The ode in which this allusion occurs is said to have been written about B.C. 470; and the eruption to which it refers probably took place shortly before that date.
Virgil also describes the mountain very forcibly in the Æneid, lib. iii. 570. Dryden renders the passage thus:—
"The port capacious, and secure from wind,
Is to the foot of thund'ring Etna joined.
By turns a pitchy cloud she rolls on high:
By turns hot embers from her entrails fly,
And flakes of mounting flames, that lick the sky.
Oft from her bowels massy rocks are thrown,
And shivered by the force come piece-meal down.
Oft liquid lakes of burning sulphur flow,
Fed from the fiery springs that boil below."
Since the one to which Pindar alludes, there have been recorded about sixty eruptions; but in the present century Etna has been less frequently active than Vesuvius.
Owing to the great height of Mount Etna, the lava seldom rises so far as to flow from the summit. It more frequently bursts forth from the flanks of the mountain; and in this manner there have been formed numerous smaller cones, of which several have craters of their own. Hence Etna is rather a group of volcanoes than a single cone; but all these subordinate volcanic hills cluster round the flanks of the great central summit. Etna may thus be regarded as a fertile mother of mountains, with all her children around her. Some of these hills, her offspring, are covered with forests and rich vegetation—such having enjoyed a lasting repose. Others are still arid and bare, having been more recently formed. Owing to this peculiarity in its structure, Etna does not present that conical aspect which characterizes most other volcanoes. Strange as it may seem, there are, on the sides of the mountain, caverns which the Sicilians use for storing ice. Some of these caverns are of vast extent. One called Fossa della Palomba measures, at its entrance, 625 feet in circumference, and has a depth of about 78 feet. This great cavity, however, forms merely the vestibule to a series of others, which are perfectly dark.
Another striking feature of Mount Etna is the Val del Bove. It is a deep valley, presenting, when viewed from above, somewhat of the appearance of an amphitheatre, It stretches from near the summit down to the upper limit of the wooded region of the mountain, and has a remarkably desolate aspect—presenting a vast expanse of bare and rugged lava.
Of the numerous eruptions of Etna, one of the most memorable was that of 1669, when on the flank of the mountain above Nicolosi, about half way between Catania and the top of the great crater, there was formed an immense rent about twelve miles long, from which a vast torrent of lava descended. After flowing for several miles, and destroying a part of Catania in its course, it entered the sea, and formed a small promontory, which has since proved very useful as a breakwater. But besides this stream, there were at the same time thrown up such immense quantities of ashes, cinders, stones, and other matters, that they formed two conical hills, more than three hundred feet in height above the slope of the mountain from which they rose, and measuring nearly two miles in circumference at their base. These hills were named Monti Rossi.
Mount Etna was in activity as lately as 1865; but a previous eruption in 1852 was of greater violence. It began, as usual, with hollow underground rumblings, and the ascent of dense columns of vapour, mingled with dust and ashes, high into the air. These were speedily whirled into enormous eddies by fierce whirlwinds. Two new mouths were formed on the side of the mountain, and these vomited forth immense streams of lava, which rushed with the vehemence of a torrent down the steep. The violence of the commotion increasing, the two mouths were, by the crumbling of the intervening rocks, blended into one, and then huge fragments of the broken rock were hurled to a great height, along with vast quantities of hot stones, cinders, and black sand. Increasing quantities of lava were now poured from the greatly enlarged opening, and these formed on the plains below a great river of liquid fire, nearly two miles in breadth, and between seven and eight feet in depth, which advanced at the rate of upwards of a hundred feet in an hour, carrying before it devastation and ruin. Its course being through a highly cultivated country, the damage it inflicted was immense. This eruption continued for several months, with only short intervals of rest.
[Illustration: Crater of Etna.]
It has more than once happened, that the lava-streams of Etna, in their descent from the crater of eruption, have come to a precipitous wall of rock, over which they have plunged in a cascade similar to that formed by the lava of Vesuvius in 1855, but on a less magnificent scale, as respects the height of the fall. One of these occasions was during the eruption of 1771, and another during that of 1819.