View source for Avernus

{{Short description|Ancient name for a volcanic crater near Cumae (Cuma), Italy}}
{{about|the crater|the lake within it|Lake Avernus|other uses}}
[[Image:Ruined temple to Apollo, Avernus.jpg|thumb|Ruins of temple to Apollo, Avernus]]
'''Avernus''' was an ancient name for a [[volcanic crater]] near [[Cumae]] (Cuma), [[Italy]], in the region of [[Campania]] west of [[Naples]]. Part of the [[Phlegraean Fields]] of volcanoes,<ref name="SiebertSimkin2011">{{cite book|last1=Siebert|first1=Lee|last2=Simkin|first2=Tom|last3=Kimberly|first3=Paul|title=Volcanoes of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0DZrfpL9_DMC&pg=PA50|edition=3rd|year=2011|publisher=University of Calif. Press|isbn=978-0-520-94793-1|page=50|quote = [in the chart] Campi Flegrei [...] Averno}}</ref> Avernus is approximately {{convert|3.2|km}} in circumference. Within the crater is [[Lake Avernus]] (''{{lang|it|Lago d'Averno}}'').<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Avernus}}</ref>

==Role in ancient Roman society==
Avernus was believed to be the entrance to the [[underworld]], and is portrayed as such in the ''[[Aeneid]]'' of [[Virgil]]. According to tradition, all birds flying over the lake were destined to fall dead,<ref>{{Cyclopaedia 1728|title=Averni|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistSciTech/HistSciTech-idx?type=turn&id=HistSciTech.Cyclopaedia01&entity=HistSciTech.Cyclopaedia01.p0217|page=177|inline=1}}</ref> hence the lake’s name was transferred to Greek as {{lang|grc|Ἄορνος (λίμνη)}} {{Transliteration|grc|Áornos (límnē)}}‚ or 'birdless (lake)'.<ref>W. M. Lindsay, ''The Latin Language,'' Oxford 1894, p. 197.</ref> This was likely due to the toxic fumes that the mouths of the crater gave off into the atmosphere. In later times, the word was simply an alternative name for the underworld.

On the shores of the lake is the grotto of the [[Cumaean Sibyl]] and the entrance to a long tunnel ([[Grotta di Cocceio]], c. {{convert|800|m}}) leading toward Cumae, where her sanctuary was located.  There are also the remains of temples to [[Apollo]] and [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]]. During the [[Roman Republican civil wars|civil war]] between [[Augustus|Octavian]] and [[Mark Antony|Antony]], [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]] tried to turn the lake into a military port, the [[Portus Julius]].  A waterway was dug from [[Lucrinus Lacus|Lake Lucrino]] to Avernus to this end.  The port's remains may still be seen under the lake's surface.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=R.F.|first=Paget|date=1968|title=The Ancient Ports of Cumae|journal=The Journal of Roman Studies|volume=58|issue=1–2|pages=152–169|jstor=299704|doi=10.2307/299704}}</ref>

Avernus was also regarded as a divine being. The 4th-5th century writer [[Servius the Grammarian]] described a statue of Avernus, which perspired during the storm after the union of [[Lake Avernus]] and [[Lucrinus Lacus]], and to which expiatory sacrifices were offered.<ref>[[Servius the Grammarian]], ''ad Virg. Georg.'' 2.161</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 | last =Schmitz
 | first =Leonhard
 | authorlink =Leonhard Schmitz
 | title =Avernus
 | encyclopedia =[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]
 | volume =1
 | pages =418
 | publisher =Taylor, Walton and Maberly and John Murray
 | language =English
 | date =1849
 | url =https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0001.001/433
 | isbn = 
 | accessdate = 2024-12-31}}</ref>

== ''{{lang|la|Averni}}'' ==
The term ''{{lang|la|avernus}}'' (plural ''{{lang|la|averni}}'') was also used by ancient naturalists for certain lakes, grottos, and other places which infect the air with poisonous steams or vapors. The [[Cave of Dogs]] in Italy was a famous example.<ref name="Curtis1829">{{cite book|last=Curtis|first=Thomas|title=The London Encyclopaedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vX5MAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA269|volume=3|year=1829|publisher=T. Tegg|page=269}}</ref> The most celebrated of these, however, is Lake Avernus.

They were also called mephites. [[Mefitis|Mephitis]] was the Roman goddess of noxious vapors who protected against malaria. The adjective '{{linktext|mephitic}}' means 'foul-smelling' or 'malodorous'.

==See also==
* [[Ploutonion]], 'grotto of [[Pluto (mythology)|Plouton]]', a Greek term for a mephitic sanctuary
* [[Yomotsu Hirasaka]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* ''[[Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences|Cyclopædia]]'' (1728) article “[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistSciTech/HistSciTech-idx?type=turn&id=HistSciTech.Cyclopaedia01&entity=HistSciTech.Cyclopaedia01.p0217 Averni]”.
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-lake-avernus-with-the-temple-of-apollo-and-a-distant-view-of-cape-misenum-d15608 ''Lake Avernus with the Temple of Apollo and a Distant View of Cape Misenum''] (1819), a very faint pencil sketch by [[J. M. W. Turner|Joseph Turner]] (see also: [[Cape Misenum]])

{{Roman religion}}

[[Category:Roman mythology]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of Italy]]
[[Category:Underworld]]


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[[ca:Avern]]