J - 130 : Lake Avernus - Gate to Hell ?

Lake Avernus in 2022 during the Blossoming of Cyano-Bacterium Planktothrix Rubescens

A good 25 kilometer west of Naples, on the volcanic Campi Flegrei, is Lago Averno, a crater lake with a radius of ½ km. Its name tells a story. “Áornos” in Greek means bird-less lake. Birds flying over it were said to fall dead. This must have been true 2’000 years ago, when toxic fumes still evaporated. Today, the lake is dormant. From time to time though, it turns pink due to the blooming of a toxin producing cyano-bacterium, Planktothrix Rubescens. No wonder Greek people were scared. They believed Lake Avernus was the entrance to Hell or Hades. It indeed looked and smelled like the door to the underworld.

Hades with his Wife Persephone, the Greek Godess of Fertility. She had to spend the Winter with her Husband in the Underworld. Therefore no Plants grew during the Winter

In Greek mythology, the underworld was called Hades, after the God who ruled it. The universe had three realms, all run by a God. Zeus run the sky, Poseidon the sea and Hades the underworld. Together, the three brothers ruled the earth, long run by Gaia, their grand-mother. If you want to learn more about the confusing Greek mythology, look it up on Wikipedia. Seems every new generation of Greek people added a layer of complexity.

Map from 1805. North is to the Left. The Elysian Fields are to the South, true Hell to the West

Les Champes Elysees are in Paris' West - More hellish for the President than it looks?

Hades was married to Persephone whom Zeus had abducted. Hades did not have a good reputation. He was described as stern and hateful, keeping the souls of the dead as his prisoners. He had no interest in what happened on earth. His only goal was to make sure that nobody escaped. Sisyphus learnt the hard way what it meant to cheat death or Hades. For the rest of his life (= eternity) he had to roll a giant boulder up a mountain only to see it rolling downhill once he had arrived at the top. Still wonder what people actually did in the Hades except being confined. Does anybody know?

The Lago Averno or Lake Avernus during an sunny Summer Day

The Greek underworld was organised in three distinct levels:

• The Elysium, the island of the blessed. Here, the war heroes, the righteous and the one chosen by the Gods lived. They were allowed to indulge in whatever pleasure they liked

• The Asphodel Meadows were for the ordinary people who were neither virtuose nor totally evil. On these dark, sunless meadows, these shadowy creatures floated aimlessly around, playing games and trying to kill their endless time. It seemed they had no joy, no purpose. Just endless boredom.

• Level 3, the Tartuarus, was for the bad asses. Here, truly evil people got their divine judgement and lived in dark dungeons. Their prison fellows were the violent Titans, the old Gods that Zeus once overthrew. All had to live out their punishments like Sisyphus.

Ancient Greek Vase from 525 BC with Sisyphus and Persephone - now in Munich Museum

Am not surprise that Christianity was such a success amongst Greek and Roman gentiles. The afterlife in their religion was gloomy at best. Nothing to look forward to. Jesus message of salvation and redemption was much more attractive. No wonder our ancestors opted out.

Replica Bust of Agrippa, the loyal General behind

Emperor Augustus and Builder of the 1st Pantheon

Back to Lake Avernus. Whilst the Romans also believed that the lake was the gate to the underworld, they could not care less. Life was life, afterlife was afterlife. In the civil war following Julius Ceasar’s assassination, Augustus hid his fleet here. His general Agrippa built a canal linking it to Lake Lucrinus and a long tunnel to Cumae. Just south of Lake Avernus, in Baiae, Rome’s rich and famous built their luxurious summer villas. Many Roman Emperors spent a lot of time just a few kilometers south of the Gates of Hades. Clearly without fear.

Interior of the Grotta diCocceio - Agrippa's Tunnel

When the Roman Empire adopted Christianity in the 4^th century AD, the memory of the Gate to Hades faded. In the Middle Ages it was completely forgotten. The rediscovery of ancient Greek texts during the Renaissance brought the knowledge back.

The 1'000 Year old Sibyl of Cumae guided Aeneas, the

legendary founder of Rome. in and out of the Hades.

Ancient writers like Virgil and Ovid were widely read. One of their readers was Michelangelo who created David in Florence and painted the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Based on interpretations by Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430 AD), an influential Christian philosophers at his time, Pope Julius II and Michelangelo believed that the Cumae Sibyl had predicted the birth of Jesus Christ. Michelangelo thus put her prominently amongst the prophets of the Old Testament. Am pretty sure that the thousands of visitors to the Sistine Chapel barely notice that an ancient guide to the entrance of Hades is looking down on them.

A Painting of the Napolitan School of Lake Avernus with Apollo Temple, 19th Century

Early European visitors on their Grand Tour stopped here to see the Lake, the ruins of Cumae, the Roman villas in Baiae, the old naval base of Misenio, the port of Pozzuoli – and Naples of course. The tunnel to Cumae was recently restored but remains closed due to bats who found a new home there. The Apollo temple on the lake’s northern shores is worth visiting. So are the many sea food restaurant lining Lake Avernus. The Gates to Hell have become a nice pleasure spot. We are going to visit it at the end of our sailing.

 One of the Seafood Restaurants on Lake Avernus with Apollo Temple in the Back