Lake Avernus, the Way to the Underworld
The ancients believed no bird could fly over this lake and live, and that its shore led down to the land of the dead.
What was reported
Lake Avernus fills an old volcanic crater in the Phlegraean Fields west of Naples. In ancient times it was surrounded by dark forest, and the Romans believed it was an entrance to the underworld; in Virgil's Aeneid, the hero goes down to the dead from its shores. Its name was explained as Greek for 'without birds', because birds that flew over it were said to fall dead.
Strange smells, steaming ground and the brooding crater gave the area a reputation it has never quite lost.
Explanations offered
The whole region is volcanically active, and gases such as carbon dioxide and sulphur compounds may once have seeped from the lake and its shores, which could account for dead birds and the smell. Today the lake is calm, surrounded by vineyards and visited by plenty of birds.
- When
- Feared since antiquity
- Where
- Lake Avernus, near Pozzuoli, Campania, Italy
- Witnesses
- Ancient writers, including Virgil and Lucretius
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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