Lake Avernus

Neapel · Italien · Natural site

The Greeks called it the birdless lake. The fumes killed whatever flew over — and here the Sibyl led Aeneas down to the dead.

The crater lake in the Campi Flegrei takes its name from the Greek aornos, without birds. The sulphurous exhalations from the water were held to be so poisonous that any bird crossing fell dead in mid-flight, and antiquity drew the only reasonable conclusion: the underworld opened here. In the sixth book of the Aeneid it is on the shores of Avernus that the Cumaean Sibyl takes Aeneas by the hand and leads him down among the shades to meet his father. At the water's edge the Grotta della Sibilla drives into the hillside, a Roman tunnel taken for centuries as the descent itself, and on the north shore stand the great vaults of what is called the Temple of Apollo. The water is still and almost black, and locally it is still said that you should not call out loudly across it.

FAQ

Hvor ligger Lake Avernus?

Lake Avernus ligger i Neapel, Italien.