Climbing Mount Etna alone is officially not allowed. People need to be accompanied by an accredited guide that ensure their safety and direction. This happens because Mount Etna is an active volcano and in March lava was coming out from its entrails. The lava was so hot and the surroundings so cold that it felt like being close to a fireplace in the cold winter nights of Scotland. I went up with two students from Catania University as one of them was starting his activity as a guide. In the way up with met one of their friends that just had been hit by a stone from a lava explosion the week before. English tourists are usually taken up by 4x4 buses and some of them go on flip flops. Mount Etna is at 3,350m height and the closest city is Catania. The volcano slopes are very fertile and vineyards are popular, giving origin to the best (probably) wines of Italy. There are some myths associated with Mount Etna and this one is my favourite one:
"Persephone liked to gather flowers on the lower slopes of Etna and to dance with the nymphs on the plain of Etna. When Hades abducted her, he opened a crevice in Mount Etna as an entrance to the Underworld."
The abduction of Persephone by Hades (Homeric Hymns):
I sing now of the great Demeter
Of the beautiful hair,
And of her daughter Persephone
Of the lovely feet,
Whom Zeus let Hades tear away
From her mother's harvests
And friends and flowers—
Especially the Narcissus,
Grown by Gaia to entice the girl
As a favor to Hades, the gloomy one.
This was the flower that
Left all amazed,
Whose hundred buds made
The sky itself smile.
When the maiden reached out
To pluck such beauty,
The earth opened up
And out burst Hades …
The son of Kronos,
Who took her by force
On his chariot of gold,
To the place where so many
Long not to go.
Persephone screamed,
She called to her father,
All-powerful and high, …
But Zeus had allowed this.
He sat in a temple
Hearing nothing at all,
Receiving the sacrifices of
Supplicating men.
No comments:
Post a Comment