero di Santa Lucia (foreground) in Adrano.