Lake Avernus
placeA volcanic crater lake near Cumae believed to be an entrance to the Underworld, whose noxious fumes were said to kill birds flying overhead.
The Myth
Lake Avernus, whose Greek name Aornos means "birdless," was a deep volcanic crater lake near Cumae in southern Italy. Its still, dark waters and the sulphurous fumes rising from nearby volcanic vents convinced the Greeks that it was a gateway to the realm of Hades. The Cumaean Sibyl, prophetess of Apollo, led Aeneas to the Underworld through a cave on its shores. Before descending, Aeneas plucked the Golden Bough — sacred to Persephone — that granted living mortals safe passage among the dead. Odysseus had earlier sailed to a similar entrance point. The Cimmerians, a mythological people who lived in eternal darkness, dwelt nearby. Orpheus was said to have descended to retrieve Eurydice through such an entrance. In historical times, Agrippa connected Avernus to the sea via a tunnel, converting the mythological gateway to hell into a Roman naval port.
Symbols
Fun Fact
Lake Avernus's reputation was so powerful that "Avernus" became a Latin synonym for the Underworld itself. Virgil's line "facilis descensus Averno" — "the descent to Avernus is easy" — is still quoted to warn that bad habits are easier to start than stop. The lake is now a peaceful nature reserve near Naples, and tourists swim in what the ancients believed was the entrance to Hell.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Cumae
placeThe oldest Greek colony on the Italian mainland, home to the Cumaean Sibyl whose prophetic cave...
Underworld
placeThe Underworld was the vast subterranean realm where all mortal souls went after death — a...
Aeneas
heroAeneas was a Trojan prince, son of Aphrodite, who survived Troy's fall and became the ancestor of...
Lerna
placeLerna was a marshy region near Argos, famed as the lair of the Lernaean Hydra and believed to...
Apollo
godGod of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine...
Apollo (Light)
godApollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and...
Apollo Loxias
godAn epithet of Apollo meaning "the Oblique One," referring to the deliberately ambiguous nature of...
Eurydice
nymphEurydice was the nymph whose death drove Orpheus to descend to the underworld — only to lose her at...
Golden Fleece
conceptThe fleece of a golden-wooled ram, hung in a sacred grove in Colchis and guarded by a sleepless...
Hades
godRuler of the underworld and lord of the dead. Despite his fearsome reputation, Hades was not evil —...
Hades (God)
godHades was the lord of the underworld who received the dead — feared but not evil, wealthy from...
Odysseus
heroThe cleverest of the Greek heroes, whose ten-year journey home from Troy is one of the greatest...